Hon. Samuel Der-Yeghiayan

C. Yardley Chittick

The Honorable Samuel Der-Yeghiayan, United States District Court Judge of the Northern District of Illinois and a 1978 Pierce Law alumnus, will address the graduating class at commencement exercises to be held on Saturday, May 21, beginning at 10:30 AM at Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord.

Other noted participants will be: C. Yardley Chittick of Concord, NH, the nation's oldest patent attorney at 104 years of age, who will receive an honorary degree; Professor Christopher Johnson, chosen by the members of the graduating class to deliver the faculty address; student Michael Hulser of Acworth, NH, selected by his fellow classmates to speak on behalf of the class.

Pierce Law will award 95 Juris Doctor (JD) degrees, 17 joint Juris Doctor/Master of Intellectual Property, Commerce and Technology (JD/MIPCT) degrees, one joint Juris Doctor/Master of Education Law (JD/MEL) degree, 26 Master of Intellectual Property, Commerce and Technology (MIPCT) degrees, 39 Master of Laws in Intellectual Property (LLM) degrees, and three Master of Education Law (MEL) degrees.

The Honorable Samuel Der-Yeghiayan is the first Armenian immigrant and the first alumnus of Franklin Pierce Law Center to attain the federal bench. Prior to his appointment to the bench by President Bush, he served as a U.S. Immigration Judge in Chicago.

Born in Aleppo, Syria in 1952, Judge Der-Yeghiayan grew up in Beirut, Lebanon and immigrated to the United States when he was 19-years-old. He earned a BA degree from Evangel University in Springfield, MO in 1975, majoring in political science. In 1978, he earned his JD degree from Franklin Pierce Law Center where he served on the Law Review Editorial Board.

Judge Der-Yeghiayan began his legal career under the Attorney General's Honors Program and was appointed in 1978 as a trial attorney for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in Chicago, IL. Four years later, he was promoted to District Counsel for the INS Chicago District with jurisdiction over the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. From 1982 to 2000, he managed one of the largest INS legal processing programs in the nation and supervised a staff of more than 20 government attorneys, including Special Assistant United States Attorneys.

During his tenure with the INS, he served as part of the government team litigating cases in both the U.S. District Courts and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He also served on various national legal committees, including the committee relating to national security and anti-terrorism.

For 20 consecutive years, from 1981 to 2000, Judge Der-Yeghiayan received Outstanding Performance Ratings as a U.S. Justice Department Attorney from the Attorney General of the United States. He also received Superior Accomplishment Awards as a government attorney and Certificates of Appreciation from the Chicago Bar Association for his contributions to the Chicago Lawyer's Court Handbook.

In 1986, he received the Frank J. McGarr Award of the Federal Bar Association as the Outstanding Federal Government Attorney in Chicago. In 1998, he received the District Counsel of the Year Award from the Commissioner of the INS and the U.S. Attorney General. He became U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois in 2003.

Attorney Chittick was born in Boston, MA on October 22, 1900. He and his wife moved to Wakefield, NH in 1975, where they lived until her death in 1997. He now resides at Pleasant View Retirement in Concord, NH.

Chittick was the son of a silk miller who lost his job in 1905. The family was very poor, until his father reinvented himself as an expert witness and consultant ten year's later. With the help of an uncle, Chittick was able to attend Phillips Academy in Andover, MA where in 1917 he roomed across the hall from Humphrey Bogart. Later he attended MIT where he earned a BS degree in mechanical engineering. An outstanding athlete, Chittick won the New England Intercollegiate Low Hurdle Championship in 1922, during his senior year at MIT and went on to race with the Newark Athletic Club.

After graduation from MIT, Chittick worked for his father for about three years and then decided to go out on his own. He interviewed with Thomas Edison, turning down a job offer from him in favor of working for a golf club manufacturer. This position put him in contact with various inventors and patent lawyers. When the Great Depression hit, he decided to go to law school.

Chittick earned his Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University and passed the Patent Bar in 1934. He still remembers the number: #13,782.

He accepted a position at the United States Patent Office for an annual salary of $1900, but later established his own practice; he retired in 1985.

For further information, please call Franklin Pierce Law Center, (603) 228-1541.

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