CBA Officers & Board of Managers 2024-2025

Officers:

 

President John 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.

First 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.
 

Second Vice President Judge Nichole C. Patton

Judge Nichole C. Patton serves in the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Prior to Judge Patton’s ascension to the Bench, she was an Assistant State’s Attorney with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, Special Prosecutions Bureau.  Earlier in her legal career, Judge Patton was the owner of The Law Offices of Nichole C. Patton. She was also an associate at a law firm where she concentrated in the areas of medical malpractice and transportation defense. Before joining the firm, she was a staff attorney with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company where she specialized in personal injury defense and strict liability matters.  

Her past service with the CBA includes serving as a member of the Board of Managers, co-chairing the CBA’s 150th Anniversary Celebration, moderating and speaking at continuing legal education seminars; and co-authoring, “The Need for Pro Bono Attorneys in the Courtroom: A Judicial Perspective” for the CBA Record. She is a board member for The Chicago Bar Foundation where she is committed to developing solutions to the access to justice issues.  Judge Patton is a member of the CBF’s Pro Se Advisory Committee and served as a Co-Chair for the 15th Annual Pro Bono Week, entitled “Connecting with Communities.”

Judge Patton is a member of the Board of Directors for The Lawyers Club of Chicago and the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO). She also serves as a Board Member for Respond Now, a nonprofit organization that provides South Suburban Chicagoland low-income residents with emergency funds for paying mortgage, rental, and utility assistance. She is a member of the adjunct faculty at the UIC School of Law and a former member of the adjunct faculty at Prairie State College. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated, and The Links, Incorporated.

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 Jonathan B. Amarilio

Jonathan Amarilio is a partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. As Co-Chair of the firm’s Appellate group, Jonathan has garnered a wealth of connections and experience in the business and legal communities. Jonathan represents individuals, businesses, and state and local governments before state and federal appellate courts. He is especially experienced representing clients in the Illinois Appellate Court, the Illinois Supreme Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Jonathan also serves as an arbitrator for the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, and has served as a Special Assistant Corporate Counsel for the City of Chicago, and as a Special Assistant Attorney General of Illinois.

In his practice, Jonathan regularly works on high-profile appellate cases for both sides of the bar. His work on these cases has set precedents and driven change in a wide range of areas of the law, such as administrative law, antitrust law, complex asbestos and insurance liability, constitutional law, construction law, contract disputes, data privacy, defamation claims, election law, energy market regulation, gaming law, governmental immunity, investment and tax shelter litigation, medical malpractice and hospital liability, multi-district class action employment claims, personal injury, and railroad liability.

He was the recipient of the Chicago Bar Association President’s Award for Service to the Bar in 2018, the Chicago Bar Foundation Distinguished Service Award in 2019 and, when Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Young Lawyer’s Section, won first place in the nation awards from the American Bar Association for Service to the Bar, Service to the Public, Diversity, and Comprehensive programming. Eager to share his experience with fellow practitioners, Jonathan founded the CBA’s national award-winning podcast “@theBar,” and publishes on appellate topics.

Jonathan graduated from American University, cum laude, and received his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law, where he was captain of the school’s National Trial Advocacy Team and received the award for Distinction in Trial Advocacy Skills from the International Academy for Trial Lawyers.

Immediate Past 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 as Co-Chair 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.  He proudly served as the Managing Member of Clark Hill’s Chicago office from 2011 to 2023. 

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. 

Board of Managers:

Daniel J. Berkowitz

Daniel Berkowitz is a Partner at Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston & Zimet, LLP. He focuses his practice on representing insurers in complex insurance coverage litigation arising under general liability, director and officer, and professional liability policies. He also handles matters involving claims of bad faith and provides strategic counseling to clients regarding potential liability and strategies for handling underlying liability matters.

Previously, Mr. Berkowitz spent more than two years with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office where he was an Assistant Attorney General in the General Law Bureau. In that role, he represented state agencies and state employees in State and Federal court, handling all manner of complex litigation work from initial case analysis through trial. Cases handled included a variety of work from the constitutionality of COVID-era executive orders to police-involved shootings. He also litigated administrative actions involving state agencies and state employees, including the Illinois Department of Corrections, Illinois Department of Transportation, and Illinois State Police.

Mr. Berkowitz appears regularly in state and federal court, representing clients in all matters of litigation, including pre-suit counseling and advice, motion practice, discovery, and mediation. He is active in the Chicago Bar Association, where he has previously served as the Chair of the Young Lawyers Section, and on various committees, including the CBA 150th Anniversary Committee, the CBA Record Editorial Board, and the CBA Strategic Planning Committee. Dan received his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Boston College and received his juris doctor, magna cum laude, from Michigan State University College 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.

Nishá N. Dotson

Nishá N. Dotson, Esq. is a licensed attorney in the State of Illinois from Houston, Texas.  She received her Bachelor of Arts from Xavier University of Louisiana where she double majored in Pre-Law and Political Science with a minor in Biology and received the Political Science Scholar Award and the honor of Dean’s List Scholar.  She received her Juris Doctorate from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, Ohio where she received Dean’s Honor List recognition, the Martin Luther King Jr. Award, the Leadership Award, the CALI Excellence for the Future Award and the Paul J. Hergenröeder Award for Trial Tactics. 

After law school, Ms. Dotson began her legal career in Chicago in private practice where she managed her own law firm representing clients in the areas of family law, employment law, criminal law, personal injury law, wills and trusts law, just to name a few.  After, she became a an Assistant Public Defender with the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender.  She is a Felony Trial Attorney in the Felony Trial Division and litigates major criminal felony cases.  During her career, she has litigated over 100 bench and jury trials to verdict.  She is also an adjunct professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where she teaches trial practice and advocacy and coaches the Constance Baker Motley Mock Trial Team. 

Ms. Dotson has served as a panelist on multiple panels including the Chicago Bar Association’s “Nuanced Injustice: Collateral Immigration Consequences from Convictions”, a panel that examined commonly problematic nuances of criminal dispositions, and Loyola University Chicago School of Law’s “Race & Law Symposium”, a panel discussion on the issue of mass incarceration and exploring its social, economic, and political ramifications. 

Ms. Dotson is also on the Board of Directors for LAGBAC, Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association, where she received the Recognition of Service Award.  She is featured in the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism article, “How to Be an Ally to LGBTQ+ Lawyers” for her perspective on how legal professionals can be better allies to members of the LGBTQ+ community.

John C. Ellis

John C. Ellis has over a decade of legal experience and has litigated civil matters of all ranges of size and complexity in both state and federal court as well as through arbitration proceedings. He is admitted to practice in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. Mr. Ellis helps businesses and individuals bring or defend lawsuits related to breach of contract, personal injury, premises liability, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, trademark infringement, and other statutory and common law actions. Additionally, he advises clients in the role of hourly general counsel in a manner focused on anticipating and avoiding potential litigation.  

Mr. Ellis founded Ellis Legal P.C. in 2015 after ten years of practice at an established eight-lawyer firm in Chicago where he gained experience in a wide array of practice types. At Ellis Legal, he continues to emphasize a client-centered approach endeavoring to provide cost-effective solutions to clients' legal issues. He has managed every phase of various types of civil litigation and his clients have particularly benefited from his specialized abilities in trial and trial preparation.

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.

Brian Haussmann

Brian C. Haussmann is a partner at Tabet DiVito & Rothstein, LLC, a commercial litigation boutique, where he has practiced for 16 years. Before joining TDR, he was a litigation associate at Jenner & Block LLP.

Mr. Haussmann is a trial lawyer and business litigator who focuses on disputes between owners and other stakeholders in privately held businesses. He often litigates and resolves disputes involving the dissolution of private companies (sometimes referred to as “business divorces”), partner, owner, and shareholder rights, fiduciary duty claims, corporate governance, fraud and other business torts, and contracts. He also has extensive experience litigating disputes involving commercial real estate for developers, investors, landlords, and tenants. In addition, he regularly handles business and employment cases concerning executive compensation, trade secrets, restrictive covenants, and defamation.

Mr. Haussmann is active in pro bono work and in professional activities outside of the office. He served as lead counsel to the United States Conference of Mayors in litigation challenging the Attorney General's nationwide imposition of immigration-related conditions on the receipt by cities across the country of federal law enforcement grants.

In addition to serving on the CBA’s Board of Managers, he is a founding member and co-chair of the CBA’s Business Divorce and Complex Ownership Disputes committee. He also serves as a member of the governing board of Legal Aid Chicago, the largest provider in Cook County of free civil legal services to those living in poverty.

Mr. Haussmann obtained his undergraduate degree from Indiana University and his J.D. from Cornell Law School.

Judge Kenya A. Jenkins-Wright

Judge Kenya A. Jenkins-Wright is an Associate Judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Previously, she served as the general counsel of the Illinois Guardianship & Advocacy Commission (GAC). Prior to joining GAC, Ms. Jenkins-Wright spent 12 years as a litigator, with the law firms of Hinshaw & Culbertson and Greene and Letts (n/k/a Zuber, Lawler & Del Duca), handling product liability, medical malpractice, and Section 1983 civil rights actions.

Ms. Jenkins-Wright’s bar association and community involvement has been recognized over the years, including: Illinois Bar Foundation’s inaugural 2020 Changemaker Award; National Bar Association 40 Under 40; Law Bulletin Media’s 40 Under Forty Illinois Attorneys to Watch; American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division’s Star of the Year Award; Illinois Super Lawyer; Northern Illinois University College of Law’s Excellence in Service and Leadership Award; Cook County Bar Association’s Junior Counselor Award; and Cook County Bar Association President’s Award.

Michael Kozlowski

Michael Kozlowski is a Partner at Esbrook P.C. who counsels individuals and entities on a variety of complex litigation matters including commercial litigation, insurance litigation, class actions, data privacy litigation, environmental litigation including CERCLA, RCRA, and OPA, breach of fiduciary duty, disputes arising out of corporate transactions, and business law. He has successfully served as trial counsel for clients in high-stakes litigation and has experience in both state and federal courts. He leverages his complex litigation experience and serves as outside general counsel to several businesses in a variety of industries.

While in law school, he volunteered to provide legal help to disadvantaged women working with the Illinois College of Law’s Domestic Violence Legal Clinic. In addition to serving as a teaching and research assistant throughout law school, he is a graduate of the Mirza Trial Academy.

Francine D. Lynch

Francine D. Lynch, J.D. D.BE is the senior manager of Ethics and Judicial Affairs at the American Dental Association (“ADA”) and serves as staff to the ADA’s Council on Ethics, Bylaws and Judicial Affairs.  Ms. Lynch has served as an adjunct professor in the Externship program at Loyola Law School, Chicago and served as moderator, for the Loyola University School of Law Professionalism Workshop: “Entering an Inclusive Workplace in the Pandemic Era,” April 2022. 

Prior to joining the ADA, Ms. Lynch was a partner at the firm of Neal & Leroy LLC, with a practice concentrating in Eminent Doman and Land Use providing land acquisition services to governmental entities including the Chicago Transit Authority, The Regional Transportation Authority, The Public Building Commission of Chicago, The City of Chicago and the City of Des Plaines. Her practice also included commercial real estate transaction and development. 

Ms. Lynch received her J.D. from John Marshall Law School, Chicago and earned a LLM in health law from Loyola University School of Law. She received a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy, and a Doctorate in Bioethics from Loyola University, Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics. Ms. Lynch was a 2020-2021 University of Chicago, MacLean fellow in Clinical Medical Ethics. 

Ms. Lynch is a member of the America Society for Bioethics and Humanities and served as vice president of the advisory board, Children Hospital, University of Illinois, and was a member of Friends of the UIC Pediatric. She served as director and secretary for the Global Foundation of the Institute of Cancer Research from 2009-2013 and was named a Crain’s 2018, Chicago Notable Minority. Ms. Lynch was also named a 2022 Leading Lawyer.

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 C. McNamara is a Staff Attorney for the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 399. Mr. McNamara is the primary litigator on behalf of 10,000 union members, predominantly stationary engineers, who ensure hospitals, universities, and office buildings operate efficiently and remain open to fulfill their missions.

He is a member of the Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar and is licensed to practice before the Seventh Circuit. His representation experience spans both sides of the employment relationship.

Before joining Local 399, Mr. McNamara served as Chief Attorney, Labor & Employment for Chicago Transit Authority and worked for the Federal Aviation Administration. He started his career at the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, championing employees and union rights. He serves as an arbitrator for the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Mandatory Arbitration program.

Mr. McNamara is a former member of the Judicial Evaluation Committee and is currently a member of the Labor & Employment Committee. He serves on the Advisory Board for the Chicago-Kent College of Law Illinois Public Sector Labor Relations and Labor Law Conference.  He helped run CTA’s legal internship program and served as a mentor in CBA’s Lawyer to Lawyer program. 

A first-generation American, he is the son of an Irish father and a Peruvian mother. He has volunteered for domestic violence survivors in the order of protection process, for the elderly in southern Illinois who could not afford legal services, and most recently for South American refugees seeking legal work status in the United States. 

Mr. McNamara in the Park Ridge community. He received the 2019 Park Ridge Beautification Award, served as Chair of the Park Ridge Board of Fire & Police Commissioners, and coached five-, six-, and seven-year-olds in Park Ridge Baseball. His proudest titles are “father” to River (2), Isla (6), and Jack (9) 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

John Mitchell is a lawyer and a leader. He is committed to helping lawyers discover and maximize their leadership potential so that they continuously develop themselves and their organizations in pursuit of changing the world. John specializes in working with lawyers who are in formal roles like general counsel, managing partner, practice group leaders and committee chairs and those in informal leadership roles. He also supports in-house lawyers transitioning to business roles, junior associates, new partners, major rainmakers and senior lawyers considering their “second season” in life.

Helping leaders transition to new leadership positions is one area of expertise. He also has extensive experience assisting women and attorneys of color successfully apply their talents in new roles and new environments. John’s unique background brings personal experience to these types of transitions and his educational experiences ground those first hand experiences with sound theory and applied research.

During the past three years John has coached and/or consulted with hundreds of lawyers and dozens of law firms throughout the United States and Canada. This work has included everything from teaching inexperienced attorneys (and some later bloomers) business development skills to helping senior rainmakers take their game up another notch or two; from helping to develop new leaders to creating a process for successful succession planning and transition of senior leaders; and from leading firm retreats to advising management committees on a variety of strategic issues.

John’s 20 plus years of business experience ranges from working as a professional in a social service agency, to practicing law in a large international law firm, to leading a large urban affiliate of an internationally known not-for-profit housing development organization, to starting a successful company that helps leaders develop and hone their own unique leadership style. He also has extensive leadership experience serving on various not-for-profit boards of directors, and in civic and professional organizations. His experience is supplemented by his educational pursuits at Northwestern University that include a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications, a Juris Doctor degree, and a Masters of Businesss Administration degree from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management.

When he is not working with clients, John can often be found running or cycling along Chicago's beautiful lakefront. He is also likely to be found with his wife at one of the city’s many restaurants, cultural institutions or music festivals. An annual pilgrimage to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, visits with friends around the country, and bicycle trips anywhere the terrain is more varied than Chicago's keep John on the move. So, if you get his voicemail leave a message. More likely than not he is out someplace having fun. But do not worry - he will return your call!

Sari Montgomery

Sari Montgomery is a former Litigation and Senior Litigation Counsel with the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC). As a partner with Robinson, Stewart, Montgomery & Doppke LLC in Chicago since 2010, Ms. Montgomery defends lawyers and judges facing disciplinary and sanctions proceedings, and represents bar applicants in the Character and Fitness process. She also advises lawyers, law firms, government agencies and law-related businesses regarding ethics and risk management issues and assists in clarifying their ethical obligations. Ms. Montgomery also serves as an expert witness in legal malpractice, disqualification, and fee litigation.

In addition to her work with the Chicago Bar Association, Ms. Montgomery currently serves as Special Advisor to the ABA Standing Committee on Professional Regulation and as the Treasurer of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL). For the past fifteen years, she has served on the Illinois State Bar Association’s Committee on Professional Conduct (Past Chair), which is responsible for issuing advisory ethics opinions for Illinois lawyers, and she was recently appointed to the ISBA Committee on Artificial Intelligence and the Practice of Law. Ms. Montgomery is an active member of the Chicago Council of Lawyers Access to Justice Committee, the Lake County Bar Association, and the Association of Women Attorneys of Lake County. She is an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law teaching Legal Ethics, and frequently presents at national, state, and local CLE programs. She is an accomplished author on numerous legal ethics issues and serves as a Subject Matter Expert and Drafting Committee member for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) on behalf of the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

Ms. Montgomery is also active in her community and has served as an elected member of the Deerfield Public Schools District 109 Board of Education since 2013, currently as its President.

Ms. Montgomery earned her undergraduate degree in Public Policy Studies.

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

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.

Justice Rena Marie Van Tine

Justice Rena Marie Van Tine serves on the Illinois First District Appellate Court. She decides appeals on issues that are raised from various trial court proceedings. She was previously the Presiding Judge of the County Division in the Circuit Court of Cook County. In this capacity, she supervised the 12 judges assigned therein. Before becoming a presiding judge, she served in the Law Division’s Jury Trial assignment call at the Daley Center. She was also previously assigned to Juvenile and Traffic Court.

Justice Van Tine is the immediate past President of the Asian American Judges Association of Illinois (2023 -2024) and a past President of the Asian American Bar Association (1999-2000). She serves on the Executive Committee of the Illinois Judges Association pursuant to an appointment by the President. She has served on the boards of the Illinois Judges Association and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. She is a co-founder of the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago and was on its board for several years. She is also a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.

She currently serves on the Illinois Supreme Court’s Committee for Civil IPI jury instructions. In May 2020, she was appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court’s Court Operation During COVID-19 Task Force, and she co-chaired its committee on Remote Proceedings in Civil Cases through the pandemic. She was also an Illinois Supreme Court appointee to the Oversight of Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee for 9 years. She has also served as an adjunct faculty and instructor for several Judicial Education Conferences for all the state court judges in Illinois. She is a cohort leader and mentor for the state-wide Illinois Supreme Court’s New Judge Orientation program. In this capacity, she has taught and mentored judges from around the state.

Justice Van Tine was an adjunct professor for Trial Advocacy at the Chicago-Kent College of Law and has presided at numerous local and national moot court competitions.

Justice Van Tine received her undergraduate degree from Oakland University and her J.D. from New York Law School.

Judge Andrea R. Wood

The Honorable Andrea R. Wood has served as a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois since 2013. Before her appointment, Judge Wood was Senior Trial Counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement, in Chicago, where she began working as a senior attorney in 2004 before being promoted to senior trial counsel in 2007. Judge Wood also worked as a litigation attorney at the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP for five years. She began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Diane P. Wood of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Judge Wood earned her B.A. from the University of Chicago and her J.D. from Yale Law School. Away from the bench, Judge Wood is active in bar associations, her alumni associations, and a variety of civic and community activities.