Marengo attorney marks 60 years in law

Marengo attorney Herb Franks marked 60 years in law last month, according to the law firm where he’s a senior partner.

Franks began his career in 1961 and was a partner in a law firm in Rockford, where he won the first million-dollar jury verdict for a Marengo resident, according to a news release. After winning that case and others, he opened his first office in Marengo.

The firm now is known as Franks Gerkin Ponitz & Greeley.

Franks and his wife, Eileen, were among the founders of the McHenry County Jewish Congregation. In the late 1970s, he organized and opened the First National Bank of Marengo, where he has served as board chairman, according to the release. In the early 1980s, the Wonder Lake State Bank followed.

Franks also served as board chairman of Forest Hospital, which was a psychiatric hospital in Des Plaines, and was a founder of the Forest Institute for Professional Psychology, once the largest fully accredited psychology school in the U.S., according to the release.

In 2000, Franks was the first attorney from McHenry County to be elected as president of the Illinois State Bar Association.

The Frankses have three grown sons, David, Jack and Eli, who all are lawyers. Jack Franks is a former state legislator and former McHenry County Board chairman.