CBA Officers & Board of Managers 2023-2024

Officers:

President Ray J. Koenig III

Ray J. Koenig III is a member in Clark Hill’s Litigation and Tax & Estate Planning groups. He also serves in leadership roles within the firm, which include serving as the Managing Member of Clark Hill’s Chicago office, Co-Leader of the firm’s Global Litigation Practice, Co-Chair of the firm’s PRIDE Committee, and an elected member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Mr. Koenig represents individuals, families, financial and medical institutions, charities and governmental agencies in probate, trust, and guardianship controversies, including complex matters which require practical solutions. Mr. Koenig has decades of experience in a variety of aspects of controversies involving trusts, probate, guardianships and related fiduciary issues including will and trust contests, will and trust construction and reformation actions, citations to recover, breach of fiduciary duty claims, charitable disputes, and guardianship litigation. His years of practice have also resulted in his retention as an expert witness in matters involving guardianship and probate issues.

A frequent author and lecturer, Mr. Koenig is an active member and past member of many legal and social service organizations including: Commissioner on the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations, Trustee of the Illinois State Retirement Systems (SERS), Equality Illinois PAC, Chicago House Social Service Agency, the Lambda Legal Education and Defense Fund and the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and a member of the Board of Directors at the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education.

Mr. Koenig received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and his J.D. from the DePaul University College of Law.

First Vice President John C. Sciaccotta

John C. Sciaccotta is an Equity Partner/Member at Aronberg Goldgehn in Chicago. He has more than 36 years of trial and litigation experience advocating for clients in complex civil litigation, arbitration, mediation, business separation (business divorce) and business transactional and counseling matters with a special emphasis on complex civil trial and appellate cases brought in federal and state courts and tribunals throughout the United States. Mr. Sciaccotta represents publicly and privately held domestic and foreign business entities, lenders, professional service providers, employers, municipalities, government bodies and individuals in transactional matters and disputes. He has substantial experience representing lawyers, law firms, real estate owners/developers, business owners in a wide array of industries, professional service organizations, partnerships, limited liability companies, manufacturing, construction, technology, professional sales companies, municipalities, hedge funds and broker/dealers, governmental bodies, banks and lending institutions. In addition, Mr. Sciaccotta has been appointed as a Neutral Arbitrator and Mediator for many years to resolve and arbitrate business related disputes. He serves on the Commercial Panel of the American Arbitration Association's National Roster of Arbitrators.

Mr. Sciaccotta is active in firm leadership and bar and professional organizations. He serves on the firm's Executive Management Committee, chair of the Recruitment Committee, and is the founder and co-chair of the firm's Business Divorce practice group, the chair of the Commercial Litigation marketing group, a founding member of the firm's DEI Committee, and co-chair of the firm's Marketing Committee.

At The Chicago Bar Association, he has served in several leadership and board positions as well as co-founding and chairing the Business Divorce and Complex Ownership Disputes Committee since 2018. He is also a current or past member of the CBA’s Civics Committee(Founder), Executive Committee, Membership Committee, Finance Committee, ADR Committee, CLE Committee, Bench and Bar Committee, Golf Outing Committee, and YLS Moot Court Competition Judge. In addition to the CBA, Mr. Sciaccotta is active in the American Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, American Arbitration Association, the Justinian Society of Lawyers, and has served on the boards and in leadership positions of many community and philanthropic organizations, including The DuSable Museum of African American History, WINGS Program, Inc., Jesse White Tumbling Team, Inc., The Chicago Bar Foundation, The DePaul University College of Law Dean's Advisory Council, The Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago, the Lawyers' Committee for The Retention of Cook County Judges, Fenwick High School Board of Trustees (Life Trustee), Fenwick High School Bar Association (Co-Founder), Barrington High School Baseball Booster Club and many others.

Mr. Sciaccotta earned his J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and his undergraduate degree from Creighton University. He also has attended and successfully completed the highly prestigious Harvard Law School Executive Education Program on Negotiation & Leadership.

Second Vice President Kathryn C. Liss

Kathryn C. Liss (Katie) is the Assistant Dean and Director of Law Career Services and the Executive Director of the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center at DePaul University College of Law. Ms. Liss enjoys working with law students and attorneys in helping them navigate their career path as well as their professional identity. Outside of her work at DePaul, she serves as a mentor to undergraduate students interested in practicing law. Prior to her current position, Ms. Liss practiced solely in domestic relations for over ten years handling cases involving divorce, paternity matters, adoptions, orders of protection, and mediations. She also served as a court appointed Child Representative and Guardian ad Litem in Cook County.

Ms. Liss remains involved in professional organizations that support causes she cases about. Within the Chicago Bar Association, she actively serves on its Board of Managers, Membership and Finance Committee, and Record Editorial Board. She founded the CBA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Committee as well as the Task Force Against Sexual Harassment and Assault and remains committed to both. She previously served as Chair of the CBA's Young Lawyers Section and Co-Chair of its Alliance for Women. Additionally, Ms. Liss serves as a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness, Miami University's Pre-Law Alumni Advisory Board, Illinois Coalition to Address Intimate Partner Violence-Induced Brain Injury, Force of Lawyers Against Sexual Harassment, and Association of American Law Schools. Ms. Liss served as a past member of the Chicago Bar Foundation's Board of Directors, the Chicago Bar Foundation's Young Professional Board, and the Center for Conflict Resolution's Board of Directors.

Ms. Liss received her undergraduate degree from Miami University (Ohio) and her J.D. degree from DePaul University College of Law.

Secretary Trisha Rich

Trisha Rich is a partner at Holland & Knight LLP, where she is a legal ethicist and commercial litigator. She serves as the firm’s Co-Chair of its national Legal Profession Team and as a Professional Responsibility Partner in the Chicago office. Her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, legal ethics, and professional responsibility law.

In her commercial litigation practice, Ms. Rich represents a wide variety of clients in litigation and other disputes, including national and international companies, small businesses, municipalities and state agencies, and individuals. She has extensive experience in resolving disputes between businesses and represents clients at the trial and appellate levels in a wide variety of matters, including actions for breach of contract, tort claims, breach of warranty, fraud, consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, tortious interference and all aspects of real estate, property management and receivership litigation. In her professional responsibility practice, Ms. Rich represents lawyers, law firm, in-house legal departments, and legal technology companies in all areas of legal regulation and discipline. She also serves as an expert witness on legal ethics and professional responsibility matters.

Ms. Rich is involved in a number of community and bar initiatives, including serving as the Immediate Past President of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, the nation’s leading bar association for legal ethicists. Ms. Rich is the author of Practical Ethics, the ethics column in the Chicago Bar Association's publication, The Record, and she is the Co-Host of the CBA’s award-winning podcast, @thebar. She is also the co-editor of the sixth edition of Attorney Fee Agreements in Michigan, published by The Institute of Continuing Legal Education. She is also a frequent speaker and author on a variety of issues related to legal ethics and risk management and is currently an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law, where she teaches legal ethics and professional responsibility.

Ms. Rich received her undergraduate degree and Master’s Degree (Philosophy) from Western Michigan University and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. Prior to practicing law, Ms. Rich taught practical and theoretical ethics at two universities.

Treasurer Nina Fain

Nina Fain is the General Counsel for the JSS Family Trust. She was among the first African American woman to become a partner in major law firms in Chicago. Ms. Fain has transacted business for clients in England, Germany, Poland, Japan, China, Israel, France, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Russia, and the Caribbean. Her knowledge of complex corporate transactions, economic development, real estate and finance has allowed her to provide effective representation to both public and private clients for more than two decades. Ms. Fain has worked with colleagues and trained numerous associates, with an interest in diversity and retention of women lawyers and lawyers of color in these firms. Her leadership, interest and focus on education and continuing legal education for professionals is derived from her academic background.

In addition to a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Ms. Fain holds a Bachelor of Science in Education, and a Master of Science in Education Administration from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. As a Senior Fellow, she studied corporate strategy at the University of Texas-Dallas in its Graduate School of Business Management’s Institute for Corporate Governance and was a member of its inaugural class for women who were trained to sit on publicly traded corporate boards. Ms. Fain developed smart strategies to acquire corporate business clients and be a profitable member in law firms. She has served as an Adjunct Professor in the Graduate School of Public Policy at DePaul University and the Graduate School of Business at Roosevelt University. She has held various community board leadership positions, serving on the Francis W. Parker School Alumni Association Board, Homes for Children Foundation, and the Field Museum Board of Trustees.

Ms. Fain served on the Field Museum’s Audit and Pension, Finance and Endowment Committees. She has been a frequent lecturer for both corporate and non-profit organizations, with her expertise in corporate training focused on alternative dispute resolution methodologies, leadership, and implicit bias. Fain is bilingual and speaks, writes and translates Spanish for business matters. She also has a working knowledge of French. She maintains strong ties to the Chicago south side community where she grew up and she serves as the volunteer counsel to the Southeast Calumet Homeowners Association and its 3,000 members.

Immediate Past President Timothy S. Tomasik

Timothy Tomasik is a founding member of Tomasik Kotin Kasserman LLC where he has distinguished himself as one of Chicago’s elite trial attorneys. Prior to joining the firm, Tim practiced for 15 years at Clifford Law Offices in Chicago and also served as a member of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office Bureau of Special Prosecutions.

Mr. Tomasik has tried over 100 jury and bench trials to verdict and has handled and successfully resolved hundreds of millions of dollars in claims in a variety of practice areas, including complex premises liability, aviation litigation, medical negligence, medical liability, hospital liability, and mass disasters.

As a trial attorney, Mr. Tomasik has handled significantly complex and high profile and cases including serving as a lead counsel of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the World Trade Center litigation against the airlines industry for security breaches that led to the tragic 9/11 hijackings and air crashes in which he helped to secure a $1.2 billion settlement.

Mr. Tomasik is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including being inducted by his peers into the International Society of Barristers, an honor society of outstanding trial lawyers. He has also been inducted into the American Board of Trial Advocates and in 2018 became a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in North America. Mr. Tomasik is a member of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation, American Bar Association Torts Committee, and chair of the Sub-Committee on Experts and Evidence. He has served in CBA leadership for a number of years, perhaps most notably as Chair of the Judicial Evaluation Committee for 15 years. He is a former Chair of Lawyers Lend-A-Hand, a foundation that provides grants to Chicago’s underprivileged youth.

Mr. Tomasik received his undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Colorado and his J.D. from the University of Denver.

Board of Managers:

Hon. Louis G. Apostol

Hon. Louis G. Apostol was reappointed Public Administrator by Governor Pritzker in 2022. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Executive Director, general counsel, and legislative liaison for the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (2008-2017). He has practiced law for over 40 years and was a partner in several notable firms in Chicago specializing in civil and criminal litigation, tax, finance, property, administrative and government law. He is a certified executive (CAE).
He formerly served as a Commissioner/Trial Judge on the Illinois Court of Claims (2003-2008) and as Public Administrator of Cook County (1991-2003). He was appointed a Special Counsel for the City of Chicago. He is an active member and contributor to charitable organizations such as the Diversity Scholarship Foundation, “Leadership 100” and served as the President of the Hellenic Foundation in Chicago. He was elected to the NIU Alumni Association Board of Directors (2015-2021). He was elected to the Associated Colleges of Illinois Board of Trustees (2016-2018). In 2018, he was appointed “Distinguished Advisor” to the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago.

He received his BA from Elmhurst College, MBA from NIU College of Business and JD from NIU College of Law. He was elected to the NIU College of Law Board of Visitors in 2000, served as Vice Chair and was elected Chair in 2014. He is admitted to practice in the State of Illinois, U.S. Supreme Court, and other Federal Courts.

He is an active member of the ABA, ISBA, CBA, CCL and HBA. In 1997, he received the "Hellene of the Year Award" from the HBA in Chicago. In 1998, he received the "Distinguished Service Award" from the NIU College of Law. In 2003, he received the "Community Service Award" from the Association Forum of Chicago. In 2012, he received the "Outstanding Government Service Award" from the UHVA. In 2004 and 2005, he was featured on the "Best Lawyers in America" - Sky News Program. In 2018, he received the “Public Service Award” from the NIU College of Law. In 2019, the Cook County Board of Commissioners recognized his exemplary government service and contributions to the practice of law.

Tracy Brammeier

Tracy Brammeier is a partner at Clifford Law Offices. With experience and ability in all areas of the firm’s practice, Ms. Brammeier’s recent focus is primarily complex and catastrophic transportation matters. She has worked on several wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases involving semi-trucks, boating accidents, train derailments, and forklifts.

Ms. Brammeier also handles aviation matters and has worked on many of the firm’s commercial and private aviation incident cases, involving both airplane and helicopter accidents. Currently, she acts as the court-appointed Liaison Counsel for all plaintiffs in the lawsuit arising from the 2019 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane, which resulted in the deaths of 157 people.

Ms. Brammeier works to ensure the quality and integrity of the justice system as an investigating member of the Chicago Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation Committee. She also gives back to the community through her work with the 100 Club of Chicago, a not-for-profit organization that assists the families of police officers and firefighters throughout Cook and Lake Counties, by providing a legal resource following the death of a loved one killed in the line of duty.

As a past Chair of the Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association, a section with more than 7,000 members, and a member of the Board of Managers of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Ms. Brammeier is a recognized leader in the young legal community. Her work has earned her accolades from Super Lawyers, Leading Lawyers, Law Bulletin Media, and Law Bulletin Publishing Company. In 2020, Emerging Lawyers profiled her in an article titled, “Tracy Brammeier: Building a Reputation in Transportation Injury Plaintiff’s Law,” for her expertise in transportation injury law. She is also a member of the International Aviation Women’s Association. American Association for Justice, and the American Bar Association.

Maggie Mendenhall Casey

Maggie Mendenhall Casey is the General Counsel for the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, a City of Chicago agency focused on police accountability. As General Counsel, Maggie advises elected and appointed officials on compliance and policy issues. Prior to serving as General Counsel, she was a Supervising Assistant Corporation Counsel with the City of Chicago, Corporation Counsel’s Office. In that role, she litigated wrongful death, premises liability, and Freedom of Information Act lawsuits including representing taxpayers in jury trials.

Prior to working for the City, Ms. Mendenhall Casey served as a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney, advocating on behalf of victims of crime. While working as a prosecutor, she tried numerous cases to verdict including jury trials, felonies, and sexual assaults.

Ms. Mendenhall Casey serves as Parliamentarian for the Black Women Lawyers' Association. She co-hosts the CBA’s national award-winning podcast, @TheBar, and serves as an arbitrator for the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. In 2023 she received the Next Generation Award from the Cook County Bar Association. In 2022 she received the Milton Gray Award from the Chicago Bar Association.

Ms. Mendenhall Casey received her undergraduate degree from Barnard College and her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago.

Naderh Elrabadi

Naderh Hana Elrabadi is a sole proprietor of Elrabadi Law, a Plaintiff’s Injury Law Firm in Chicago. Ms. Elrabadi is actively involved in the Chicago Bar Association where she currently is serving as Chair of the Anti-Human Trafficking Committee. She was appointed to serve as a Human Rights Commissioner for the Commission on Human Relations for the City of Chicago by Mayor’s Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot where she served for over 10 years adjudicating discrimination complaints under the Human Rights Ordinance. Prior to her current position, Ms. Elrabadi was a Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago Department of Law Traffic Section. Her practice has allowed her to try over 140 jury trials to verdict on behalf of injured plaintiffs.

Ms. Elrabadi was the Past Secretary and Board Member of the Arab American Bar Association of Illinois and mentorship program liaison for Arab American law students. She continues her mentorship work through the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the Diversity Scholarship Foundation. She also serves on the Board of University of Illinois School of Law. She also serves as an Arbitrator in the Municipal Division and the Law Division in Cook County program. She was a delegate for the Arab Lawyers Forum in London, England.

She is actively involved in the community and serves as Board Member of Running Refugee Life Foundation which serves the refugee population of Chicago, access to services such as housing, education, healthcare, and food security. She also volunteers for the Cook County Expungement Summit and assists in citizenship and naturalization applications for underserved communities.

She received her undergraduate degree Loyola University Chicago in Communications and Political Science, her master’s degree in Sociology and her Juris Doctor for John Marshall Law School.

Anthony F. Fata

Anthony F. Fata is a partner at Kirby McInerney LLP. For more than 20 years, he has represented clients in complex financial matters, including claims arising under the commodity, securities, antitrust, and whistleblower laws. He has regularly appeared before federal and state courts throughout the United States and in regulatory matters overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and other governmental and self-regulatory agencies.

Prior to joining Kirby McInerney LLP, he practiced at McDermott, Will & Emery LLP, where he defended SEC enforcement matters, securities class actions, shareholder derivative suits, and consumer class actions. He then joined Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel LLP to lead the firm’s efforts in commodity manipulation matters.

In addition to his law practice, since 2016, Mr. Fata has been an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law. He teaches J.D., M.S.J. and LL.M candidates in a wide range of financial services courses, including Securities Regulation, Regulating Broker Dealers, Regulating Funds and Advisors, Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance, Financial Crimes Compliance, Regulating Depository Institutions, Financial Privacy, and Corporate Law. He is also a recurring panelist for the Practicing Law Institute Internal Investigations Seminar conducted in Chicago each year.

Mr. Fata is active in the Chicago Bar Association, where he Co-Chairs the Securities Law Committee and serves on the Editorial Board of the CBA Record.

Mr. Fata received his bachelor’s degree from Miami University and his J.D. from Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

Josie M. Gough

Josie M. Gough is Of Counsel at Burke, Burns & Pinelli, Ltd. where she focuses on strategic business development, municipal law, board governance, and employment law. Ms. Gough continues to serve the firm and its clients on matters that promote diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Over the course of her legal career, Ms. Gough has represented both the private and public sector. She is experienced in various types of municipal law, labor and employment, real estate and construction, airport, and aviation matters, including minority- and women- owned business development.

Before joining the firm, Ms. Gough was the assistant dean for Inclusion, Diversity and Equity and director of Experiential Learning and Professional Development at Loyola University Chicago's School of Law. Ms. Gough continues to serve Loyola University Chicago School of Law as a member of the adjunct faculty and the Dean’s Diversity Council.

Ms. Gough earned her Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She also earned a master’s degree in education and Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University Chicago. She is a member of the University of Chicago’s Women’s Board and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Cynthia S. Grandfield

Cynthia Grandfield is a partner at Del Galdo Law Group, LLC in the firm’s Chicago office that has devoted her career to the representation of the government in civil litigation, specifically counties, municipalities, school, park districts, and community colleges in anything they are sued for or need to sue for. She has handled several high-profile matters, including most recently obtaining critical injunctive and remedial relief during the pandemic to protect the public health, safety, and welfare on behalf of local governments and local elected officials. During the course of her career, Ms. Grandfield has tried over 100 cases to verdict, ranging from a one-day bench trial to a multi-week jury trial.

Prior to becoming a member of the Board of Managers, Ms. Grandfield was a member of the CBA’s Judicial Evaluation Committee for over a decade. She also is currently appointed to the National Government Relations Committee for the Federal Bar Association. Through that Committee, she advocates for the federal judiciary, the filling of vacancies and creation of new judgeships, and assists in drafting statements and advocating on behalf of the FBA on a wide range of federal legal issues.

Ms. Grandfield received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton and her J.D. cum laude from DePaul College of Law.

Brian Haussmann

Justice Margaret Stanton McBride

Justice McBride serves on the Illinois Appellate Court. She received her B.A. degree from Newton College of the Sacred Heart in Newton, MA, and her J.D. degree from DePaul University College of Law. She served in private practice from 1976 to 1977 and then as a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney from 1977 to 1987. Judge McBride was appointed to the Circuit Court in 1987 and elected a Circuit Judge in 1990. She served in the First Municipal District, Criminal, Law and Chancery Divisions of the Circuit Court. When elected to the Appellate Court in November 1998, Judge McBride was the Presiding Judge of the Third Municipal District.

Peter McNamara

Peter McNamara Peter Conrad McNamara serves as Chief Attorney, Labor & Employment for Chicago Transit Authority. He is lead trial counsel and is adept in all phases of litigation: from discovery to post-trial practice. He is licensed to practice before the Seventh Circuit.

His representation experience spans both sides of the employment relationship—employers and employees—under various federal and state statutes, including Title VII, FMLA, ADA, and IHRA, among other acronyms.
Before joining CTA, Mr. McNamara managed labor & employment matters for the Federal Aviation Administration. His legal journey began with the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, championing employees and union rights. Beyond his advocacy, McNamara serves as an arbitrator for the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Mandatory Arbitration program.

Mr. McNamara is a former active member of the Judicial Evaluation Committee. He is an active member of the Labor & Employment Committee and is on the Advisory Board for the Chicago-Kent College of Law Illinois Public Sector Labor Relations and Labor Law Conference. During his entire senior year of college, he volunteered at a legal clinic that represented domestic violence survivors in the order of protection process and he also volunteered for an Elder Law Clinic during his 3L year. He is passionate about molding young attorneys as he helps run CTA’s legal internship program and has served as a mentor in CBA’s Lawyer to Lawyer program.

Mr. McNamara is active in his adopted hometown of Park Ridge. He was the recipient of the 2019 Park Ridge Beautification Award, served as Chair of the Park Ridge Board of Fire & Police Commissioners, and has coached five-, six-, and seven-year-olds in Park Ridge Baseball. A first-generation American, with roots in Peru and Ireland, family comes first. His proudest titles are “father” to River (1), Isla (5), and Jack (8) and “husband” to Eva who lovingly, and not begrudgingly, supports his dream of one day breaking 80 in golf.

Mr. McNamara obtained his J.D. from Southern Illinois University School of Law, where he served as the Associate Editor of the Journal of Legal Medicine and his B.A. from DePaul University.

John Mitchell

Jeffrey Moskowitz

Jeffrey Moskowitz is a trial attorney, entrepreneur, and amateur comedian. He received his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and his J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. At DePaul, he was a recipient of the prestigious CALI Award for excellent trial litigation skills and the Benjamin Hooks’ Distinguished Public Service Award for his extensive pro bono work. Immediately out of law school, he started his law practice, over the past ten years, it has grown into a thriving business. In 2017, Jeff founded a consumer legal funding company that helps plaintiffs bridge the gap while their cases are pending.

Mr. Moskowitz has been selected by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star for 2020, 2021 and 2022. After evaluating over 700 Chicagoland attorneys, Expertise.com chose Jeff as one of the best 46 Litigation Attorneys in Chicago.

He has handled hundreds of cases and tried countless motions, hearings and trials, both bench and jury. He has successfully advocated for clients in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will counties, as well as in the Northern District of Illinois federal court.

Mr. Moskowitz is a past Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Young Lawyer Section executive board. During his year, the section was selected for five American Bar Association Awards including the ABA Outstanding Affiliate Award and the American Bar Endowment Outstanding Public Service Project Award for founding the Racial Justice Coalition. He also served the CBA YLS as the member service manager, director, and co-chair of the Moot Court Committee.

At DePaul College of Law, he is the Chair of Nominations for the Alumni Engagement Board and has proudly served on the Dean’s Advisory Council. He also serves on the Board of Managers for the Decalogue Society of Lawyers and is the Treasurer of the North Suburban Bar Association. Jeff is also a member of the Chicago Bar Foundation Young Professionals Board and an attorney mentor in the Justice Entrepreneurs Project. Jeff is licensed as a private pilot by the FAA.

Hon. Mary Rowland

Judge Mary M. Rowland was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois on August 22, 2019. She served as a Magistrate Judge for the same court from October 2012 to August 2019.

Judge Rowland attended the University of Michigan for her undergraduate degree, and the University of Chicago for law school. After law school, she clerked for District Judge Julian A. Cook, Jr. in Detroit, Michigan. Judge Rowland then served for ten years in the Chicago office of the Federal Defender; first as a staff attorney and later as the office’s chief appellate attorney. In 2000, she joined the law firm Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, where she led the criminal defense practice and also litigated high-profile civil cases.

Judge Rowland is a founding member and one of the judges presiding over the first alternative to incarceration court in the Northern District of Illinois, Sentencing Options that Achieve Results (SOAR). Since 2009, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. She is also a member of the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago (LAGBAC) and the Alliance of Illinois Judges.

Eirene N. Salvi

Eirene Nakamura Salvi is an attorney at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., where she concentrates her practice medical malpractice, personal injury, and product liability cases.

During her time with the firm, Ms. Salvi has obtained a number of noteworthy verdicts and settlements, including an Illinois record-high $148 million jury verdict on behalf of a dancer paralyzed by a collapsed pedestrian shelter at O’Hare International Airport, a Boone County record $9 million jury verdict in a wrongful death case, and a Kendall County record $4.25 million settlement in an auto accident case.

In recognition of her outstanding legal work, Ms. Salvi has been recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch and Illinois Super Lawyers as a Rising Star. In 2018, she was honored with a Trial Lawyer Excellence Award by The Jury Verdict Reporter and Law Bulletin Media. In 2020, Ms. Salvi was honored with the Illinois State Bar Association’s Diversity Leadership Award, which recognizes a person or organization that has made significant contributions to the advancement of diversity within the Illinois legal community, its judiciary and/or the Illinois State Bar Association.

Ms. Salvi is a co-chair and founding member of the Chicago Committee of the Japanese American Bar Association. The group provides a special forum for members of the legal profession with interests and ties to the Japanese American community to discuss issues, network, and serve the community. Ms. Salvi is also a board member of JABA Educational Foundation, which provides scholarships to law students and recent grads. Ms. Salvi is currently the Vice President of the Board of Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth, an organization that channels the legal community’s resources to promote one-to-one mentoring and tutoring programs in disadvantaged Chicago communities. In addition, Ms. Salvi is on the Young Professionals Board of the Chicago Bar Foundation.

Ms. Salvi received her law degree from the University of Notre Dame in 2015. She speaks Spanish, Japanese, and French.

Brendon Stark

Brandon Stark Brendon Stark is an administrative law judge at the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board where he adjudicates complicated property tax appeal cases. Mr. Stark is a keynote speaker at the Illinois Property Assessment Institute’s Legal Symposium on Property Assessment.

He started his legal career as an Assistant Public Defender in McHenry County before joining the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. During his tenure as an Assistant State’s Attorney, he was promoted to the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence division where he prosecuted rape and domestic murder cases. He was hand-picked for a multi-disciplinary team where he worked with police agencies and victim’s rights groups to improve prosecutions and reach more just and equitable outcomes in sexual assault cases. Mr. Stark has taken hundreds of criminal cases to trial.

As part of his community and professional involvement, Mr. Stark is a co-committee chair for the CBA’s Law and Debate Society, which teaches high school students public speaking and trial advocacy skills. In addition to his work at the CBA, Mr. Stark is a board member with the South Suburban Bar Association and a member of the judicial evaluation committee with the Arab American Bar Association. He also volunteers with the Lemont Park Foundation.

Mr. Stark received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and his J.D. from the John Marshall Law School.

Kevin Thompson

Kevin Thompson is a partner in the business law firm of Levin Ginsburg. Kevin is the head of the firm’s intellectual property practice group. He has two decades of experience in counseling clients in the selection, clearance, maintenance, and protection of trademarks around the world. He also counsels clients regarding copyright, websites, terms of service, privacy, internet law, social media, and domain name issues.

For the CBA, Mr. Thompson currently serves as vice-chair with the Law Practice Management and Technology Committee as well as the International and Foreign Law Committee. He previously chaired the Cyber Law and Data Privacy Committee when it was known as the Computer Law Committee.

Prior to attending law school, Mr. Thompson worked for the Division of Information Technology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Hon. Allen P. Walker

Judge Allen P Walker Allen P. Walker is an Associate Judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County. He was selected as an Associate Judge in 2012. He currently sits in the General Chancery Division. His prior assignments include the Motions Section of the Law Division and the Mortgage Foreclosure /Mechanics Lien Section of the Chancery Division. Judge Walker has taught numerous judicial education courses at the biennial Illinois Judicial Education Conference. He is also a member of the Illinois Judicial College Committee on Judicial Education. Judge Walker currently serves as the vice-chair of the Supreme Court Committee on Illinois Evidence. Judge Walker is also the assistant secretary for the Illinois Judicial Council, a member of the Illinois Judges Association, the Cook County Bar Association and a member of the Chicago Bar Association’s Board of Managers.

Before the bench, he was a partner at Greene and Letts, where he focused on representing and advising individuals, for-profit and not-for-profit corporations, and municipal entities in litigation and transactional matters. He has also served as an adjunct professor at John Marshall Law School. Judge Walker graduated from DePaul University’s College of Law, in 1987.