Mel Katten and his wife Renee at the fall gala. (Photo Credit: Robert Carl)
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP announced today that Melvin L. Katten was presented with the Adler & Sullivan Award by the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University for his lasting contributions to the arts and his strong support of the theatre, a national historic landmark. To mark the day on which the award was given, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proclaimed November 3, 2018, to be “Mel Katten Day” in Chicago.
“Mel is deeply committed to civic and charitable work, which is one reason that philanthropy is a cornerstone of the law firm that bears his name,” said Katten Chairman Roger P. Furey. “Our attorneys regularly give back through a range of activities, including pro bono legal work, mentoring, participating in community service projects and raising money for local nonprofit organizations. This has been the way of our law firm since its beginnings nearly 45 years ago.”
Katten received the award, which recognizes his longstanding dedication to and support of the Auditorium Theatre, at the annual fall gala held on Saturday as a fundraiser for programming, restoration and preservation of the theatre.
The Auditorium Theatre, designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler, opened in 1889 to much fanfare about its central air conditioning system, incandescent lighting, “perfect” acoustics, ornate architecture and 24-karat gold-leafed ceiling arches. Declared as a national historic landmark in 1975, the venue has hosted numerous performances by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Joffrey Ballet, Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin and Elton John and sporting events including the NFL Draft as well as speeches by former presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William McKinley, influential leader Booker T. Washington and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Katten has served on the board of directors for the Auditorium Theatre since 2002, spent 14 years as chairman and now is chairman emeritus. He sits on the board of the Chicago Loop Alliance and American Friends of Tel Aviv University. He serves as senior vice chairman of the board of trustees at Roosevelt University, president of the Pamela B. Katten Memorial Leukemia Research Foundation in honor of his daughter, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Greater Illinois chapter trustee, life trustee of the Better Government Association and chairman of its Civic Leadership Committee, and general trustee of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois.
As founding partner of the law firm who is now senior counsel and a certified public accountant, Katten maintains his legal practice, which includes tax and financial structure and counseling, corporate mergers and acquisitions, real estate and business ventures, as well as federal tax and criminal investigations.
Katten is a full-service law firm with more than 600 attorneys in locations across the United States and in London and Shanghai. Clients seeking sophisticated, high-value legal services turn to Katten for counsel locally, nationally and internationally. The firm’s core areas of practice include corporate, financial services, insolvency and restructuring, litigation, real estate, environmental and workplace safety, commercial finance, intellectual property, structured finance and securitization, and trusts and estates. Katten represents public and private companies in numerous industries, including a third of the Fortune 100, as well as a number of government and nonprofit organizations and individuals. For more information, visit www.kattenlaw.com.
