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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are pleased to honor Jeffery Leving for his | ||||||
| 4 | work in safeguarding the rights of fathers and protecting the | ||||||
| 5 | welfare of children and families in this State; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Jeffery Leving began his career over 30 years ago, | ||||||
| 7 | at a time when it was almost unheard of to fight for the rights | ||||||
| 8 | of fathers and prevail in family court; determined to fight | ||||||
| 9 | this bias, Mr. Leving and his firm carved a niche practice area | ||||||
| 10 | and the name Jeffery Leving and the term "Fathers' Rights" | ||||||
| 11 | became inseparable; and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, The Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving, Ltd., has | ||||||
| 13 | represented fathers, mothers, grandparents, and children, from | ||||||
| 14 | all walks of life; the firm has worked on high profile cases, | ||||||
| 15 | such as the reunification of Elian Gonzalez with his father in | ||||||
| 16 | Cuba; utilizing Mr. Leving's encyclopedic knowledge of | ||||||
| 17 | national and international law, the firm has also litigated | ||||||
| 18 | international child abduction cases involving the nations of | ||||||
| 19 | Egypt, Poland, Argentina, China, and Mexico seeking the | ||||||
| 20 | reunification of children with parents who had almost abandoned | ||||||
| 21 | hope that they would ever see their children again; and
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| 22 | WHEREAS, Jeffery Leving's firm prides itself on its | ||||||
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| 1 | forward-thinking initiatives in the field of law and fathers' | ||||||
| 2 | rights; every month, he administers a "Continuing Legal | ||||||
| 3 | Education Think Tank", with featured speakers such as mental | ||||||
| 4 | health professionals, leading attorneys, and other experts who | ||||||
| 5 | present to attendees their strategies to maximize and leverage | ||||||
| 6 | the collective knowledge and resources of the firm, which | ||||||
| 7 | allows the firm to utilize pragmatic courtroom strategies that | ||||||
| 8 | are key to the success of the firm and its clients; Mr. Leving | ||||||
| 9 | is also heavily involved in mapping out strategies for complex | ||||||
| 10 | and emotionally-charged cases and takes on many of the firm's | ||||||
| 11 | cases as well; and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, Jeffery Leving and his firm work diligently to | ||||||
| 13 | educate fathers of their rights as parents and have effectively | ||||||
| 14 | advocated for judges to look to the letter and the spirit of | ||||||
| 15 | the law and refute antiquated preconceptions that mothers were | ||||||
| 16 | automatically endowed with superior rights to parenting and | ||||||
| 17 | custody; and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, In addition to his work at the firm, Jeffery | ||||||
| 19 | Leving is a founder of the Fatherhood Educational Institute, a | ||||||
| 20 | not-for-profit charity whose mission is to help indigent | ||||||
| 21 | fathers reunite with their children through education and | ||||||
| 22 | support initiatives; he also serves as the Chair of the | ||||||
| 23 | Illinois Council on Responsible Fatherhood at the pleasure of | ||||||
| 24 | the Governor and served as a resource to the first White House | ||||||
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| 1 | Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Town Hall | ||||||
| 2 | Meeting on Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families in | ||||||
| 3 | Chicago; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, Jeffery Leving and his firm have been honored by | ||||||
| 5 | the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children "in | ||||||
| 6 | recognition and appreciation for their outstanding commitment | ||||||
| 7 | to the protection of children and the knowledge of the Hague | ||||||
| 8 | Convention on the civil aspects of international child | ||||||
| 9 | abduction"; he was also honored by the White House by being | ||||||
| 10 | presented with the President's Volunteer Service Award for his | ||||||
| 11 | work with the Council on Responsible Fatherhood and was the | ||||||
| 12 | recipient of the 2012 Professional Achievement Award from the | ||||||
| 13 | Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law | ||||||
| 14 | for outstanding achievement in the legal profession; and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, Jeffery Leving is a co-author of Illinois laws | ||||||
| 16 | concerning joint custody, virtual child visitation, parenting | ||||||
| 17 | time interference, and paternity testing; he is also the author | ||||||
| 18 | of 3 books, "Fathers' Rights", "Divorce Wars", and "How to Be a | ||||||
| 19 | Good Divorced Dad"; and | ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, Jeffery Leving serves as a model of hard work, | ||||||
| 21 | integrity, and dedication for the people of the State of | ||||||
| 22 | Illinois; therefore, be it
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| 1 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 2 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 3 | we honor Jeffery Leving for his work in safeguarding the rights | ||||||
| 4 | of fathers and protecting the welfare of children and families | ||||||
| 5 | in this State, thank him for his great dedication to this | ||||||
| 6 | important task, and wish him continued success and happiness in | ||||||
| 7 | the future; and be it further
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| 8 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 9 | presented to Jeffery Leving as a symbol of our esteem and | ||||||
| 10 | respect.
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