Neil F. Hartigan

Background

Hartigan was born on May 4, 1938, in Chicago and grew up in the Rogers Park neighborhood. He was raised in an Irish Catholic family. His father, David Hartigan, was a lawyer and alderman of Chicago's 49th Ward, connecting the family with the city's legal and municipal public life.

Hartigan attended Catholic schools through high school before studying at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He returned to Chicago for legal education at Loyola University. His formative years coincided with the postwar expansion of Chicago's municipal government and the consolidation of Democratic political networks that shaped his early public career.

Education

Hartigan attended Catholic schools through high school and later studied at Georgetown University, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1959. Georgetown, founded in 1789, is the oldest Catholic university in the United States and developed a broad tradition of liberal-arts, professional, and public-service education.

He returned to Chicago to attend Loyola University Law School and received a Juris Doctor degree in 1962. Loyola's law school, founded in 1908 and later renamed Loyola University Chicago School of Law, has traditionally combined professional legal training with an emphasis on public service and ethics. Hartigan also received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Martin Luther King College in 1975, Lincoln College in 1984, and John Marshall Law School in 1984.

Career

Hartigan began his professional career in Chicago municipal government after completing law school. From 1963 to 1967 he served as a deputy administrative officer to Mayor Richard J. Daley. He subsequently worked in several legal and legislative capacities for the city, including legislative counsel in Springfield, attorney for the Chicago Board of Health, and general counsel of the Chicago Park District. Chicago's city government was one of the largest municipal institutions in the United States, with responsibilities spanning public health, parks, infrastructure, and urban administration.

In 1972 Hartigan became the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor and won election with Dan Walker, who was elected governor. He served as lieutenant governor from 1973 to 1977. The office was part of Illinois's elected executive branch and involved statewide political representation during a period of conflict between Governor Walker and the established Chicago Democratic organization.

Hartigan entered the private sector after leaving office. From 1977 to 1979 he held executive positions at the Real Estate Research Corporation in Chicago, and from 1979 to 1982 he was a senior executive and area head in the Western Hemisphere section of First National Bank of Chicago. He also became a partner at Gardner in 1991, continuing his legal and business career after public office.

Hartigan returned to elected public service when he became Illinois attorney general in 1983. He served two terms through 1991. The Illinois attorney general is the state's chief legal officer, representing state agencies, enforcing state law, and bringing civil and criminal actions in the public interest. Hartigan's tenure included attention to consumer protection, environmental enforcement, and asbestos-related litigation.

In 1990 Hartigan was the Democratic nominee for governor of Illinois but lost the general election to Republican Jim Edgar. He later returned to the judiciary, serving as a justice of the Illinois Appellate Court's First District from December 2002 until his voluntary retirement in 2004. In 2013 he was appointed a judge of the Illinois Court of Claims, serving through January 2019. The Court of Claims adjudicates specified claims against the State of Illinois.

Achievements

• Served as lieutenant governor of Illinois from 1973 to 1977.

• Served as Illinois attorney general from 1983 to 1991 and pursued consumer-protection, environmental, and asbestos-related enforcement.

• Was the Democratic nominee for governor of Illinois in the 1990 general election.

• Served as a justice of the Illinois Appellate Court's First District from 2002 to 2004.

• Served as a judge of the Illinois Court of Claims from 2013 to 2019.

Religion

Hartigan was a Catholic who grew up in an Irish Catholic family and attended Catholic schools through high school. Catholicism formed part of the religious and social environment of Chicago's Irish-American communities during his youth, while parish institutions and Catholic schools provided important centers of education and civic life.

His public career remained associated with Catholic civic and legal organizations, including the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago and St. Ignatius Parish. His religious affiliation coexisted with a Democratic political career in a city and state whose public institutions included substantial Catholic participation.

Politics

Hartigan was a Democrat. His political career developed within the Democratic organization of Chicago and Illinois, first through municipal government, then through the lieutenant governorship, the attorney general's office, and a campaign for governor.

Illinois Democrats during Hartigan's public career included urban machine politics, labor-oriented constituencies, consumer protection, civil-rights advocacy, and reform currents. As attorney general, Hartigan emphasized consumer rights, environmental protection, and public enforcement, while his 1990 gubernatorial campaign placed him in opposition to Republican nominee Jim Edgar.

Views

Hartigan's public career reflects a conception of law as an instrument of public administration and civic protection. His work in consumer protection, environmental enforcement, public health, and asbestos litigation placed legal authority in the service of individuals and communities affected by large institutions.

His later judicial service continued this public-law orientation. Moving from municipal administration to statewide legal enforcement and then appellate judging, Hartigan's career joined practical government service with formal legal judgment.

Membership

Hartigan participated in professional, civic, humanitarian, educational, cultural, and religious organizations in Chicago and Illinois. His professional affiliations included the American Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Appellate Lawyers Association, the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago, and the National Association of Attorneys General.

He also served in leadership or advisory roles for organizations including the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago, the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry, World Trade Center Illinois, the Council on Foreign Relations' Chicago chapter, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Greater Chicago, and the March of Dimes. These activities extended his public involvement beyond elected office into legal, commercial, charitable, educational, and community institutions.

• American Bar Association , United States

• Appellate Lawyers Association , United States

• Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago , United States

• Chicago Bar Association , United States

• Served on the board of directors.

  Illinois State Bar Association , United States

• Chaired consumer-protection and asbestos-litigation committees and served in other association leadership roles.

  National Association of Attorneys General , United States

• Served as president and chairman.

  Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago , United States

• Served on the executive board of directors.

  Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry , United States

• Served as chairman.

  World Trade Center Illinois , United States

• Participated through the Chicago chapter.

  Council on Foreign Relations , United States

• Held life membership.

  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , United States

• Served as a director.

  United Cerebral Palsy Association of Greater Chicago , United States

• Served as a director.

  Chicago Area Council, Boy Scouts of America , United States

• Chaired a Superwalk and served as a vice-chairman of a fundraiser.

  March of Dimes , United States

• Presided over the 1984 finals.

  Special Olympics , United States

• Served as chairman.

  Illinois Olympic Committee , United States

• Afghan Refugees Committee , United States

• Served as a member of the advisory council.

  European Bank for Reconstruction and Development advisory council , United Kingdom

• Field Museum of Natural History , United States

• Museum of Science and Industry , United States

• St. Ignatius Parish , United States

Connections

Hartigan married Marge Hartigan on June 9, 1962. They had four children: John, Elizabeth, Laura, and Bridget. His parents were David Hartigan, a Chicago lawyer and alderman, and Coletta Hogan Hartigan.

Father:

David Hartigan

Was a lawyer and alderman of Chicago's 49th Ward.

Mother:

Coletta Hogan Hartigan

Daughter:

Bridget Hartigan

Daughter:

Laura Hartigan

Daughter:

Elizabeth Hartigan

Son:

John Hartigan

Wife:

Marge Hartigan

References

• Illinois Statecraft: Neil Hartigan Oral History Documents Hartigan's birth and upbringing in Chicago, Catholic education, Georgetown and Loyola education, municipal career, election as lieutenant governor, and later public career.
  2017
• History of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General Documents Hartigan's service as Illinois attorney general from 1983 to 1991.
• Illinois Former Attorneys General Provides the term of service for Hartigan as Illinois attorney general.
• Neil F. Hartigan Profile Documents Hartigan's legal education, bar admissions, address, and areas of legal practice.
• Appointment Message No. 0148 Documents Hartigan's appointment as a judge of the Illinois Court of Claims, beginning March 18, 2013 and ending January 21, 2019.
  2013
• From Bar to Bench and Back Provides biographical and professional information concerning Hartigan's legal and judicial career and family.
  2017