Karl R. Barnickol is a Partner at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP, in Chicago, where he concentrates in litigation with a focus on complex antitrust, securities, consumer fraud, and healthcare class and mass actions. Mr. Barnickol received his A.B. cum laude from Georgetown University and his J.D., Order of the Coif, from Washington University St. Louis School of Law, where he was Associate Editor of the Washington University Law Quarterly.
Jennifer T. Beach is Special Counsel at Jenner & Block LLP, in Chicago, where she focuses her practice on business and ERISA litigation. Ms. Beach is a Law360 Editorial Advisory Board Member, Benefits, and is coeditor of her firm’s ERISA litigation handbook. She was a judicial clerk for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Ms. Beach earned her J.D. magna cum laude from Washington University School of Law, where she was Order of the Coif, Executive Editor for the Washington Law Review, and a teaching assistant for Legal Writing; her M.S. from Washington University George Warren Brown School of Social Work; and her B.A. summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Washington University.
Nicole C. Berg is an attorney in Chicago with experience in a variety of civil litigation matters, both at the trial and appellate level. Prior to joining Keller Postman LLC (formerly Keller Lenkner LLC), Ms. Berg was Vice President at Burford Capital, an analyst at Gerchen Keller Capital, and an associate at Jenner & Block LLP. Ms. Berg served as a law clerk for the Honorable Jay S. Bybee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Ms. Berg received her J.D. summa cum laude from the University of Illinois, her M.S. from the University of Chicago, and her B.S. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Before law school, Ms. Berg worked as an equity options trader in Chicago.
Frank H. Bieszczat is Deputy Division Chief at the Office of the Attorney General in Chicago. Mr. Bieszczat is a member of the Appellate Lawyers Association. He received his B.A. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Elizabeth P. Butler is a litigation attorney with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services in Chicago. Ms. Butler serves on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Appellate Lawyers Association, and she is a member of Chicago Bar Association, where she is Legislative Liaison for the Juvenile Law Committee. She received her J.D. from Loyola University of Chicago.
Karen Kies DeGrand is a Partner at Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth LLC, in Chicago, and focuses her practice on appellate, professional liability, and commercial litigation. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and a Past President of the Appellate Lawyers Association. She is a member and Past Vice-Chair of the Supreme Court Committee on Professional Responsibility. She received her B.S. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she was awarded the Bronze Tablet, the highest university recognition for academic excellence. She received her J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law and was an associate editor of the University of Illinois Law Review.
Patrick E. Dwyer III is an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, in Chicago, where he focuses on municipal and general litigation and advice.Mr. Dwyer is a member of the Appellate Lawyer’s Association, the St. Ignatius Law Society, and the Chicago Bar Association. He received his J.D. cum laude from Loyola University, where he was Executive Publication Editor of the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal, and his B.A. from Georgetown University.
Brad A. Elward is currently a law clerk with the Appellate Court, Fourth District. He is a former Partner with Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, P.C., in Peoria, where he concentrated his appellate work on handling appeals in workers’ compensation cases before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, circuit court, Appellate Court, Workers’ Compensation Commission Division, and Illinois Supreme Court. He has authored more than 325 appellate briefs and argued more than 225 appellate court cases, resulting in more than 100 published decisions, and numerous unpublished appellate court orders. Mr. Elward is a Past President of the Illinois Appellate Lawyers Association (2013 – 2014) and Past Chair of the Peoria County Bar Association CLE Committee. He has been named as an Illinois Super Lawyer for appellate practice from 2008 through 2020 and an Illinois Leading Lawyer from 2014 – 2020. He worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois College of Law teaching advanced appellate practice. Mr. Elward received his B.S. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his J.D. magna cum laude from the Southern Illinois University School of Law, where he was the Survey Editor of the Southern Illinois University Law Journal and a teaching assistant for legal writing and legal research. The opinions and comments expressed herein and within Mr. Elward's chapters are his and are not those of the Appellate Court.
Jed W. Glickstein is a Litigation and Dispute Resolution attorney at Mayer Brown LLP, in Chicago, where he practices before trial and appellate courts around the country. Mr. Glickstein joined Mayer Brown after clerking for Judge Joel Flaum on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Judge Gary Feinerman on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He received his B.A. magna cum laude from Yale University and his J.D. from Yale Law School. While in law school, he interned at the United States Attorney’s Office and was a member of the Yale Law School Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic.
Patricia L. Hall is an associate at WillamsMcCarthy LLP, in Rockford, where she concentrates her practice on personal injury, family law, and appeals. Ms. Hall is a board member on the Winnebago County Bar Association and a member of the Illinois Defense Counsel and the Illinois State Bar Association. She received her B.S. magna cum laude from Arizona State University and her J.D. cum laude from Northern Illinois University.
William P. Hardy is a Partner with Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, in Springfield, focusing on civil appeals before Illinois intermediate appellate courts, the Supreme Court of Illinois, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Mr. Hardy is a Past President of the Appellate Lawyers Association and remains active as Cochair of the Past Presidents Committee. From 1994 to 2002, Mr. Hardy served as a contractual administrative law judge for the Illinois Department of Public Health, where he presided over more than 50 administrative hearings in cases involving alleged abuse and neglect in nursing homes. He received his J.D. cum laude from Southern Illinois University School of Law, where he served on the Law Review and as President of the Moot Court Board.
Tracy L. Jones is a Partner at Black & Jones Attorneys at Law in Rockford, where she concentrates in workers’ compensation, social security disability, and veterans’ disability compensation. She is a board member of the Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Association and a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the National Organization of Veterans Advocates. Ms. Jones received her B.A. from Northern Illinois University and her J.D. from University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.
Kara L. Kapp is a Partner with Cozen O’Connor, in Chicago, where she concentrates her practice in white collar and civil and criminal appeals. Ms. Kapp has been honored with a National Law Journal’s Rising Stars Award, her firm’s Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year Award, and the Seventh Circuit Bar Association’s Pro Bono and Public Service Award. She earned her J.D. from Stanford Law School, her M.A. from Stanford University, and her B.A. summa cum laude from Dartmouth College.
Christina D. Ketcham is Senior Counsel at Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth LLC, in Chicago, where she concentrates her practice on appellate, commercial, insurance coverage, and bad-faith matters. Ms. Ketcham received her B.S. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and her J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law.
Jason F. Krigel is an Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, in Chicago. Mr. Krigel is a member of the Illinois Appellate Lawyers and the Chicago Bar Associations. He served as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Joan B. Gottschall in the Northern District of Illinois, and he received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.
Brett E. Legner is Of Counsel at Mayer Brown LLP, in Chicago, and focuses on Supreme Court and appellate court litigation. Mr. Legner is an Adjunct Profess of Law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. Mr. Legner graduated from DePaul University College of Law with honors and as a member of the Order of the Coif. He earned his B.A. with honors from Northwestern University.
Elaine Liu is an associate at Mayer Brown LLP, in Chicago, and focuses her practice on litigation. Ms. Liu is an Associate Board Member of the Chicago Committee on Advancing Minorities in Law Firms, a Young Leaders Committee Member of the Women in Law Empowerment Forum, and an Ambassador of Legal Aid Chicago. She received her A.B. cum laude with high honors from Harvard University and her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.
Andrew G. May is a Partner at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP in Chicago, where he concentrates his practice in litigation and insurance. He received his B.A. magna cum laude from Colgate University and his J.D. magna cum laude from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.
Steven F. Pflaum is a Partner and Cochair of the Litigation Department at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP, in Chicago, and concentrates in complex civil litigation and appeals. Mr. Pflaum is a Fellow and Past President of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and was ranked in Litigation: General Commercial — Illinois by Chambers USA in 2021. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was a Member of the Order of the Coif and Editor of the Michigan Law Review. He received his B.S. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he was a James Scholar.
Geoffrey M. Pipoly is a Senior Associate at Mayer Brown LLP, in Chicago, where he is in the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Division. Mr. Pipoly received his MPA and his B.A., cum laude, from the University of Dayton and his J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School, where he was Order of the Coif, Student Managing Editor of the Constitutional Commentary, and a member of the Minnesota Law Review. He served as a judicial law clerk to Hon. Richard Allen Griffin on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Hon. Clare J. Quish is a judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Judge Quish is a member of the Appellate Lawyers Association and the Illinois Judges Association. She is also on the Illinois Supreme Court Commission Rules and Policy Review Committee, a subcommittee of the Access to Justice Committee. Judge Quish received her B.A. from Northwestern University and her J.D. cum laude from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where she was Executive Publications Editor of the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal.
Michael A. Scodro is a Partner in the Supreme Court and Appellate Practice at Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago. Mr. Scodro previously served as the Illinois Solicitor General, overseeing the civil and criminal appeals divisions in the state Attorney General’s Office and advising the Attorney General on significant litigation. An experienced appellate lawyer, Mr. Scodro has argued dozens of cases in federal and state supreme and appellate courts, including three in the U.S. Supreme Court. He is Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court’s Committee on Professional Responsibility, Past President of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, Past Chair of the ABA’s Council of Appellate Lawyers, and Past President of Illinois’ Appellate Lawyers Association. He also was selected for membership in the American Law Institute and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Mr. Scodro teaches courses on the U.S. Supreme Court and the role and practice of state attorneys general as a Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School and speaks frequently on the Supreme Court and appellate practice. After graduating from Yale Law School, Michael served as a law clerk to the Honorable José A. Cabranes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gretchen Harris Sperry is a Partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, in Chicago, and focuses on appellate practice and civil litigation. Ms. Sperry is Chair of her firm’s Appellate Practice Group and Commissioner of the Character & Fitness Committee of the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar. Ms. Sperry received her B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Nadine Jean Wichern is Chief of the Office of Civil Appeals Division of the Attorney General of Illinois, in Chicago. Ms. Wichern is a member of the Appellate Lawyers Association and a writing and advocacy instructor at local law schools. She was an NAAG United States Supreme Court Fellow (2005) and was a law clerk for the Honorable William J. Bauer for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (2000 – 2001). She graduated with honors from the DePaul College of Law and from Indiana University.
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