Robert J. Gorman

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The 'official portrait' of Robert J. Gorman on his 75th birthday in 1990.
The 'official portrait' of Robert J. Gorman on his 75th birthday in 1990.

Robert James Gorman (April 22, 1915 – February 17, 2007) was a Chicago attorney who served at Normandy and was in the Jeep that General Dwight D. Eisenhower rode into Paris.

Gorman was born in Chicago and died at his Chicago home. Admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1940 after graduation from Kent College of Law of the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gorman was a conscientious objector in the early years of World War II until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, at which time he joined American forces, served as an interpreter with the allied army in France, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant. After the war he practiced probate and civil rights law and was counsel for Roosevelt University in Chicago. Gorman also traveled to the nation’s capital to share solidarity with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s March on Washington in 1963.

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[edit] Family Origins

Gorman's paternal ancestry originates in County Tyrone in Ireland. More recent generations lived in Canada. His parents, James Gorman and Isabel O’Brien, married in Chicago.

[edit] Early life

Gorman was born April 22, 1915, in Chicago. He graduated from Fenwick High School. He received his undergraduate diploma from Northwestern University.

[edit] Legal career

While at the Northwestern University Law School, Gorman was elected Justice (President) Of Phi Alpha Delta which is the country's largest legal fraternity. Later, he became Justice of the Chicago Alumni Chapter and was also elected District Justice which covered a four state area. Gorman received his law degree in 1940 from Kent College of Law of the Illinois Institute of Technology.

After graduation from law school, he was admitted to the Illinois State Bar Association on October 10, 1940 and immediately entered private practice. Shortly after war was declared, Gorman severed four years as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, being honorably discharged in January 1946.

After serving in World War II, he practiced probate and civil rights law and was counsel for Roosevelt University in Chicago from the time of the school’s inception during the 1940s until his retirement four decades later. Gorman also traveled to the nation’s capital to share solidarity with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s March on Washington in 1963. He also successfully defended many conscientious objectors to the Vietnam War on a pro bono basis, winning 19 out of 20 such cases that he took on. [1]

Another of his clients was Roy E. Eaton, who was wrongly imprisoned for 16 years for robbery before another man confessed to the crime.[2] The story caught the attention of the national media, including the Saturday Evening Post. [3] Eaton's case was later documented in an episode of NBC's Armstrong Circle Theatre entitled "Error in Judgement", which featured an interview with Gorman in the closing segment. [4] Subsequently, Gorman then won the first payment for a wrongful conviction case in Illinois when the State Legislature awarded Eaton a "personal injury" payment. [5]

[edit] Family life

With wife Helen J. Gorman (1920-2002), he had three children: Robert, Gregory and Candace.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ “Lawyer Supported Liberal Causes”, Chicago Sun-Times: 1, February 22, 2007 
  2. ^ “16 Yrs. in Cell for Another's Theft of $50”, Chicago Daily Tribune: 1, April 5, 1956 
  3. ^ reprint of 1956 article "The Case Of Prisoner No. 16688" appeared in July 14, 1956 issue of Saturday Evening Post
  4. ^ Error in Judgement NBC's "Armstrong Circle Theatre" original air date: February 5, 1957 (Season 7, Episode 9)
  5. ^ “Lawyer Supported Liberal Causes - Won 1st Payment For Wrongful Conviction In State”, Chicago Sun-Times: 1, February 22, 2007 

[edit] See also

  • H. Candace Gorman, daughter of Robert J. Gorman
  • Robert C. Gorman, MAI, eldest son of Robert J. Gorman

[edit] External links

  • Chicago Sun-Times article by Larry Finley "Lawyer Supported Liberal Causes - Won 1st Payment For Wrongful Conviction In State"
  • The Case Of Prisoner No. 16688 reprint of 6-page story by John Kobler from 1956 issue of the Saturday Evening Post
  • Armstrong Circle Theatre weekly anthology drama series on NBC (1950-1957) then CBS (until 1963) at the Internet Movie Database