Press Release
Burton Awards Program Honors Duane Morris’ Stanley Kaminski and David Curkovic for Legal Writing
Duane Morris is pleased to announce that Duane Morris tax partner Stan Kaminski and associate David Curkovic have been named 2010 winners of The Burton Awards for Legal Achievement. This prestigious writing award is held in association with the Library of Congress. Thirty "Distinguished Law Firm Award" winners were chosen from all the entries submitted by the nation's 1,000 largest law firms.
The Burton Foundation, a non-profit academic organization, established the Burton Awards to select the finest law firm and law school authors and has since expanded into other areas of the law. The guest speakers at the June 14 gala award ceremony, to be held at the Library of Congress, include Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg; prominent legal author Bryan Garner; and Jeffrey Toobin, senior analyst for CNN Worldwide and author.
Kaminski's and Curkovic's winning article, Content-Based Tax Exemptions and the First Amendment, published in State Tax Notes, comments on the holding of the Illinois Supreme Court in Pooh-Bah Enterprises, Inc. v. County of Cook that a content-based tax exemption that discriminates between some forms of dance based on their erotic or sexual content does not violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Duane Morris attorneys have been honored by the Burton Awards in the past. In 2007, the Burton Awards selected two published works by Duane Morris attorneys: Risk and Recovery: Developments in Business Bankruptcy and Commercial Finance Law and Handbook, compiled by Duane Morris' Business Reorganization and Financial Restructuring Practice Group, and Insurance Coverage, 13th Edition, co-authored by Duane Morris of counsel Tom Newman.
Kaminski concentrates his practice in the areas of state and local taxation, including sales/use tax, franchise tax and multistate corporate and individual income tax issues. Kaminski's practice also encompasses abandoned property/escheat issues. A certified public accountant, he previously served as the City of Chicago's First Chief Assistant Corporation Counsel for Taxation. Kaminski has handled hundreds of cases in the state and local tax area. He has also written numerous articles and chapters on state and local taxation for the Research Institute of America, Council on State Taxation, the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, State Tax Notes, Tax Management, Inc. and Matthew Bender. He was the author of the Research Institute of America's Illinois Tax Handbook. Kaminski is also a frequent lecturer and guest speaker for organizations, such as the Chicago Tax Club, the National Business Institute and the Council on State Taxation.
Curkovic practices in the area of litigation, particularly for clients in the insurance and reinsurance industry. Curkovic has worked on matters involving general liability insurance, directors and officers insurance, professional liability insurance, errors and omissions insurance, and bad faith under first- and third-party insurance policies. He has defended and counseled insurance clients in coverage and bad faith litigation nationwide and defended professionals in all aspects of state and federal civil litigation. He also has experience with state class action litigation and complex civil litigation.
Duane Morris LLP, a full-service law firm with more than 700 attorneys in 24 offices in the United States and internationally, offers innovative solutions to the legal and business challenges presented by today's evolving global markets.
