Jim DuChateau has been awarded the Illinois Defense Counsel’s (IDC) 2025-2026 Distinguished Member Award. In presenting the award, IDC’s President, R. Mark Cosimini, remarked, “Jim has been a valued member of the IDC for at least 15 years. In addition to being a vital member of the board of directors for the past nine years, Jim served as the Editor in Chief of IDC Quarterly, served in committee leadership roles, and served as a substantive speaker at IDC seminars. Jim has done everything that was ever asked of him and more. I can’t think of a more deserving member of IDC to receive the Distinguished Member Award.”
Reflecting on the recognition, DuChateau said: “Receiving the Distinguished Member Award is an honor, and a wonderful culmination of nine meaningful years serving on the Board of Directors for the IDC. It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve and help guide such a sterling organization; one that continues to set the professional bar for defense counsel extremely high. With the concentration of legal talent in this organization, I was truly touched, humbled and profoundly grateful to the IDC and its members for this award and recognition.”
DuChateau was previously honored as IDC’s Volunteer of the Year. His recognition adds to HeplerBroom’s long history of service to IDC, with 4 of the organization’s 17 Distinguished Member Award recipients having been HeplerBroom attorneys.
A partner in the firm’s Chicago office, DuChateau concentrates his practice exclusively on insurance coverage. He is a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (a prestigious, invitation-only bar association reserved for corporate general counsel and senior outside defense counsel) and has been named an Illinois Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters. He was previously honored as the Legal Assistance Foundation’s Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year.
DuChateau earned his J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. He also holds a B.S. in History and a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin. He is licensed to practice in Illinois and is admitted to the bars of the Supreme Court of Illinois; the U.S. District Courts for the District of Colorado, Eastern District of Wisconsin, Southern and Northern Districts of Indiana, Eastern District of Missouri, and Northern, Central, and Southern Districts of Illinois; and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois.