Local lawyer is coach, humanitarian, friend

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Updated: February 1, 2012 5:18PM

Keith Hanson, a Cuba Township resident and managing partner of Hanson Law Group in Barrington, was grocery shopping when a soccer player made his day.

Maybe his decade.

“Hey, coach!” the booter shouted in an aisle. “How are you?”

Hanson halted his cart, looked and smiled.

It was one of the players he’d guided as a youth soccer coach.

“That,” Hanson said, “was one of those moments … a lovely moment. Coaching has a way of grounding you, and it certainly grounded me. That happens when you help and interact with 8-, 9- and 10-year-olds.

“We made sure our teams were very, very fit, so we made them run a lot. We wanted them to be strong in the second half of every game.”

The early years of the second half of Hanson’s full life: strong, hyper-busy.

The 58-year-old father of five (ranging, in age, from 15 to 30) — and chairman of Newt Gingrich’s Illinois Republican presidential primary campaign — flew to Arizona on Friday to attend the 41st annual Barrett-Jackson auto auction, an event that car lover Jay Leno would gladly organize if he didn’t have to prepare all those monologues.

Hanson was particularly interested in how a 1932 Ford Hi-Boy Custom Roadster would fare on the block on Sunday.

All proceeds of the steel-built auto, dubbed “Metal of Honor,” would go to IronMen, a foundation founded three years ago by Hanson and Lake Zurich residents Chuck Caswell and Wayne Dunbar. IronMen provides scholarships for children of slain and disabled U.S. military heroes.

“I did not grow up as a car guy,” admitted Hanson, who grew up in Rock County, Wis., located several prodigious Hank Aaron homers from old County Stadium, one of his favorite ballparks.

“But I am amazed, truly amazed, at the stunning passion of people in the car world. They’re wonderful people.”

The Roadster sold for $150,000, also wonderful. Hanson’s wife, Stephanie, and several of the couple’s fellow Village Church of Barrington parishioners watched the auction online on Sunday.

“Our first fundraiser for IronMen,” Keith Hanson marveled, “was selling chocolate chip cookies at church. Can you believe that?”

From cookies to carburetors.

Quite a road.

Former Village Church of Barrington Pastor Dave Barber traverses roads and preaches in Kentucky these days. One of his best friends is Hanson.

“Keith has never forgotten about his roots in rural Wisconsin — even after all the success that has come his way,” said Barber, pastor of Village Church of Barrington from 1985 to 2009. “He has that ability to make anybody feel comfortable, to put people at ease.

“He’s a dear, loyal friend, and my life is better because of Keith.”

Hanson somehow found the time to memorize lines and perform as a judge in a church play.

“Not exactly a stretch,” the lawyer said of the role.

Daniel Lane of Lake Zurich first met Hanson after church about eight years ago. They ate lunch.

It was friendship at first bite.

“I enjoyed his company, right away,” Lane recalled. “He’s well-educated, with a sharp mind. I like listening to his thoughts on multiple subjects. What I appreciate, when we engage in conversation, is how precisely he speaks … his clarity. And when the subject turns to law, Keith never buries you in legalese.”

A resident of the Barrington area for 15 years, Hanson, a University of Wisconsin graduate, has worked in Barrington for nearly 10 years. The Hanson Law Group (1000 Hart Road) counsels business clients in the insurance, banking, Internet commerce and philanthropic service sectors of the economy.

The firm houses a community room for local denizens.

Stephanie Hanson helped design and build the room.

“It’s been quite a blessing, to be a part of the community like we have … to work where we live,” said Stephanie, who also coached youth soccer when the Hansons lived in Palatine.

Her husband, as a youngster, played tennis and ran track. His best two shots in tennis: service return and down-the-line backhand. Keith Hanson started playing competitive soccer — at the age of 40.

He ran a half-marathon, for the first time, last summer.

“For the first two minutes, after finishing that race, all I was thinking was, ‘I will never do this again,’” said Hanson, also a writer and public speaker. “Some 45 minutes later though, I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll try this again in a few months.’”