Former Algonquin Mayor and McHenry County Board member Don Brewer is running for the Republican nominaton for Circuit Court Judge in the 3rd Sudistrict.

Previously announced candidates are appointed Circuit Court Judge Justin Hanson and former McHenry County Clerk and Board member Mary McClellan.

His web site has this on its front page:

Donald R. Brewer for Circuit Judge

Donald R. Brewer is your neighbor, your advocate, your friend and has represented you the citizens of McHenry County as a member of your McHenry County Board and as Village President of The Village of Algonquin.

Donald Brewer is an attorney practicing law primarily in northern Illinois for over Forty Six (46) years since graduating from law school in 1973. 

Brewer’s 46 year experience and career in the law as well as Brewer’s involvement in his community government, various community organizations and his leadership make him the leading candidate for the Circuit Court Judgeship in the 3rd sub circuit of the 22nd Judicial Circuit.

A 45 year resident of Algonquin in McHenry County, Brewer has raised his children and been involved in local, regional, state and international activities.

Brewer lives with his Wife Roseann and autistic step son Joshua in Algonquin, the community he moved into in 1974, where he still eats, gardens and lives with their dog, Wanda and cats Linus and Lucy. 

A long time runner and multiple marathon participant Brewer continues to pursue dreams he had as a child and continues to pursue today.

A lengthy list of public and poliltical activities can be found here, as can his communithy involvement and professional experience, which can be found below.

Community Involvement

Even while having a very busy law practice in Cook County, Kane, McHenry and surrounding suburban counties and sub districts Brewer has found time to give back to his community.  A 45-year resident of Algonquin in McHenry County, Brewer raised his three children in Algonquin where they were involved in the local schools and community activities. Today those three children are mature grown adults who have their own children and grandchildren. Brewer’s children are a reflection of the core values of their parents and each of them reflect what their parents have stood for and how they were raised in this McHenry County community. Each of them, their children and now grandchildren have followed their parents and grandparents’ lead by being in their church community and in their local, school, regional, state and international activities.

Brewer was Village President of the Village of Algonquin in the burgeoning years of its growth in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s as well as serving on the village’s economic development committee and other community committees to study and develop the growth of the McHenry County communities and the transportation network in McHenry and Kane Counties.

Brewer served on the McHenry County Board for ten years, served as a board member for the Sage YMCA for several years and is a Charter member of the Algonquin Rotary club in 1992 where he was a President of the club for several terms.

In addition to Brewer’s local involvement in the Algonquin Rotary Club, Brewer was selected to be the District Governor for Rotary District 6440 of Rotary International. The local District comprised 70 Rotary clubs in the North, Northwest, and Western suburbs of Chicagoland and had 2100 members.  Rotary projects in the community and around the world are major causes that Rotary International supports. Ending Polio, a Rotary and World Health Organization along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been one of Brewer’s goals since he has been a Rotarian.  The year of his District Governor leadership (2017-18) a goal of Rotary International was that Rotary clubs around the world plant one tree in their community for every Rotary member in their club. This goal was met and surpassed under Brewer’s leadership as well as meeting the needs of the underprivileged in our local communities throughout the year.

Rotary International has a  Four Way test which is a solid foundation on which candidate Donald R. Brewer bases both his more’s, modus operandi and a foundation that Brewer uses as a bed rock platform for how he conducts himself as a person, husband, father, attorney, counselor and professional.  This Four Way Test has been the basis of Donald R. Brewer’s personal life, community life and professional life for Brewer’s entire adult life and vast career.  These four (4) lines are a defining benchmark for how Donald R. Brewer conducts his personal, spiritual, community and professional life. It begins like this:

THE FOUR WAY TEST OF THE THINGS WE THINK SAY AND DO

First                  Is it the Truth?

Second             Is it Fair to all Concerned?

Third                 Will it Build Good Will and Better Friendships?

Fourth              Will it Be Beneficial to All Concerned?

Brewer served as Chairman of the Board for Phil’s Friends, a not for profit organization founded by Phil Zielke to aid victims of the dreaded disease of Cancer. Serving over 5,000 individuals a week Phil’s friends supports and provides HOPE to those afflicted by this horrible disease. Still active today Brewer hopes to see a CURE for this horrible affliction in his lifetime. Like Polio there can be an end to the fight. Continued support and research into treatment for the disease is tantamount to Making a Difference and getting HELP and HOPE for those so afflicted.

Brewer attends Willow Creek Community Church and has given his pro bono legal assistance to hundreds of individuals through Willow Creek’s Care Center and Legal Aid program. His pro bono work extended into McHenry County where for several years Brewer represented the needs and clientele of McHenry County Senior Services, representing those individuals that had needs being attended to by Senior Services. Brewer’s pro bono work extends outside of McHenry county to surrounding counties through Administer Justice an organization that provides legal assistance to those individuals in need. 

Brewer’s church work over his 47 year career led him to being President of the Greater Chicago Metropolitan Baptist Association and to the Chairmanship of the National Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs a body that represented over 14 million individuals who sought justice and a voice before the Supreme Court of the United States and Congress. As Chairman of the BJC Brewer had multiple opportunities to be a signer on Amicus Briefs filed with the Supreme Court on major 1^st Amendment cases that reached the Supreme Court on various Writs of Certiorari applied for and granted by the Supreme Court.

Profession Experience

Graduating from the University of Iowa in 1967 with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering he first worked at Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, New York. After several years as a production engineer Kodak sent Donald to law school to prepare him to be a Patent, Trademark and Copyright lawyer. Brewer graduated with honors from John Marshal Law School (Chicago) in 1973, Brewer first became a US Patent and Trademark Attorney, licensed to practice before the US Patent Office in Washington D.C. After his 1973 graduation Brewer went to work as a Patent and Trademark attorney for Zenith Radio and Television in Chicago. While at Zenith he became a licensed attorney in the State of Illinois in 1974. 

In 1975 Brewer left Zenith and opened his law office in the City of Chicago as a sole practioner.  From the outset of his career Brewer has represented hundreds of clients in both Illinois civil and criminal courts as well as in U.S. Federal District Courts. Brewer’s experience ranges from capital murder jury trials to bench trials for traffic offenses as well as representing many “mom and pop” businesses in small business ventures and disputes.  Whether a specific matter was preparation of a will and possibly a trust document, a real estate residential closing, forming a corporation or representing individuals owning their own business and needing counsel on legal matters Brewer has been there to answer the call for his clients.  Brewer is often an individual’s only contact with the U.S. legal system and Brewer strives to make the law relevant to clients and  individuals and make their interaction with the legal system go more smoothly, taking some of the fear and trepidation out of the process.

Brewer’s love for the Courtroom has and does energize him in his quest to serve and advocate for his clients in the courtroom. That zest for fairness, empathy and a just result is what drives Brewer in his quest for being a judge that can and will understand and promote fairness, equity, empathy and justice in an unfair world where drama and entitlement seem to rule.

Brewer has tried over 400 civil and criminal jury trials as well as countless bench trials and hearings in his 46 year career as an attorney.  From local Illinois county courts to the Federal District Courts in Colorado, Texas and Northern Illinois Brewer has advocated for his clients in many instances against the “powers” and industries that attempt to control our society with their money and clout.  Still today he is regularly appointed to represent incarcerated individuals before the Northern District Federal Courts in both Chicago and Rockford. Brewer’s representation of many individuals in civil trials were in Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice matters and his criminal jury trials started with a Not Guilty in an assault and battery and attempted rape case in early 1975 where the young defendant got a fresh start after a jury acquitted him of the charges alleged. More recently Brewer has been successful in resolving issues alleged in an aggravated DUI. Always looking for the best way to represent a client Brewer also reminds himself regularly that the Rule of Law is the basis of our legal system and there are two sides to every dispute or charge. He empathizes with the accused and advocates for fair and reasonable treatment within the bounds of that Rule of Law. 

Brewer while a strong advocate for his clients before the bench ( the lawyers’ talk denoting the judge’s desk/bench in the courtroom) and while presenting his client’s case to a jury is also a sensitive experienced community leader and member who admonishes both his clients and his constituency as to issues such as distracted driving, driving under the influence and the use of illegal substances and alcohol. Brewer firmly stands against and believes that certain questionable, illegal and immoral conduct by individuals, businesses and government entities needs to be held in check and that such conduct will neither be tolerated nor accepted as a norm in our society. The Rule of Law is primary and Equity does allow for the best interests of individuals and those who cannot fend for themselves to have a voice in the courtroom. Brewer has seen this in his many years of practice and has seen and experienced bias and favoritism in the courtroom. That was Brewer’s primary reason for choosing a career in litigation and advocating and litigating for clients and not just taking the “easy way out”.

Brewer’s primary practice is widely based but focused on any type of litigation where the client is faced with having to use the court system for resolution of their issues and disputes.

Brewer is an accomplished and well qualified litigation attorney that sees both sides of the issue before the courts where he practices on a daily basis and Brewer’s litigation experience has him called upon to both arbitrate and sometimes mediate cases in the McHenry County court system.

Brewer believes that a prevailing conservative more’ of our society has long been established by a dominant, conservative section of United States society founded on basic freedoms fought for by this country’s forefathers and for whom many of our beloved veterans have sacrificed their health, well-being and life for us to be able to enjoy the freedom and rights we have in America today. This society is based on the “rule of law” which offers our society guidelines for which we can settle disputes and protect the individual rights of citizens whose rights are often compromised by unscrupulous businesses, individuals and even government entities. Brewer in his long established career has helped and advocated for many using the Rule of Law as a basis for resolution.