Tyrone Clarence "Ty" Fahner ( ; born November 18, 1942) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

he served as

Illinois Attorney General The Illinois Attorney General is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, Illinois Springf ...

from 1980 until 1983. He was appointed to the position by Governor James R. Thompson after the incumbent, William Scott, had been disqualified from office after being convicted of a tax crime.

Early life and education

Tyrone Clarence Fahner was born on November 18, 1942, in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

,Appointment of Tyrone C. Fahner as a Member of the Board of Foreign Scholarships
American Presidency Project: Ronald Reagan (December 8, 1988). to Warren Fahner, a

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automot ...

employee, and Alma (Newman) Fahner, who worked at

Michigan Bell Michigan Bell is the subsidiary of AT&T serving the state of Michigan. Following the Bell System divestiture on January 8, 1984, the company became a subsidiary of Ameritech, the Regional Bell operating company that served the midwestern United St ...

as a telephone operator.An Interview with Tyrone C. Fahner, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
, Illinois Statecraft – Jim Thompson Oral History Project, Interview # IST-A-L-2015-019. Fahner graduating from Denby High School in 1961 and became a student at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He received his Bachelor of Arts, B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1965, his Juris Doctor, J.D. from the

Wayne State University Law School Wayne State University Law School (Wayne Law) is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), ...

in 1968, and his

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

from the

Northwestern University School of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law scho ...

in 1971.

Career

In the early 1970s, after a short period in private practice, Fahner became an

Assistant U.S. Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, serving under then-U.S. Attorney James R. (Jim) Thompson. Fahner was a lawyer with the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to ...

of Freeman, Rothe, Freeman & Salzman in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

from 1975 to 1977. Thompson was subsequently elected

governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

and in 1977 selected Fahner to serve as his director of the Illinois Department of Law Enforcement, a post which Thompson retained until 1979. In 1980, Thompson appointed Fahner to serve as

, filling the vacancy created after Attorney General William J. Scott was convicted of

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

. Fahner ran for a full term as attorney general, but was defeated by

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

candidate Neil F. Hartigan in the 1982 election. After leaving office in 1983, Fahner returned to private practice, joining the

Mayer Brown LLP Mayer Brown is a global white-shoe law firm, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It has offices in 27 cities across the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, with its largest offices being in Chicago, Washington, D.C., New ...

as a partner.Mayer Brown's Ty Fahner named board chairman of the Shedd
''

Crain's Chicago Business ''Crain's Chicago Business'' is a weekly business newspaper in Chicago, IL. It is owned by Detroit-based Crain Communications, a privately held publishing company with more than 30 magazines, including '' Advertising Age'', '' Modern Healthca ...

'' (July 17, 2012). Fahner served on the firm's management committee from 1985 to 2007, and was its co-chairman from 1998 to 2001 and its chairman from 2001 to 2007. In 2015, Fahner wrote a letter to U.S. District Judge

Thomas M. Durkin Thomas Michael Durkin (born December 26, 1953) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Biography Durkin was born in Chicago. He received his Bachelor of Science degree, cum la ...

urging a lenient sentence for former

House Speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerfo ...

Dennis Hastert John Dennis Hastert (; born January 2, 1942) is an American former politician and convicted felon who represented from 1987 to 2007 and served as the 51st speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. The longest-se ...

, who had pleaded guilty to unlawfully

structuring Structuring, also known as smurfing in banking jargon, is the practice of executing financial transactions such as making bank deposits in a specific pattern, calculated to avoid triggering financial institutions to file reports required by law ...

bank withdrawals to avoid reporting requirements. (Hastert had made secret payments to a man whom he had

sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

decades earlier, when Hastert was a high school teacher and coach).Jason Meisner
More than 40 letters in support of Hastert made public before sentencing
''Chicago Tribune'' (April 22, 2016). Fahner referred to Hastert as "a kind, strong, principled, and unselfish man" and wrote: "I urge the court to permit him to live the rest of his life in freedom with his family and friends, and all those who love and admire him." Fahner subsequently said that it was a mistake for him to use Mayer Brown firm

letterhead A letterhead is the heading at the top of a sheet of letter paper (stationery). It consists of a name, address, logo or trademark, and sometimes a background pattern. Overview Many companies and individuals prefer to create a letterhead template ...

for the letter.Roy Strom
Firm Name on Hastert Support Letter Was 'Mistake,' Mayer Brown Partner Says
''National Law Journal'' (April 25, 2016). In the

2016 Republican Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party took place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories between February 1 and June 7, 2016. These elections selected the 2,472 delegates that were ...

, Fahner was a delegate pledged to the

presidential campaign President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush ...

Memberships and board service

In 1988, Ronald Reagan appointed Fahner to the

Board of Foreign Scholarships Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ty ...

, for a term ending in 1991. Fahner joined the board of trustees of the

Shedd Aquarium Shedd Aquarium (formally the John G. Shedd Aquarium) is an indoor public aquarium in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Opened on May 30, 1930, the aquarium was for some time the largest indoor facility in the world. Today it holds about ...

in 2004, and became the chairman of the board in 2012. Fahner is president of the civic committee of the

Commercial Club of Chicago The Commercial Club of Chicago is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) social welfare organization founded in 1877 with a mission to promote the social and economic vitality of the metropolitan area of Chicago. History The Commercial Club was founded in 1877 ...

.Mark Peters
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Faces Fresh Anger After New Police Shooting
''Wall Street Journal'' (December 28, 2015).

Personal life

Fahner is married to Anne Fahner.Bob Goldsborough

''Chicago Tribune'' (December 30, 2016). The family lived in Evanston for many years until moving to

Northfield Northfield may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Northfield, Aberdeen, Scotland * Northfield, Edinburgh, Scotland * Northfield, Birmingham, England * Northfield (Kettering BC Ward), Northamptonshire, England United States * Northfield, Connecti ...

in 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahner, Tyrone C. 1942 births Living people Lawyers from Evanston, Illinois People from Northfield, Illinois Politicians from Detroit University of Michigan alumni Wayne State University Law School alumni Wayne State University faculty Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni Illinois Attorneys General Illinois Republicans People associated with Mayer Brown