Around the water cooler: Q & A with Donald R. McGarrah

Each week we will pose these three questions to different lawyers in the legal community.

This week we talk with Donald R. McGarrah, a partner at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, who is a lead trial counsel on a number of commercial litigation and complex, catastrophic personal injury matters for firm clients. He handles Illinois cases, as well as cases pending in states outside of Illinois, having served as a lead counsel in 37 different states during his 30-year career.

What do you find the most interesting about your practice?

Most interesting — the people that I deal with on a daily basis, whether they are clients, opposing parties, attorneys, witnesses, experts, consultants, judges, or jurors.

What makes a good lawyer?

A good lawyer is one who is committed/dedicated to his or her client, and committed to providing legal representation in a competent, ethical, professional, courteous, and comprehensive fashion. Further, a good lawyer is a person who treats people with dignity and conducts their affairs with integrity.

What is the biggest legal news right now, and what is its impact?

Whether someone would consider this to be the “biggest legal news” is a matter of debate, but one current significant legal issue is the effect that the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller may have on the city of Chicago’s ordinance that bans the possession of handguns. The Supreme Court held, in part, that the District of Columbia’s total ban on handguns violates an individual’s right to possess firearms under the Second Amendment.

The decision is narrow in its scope as it applies only to the District of Columbia handgun ban. Mayor Daley has publicly stated that he is angry about this decision and he will fight to preserve a similar Chicago ordinance that bans possession of handguns. It will be interesting to see how this decision will ultimately affect Chicago’s ordinance.