Matthew W. Beaudet is the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Buildings. He is a Cofounder and Past President of the Illinois Native American Bar Association, received the Illinois State Bar Association’s Community Service Award (2002), and was recognized as a Notable Executive of Color in Construction & Real Estate by Crain’s Chicago Business (2022). Mr. Beaudet received his B.S. from Loyola University Chicago and his J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law and has also studied law at Oxford University and Universität Salzburg.
Daniel W. Bourgault is an associate at Klein, Thorpe & Jenkins, Ltd., in Chicago, where he concentrates his practice on municipal law and litigation. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association, for which he serves as Cochair of the Local Government Committee. Mr. Bourgault received his B.A. from Elmhurst University, his J.D. from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and his M.P.P. from Loyola University.
Kelly A. Coyle is a Partner at Clark Baird Smith LLP in Rosemont, where she focuses on labor and employment law. She is a member of the Illinois Bar Association and the Legacy Project (Advancing Women in Local Government). Ms. Coyle received her J.D. from the Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Stewart H. Diamond is a Partner at Ancel Glink, P.C., in Chicago, where he concentrates his practice in representation of local governmental bodies. He represents municipalities in all aspects of growth from 4,000 to 100,000 and has advised numerous communities on their transition to home rule. Diamond also represents a number of water agencies during their multimillion-dollar construction phase and during mature operations. He drafted one of the first contract and bylaws agreements for a comprehensive intergovernmental self-insurance pool in the United States and currently represents a large number of intergovernmental self-insurance pools. Diamond is the originating General Editor of the IICLE® municipal law and school law handbooks and has participated in numerous seminars on these subjects. He is the Editor of the ILLINOIS MUNICIPAL HANDBOOK, published by the Illinois Municipal League. He is also one of the authors of the ILLINOIS PARK DISTRICT LAW HANDBOOK, now in its 8th edition, published by the Illinois Association of Park Districts, and a handbook on township law. Diamond has written many articles on local government law. He has taught municipal law at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and The John Marshall Law School and is Past Chair of the Illinois State Bar Association Local Government Law Section Council. In over 40 years of law practice, he has represented as regular or special counsel many governmental bodies in the Chicago metropolitan area and in other parts of the state. He was educated at the University of Chicago, where he received both his A.B. and his J.D., and University College, Oxford, England.
Carmen P. Forte, Jr., is a Partner at Klein, Thorpe & Jenkins, Ltd., in Chicago, where he focuses on municipal law. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Local Government Lawyers Association, and the Justinian Society of Lawyers. He is also the President of the Columbian Club of Chicago. Mr. Forte received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame and his J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.
Mark R. Heinle is an associate at Ancel Glink, P.C., in Naperville, where he concentrates his practice in municipal law. Heinle is a member of the Illinois State and Chicago Bar Associations and Former Chair of the CBA’s Local Government Committee. He received his B.A. cum laude from Marquette University and his J.D. from Boston University School of Law.
Margaret Kostopulos is a Partner at Ancel Glink, P.C., in Chicago, where she focuses on labor and employment law and school law. She is a member of the Illinois State and Chicago Bar Associations and the Illinois Council of School Attorneys. Kostopulos is also a member of the Illinois Public Employer Labor Relations Association and has conducted training programs before IPELRA and other state associations on Illinois labor law issues. She has been named by Chicago Magazine and Illinois Super Lawyers as one of the top labor and employment lawyers in the state. Kostopulos received her B.A. from Loyola University and her J.D. from The UIC John Marshall Law School.
Keri-Lyn J. Krafthefer is an Equity Partner at Ancel Glink, P.C., in Naperville, where she focuses on local government law and election law. Illinois Super Lawyers named her one of the Top 50 Female Attorneys in the State of Illinois, and Leading Lawyers Magazine named her one of the top ten leading women lawyers in government, municipal, lobbying, and administrative law. Krafthefer has been named as a Super Lawyer representing cities and villages for every year that such distinction has been awarded. She received her B.A. from the University of Illinois and her J.D. from The UIC John Marshall Law School.
Ronald J. Kramer is a Partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Chicago, representing management in labor and employment law matters. He is a member of the American and Chicago Bar Associations. He is a Past Chair of the ABA’s State and Local Government Law Section. He has spoken at numerous conferences regarding labor issues and has written for a variety of journals. Mr. Kramer received his B.A. magna cum laude from Michigan State University and his J.D. with high honors from the Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Adam W. Lasker is the Managing Member at Lasker Law LLC, in Chicago, where he focuses on election law and government administration. He is General Counsel to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners and the Association of Election Commission Officials of Illinois (AECOI) and Past Chair and current member of the Chicago Bar Association’s Election Law Committee. Lasker received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School.
Erin M. Monforti is an associate at Ancel Glink, P.C., in Chicago, where she concentrates her practice on local government and land use law. Ms. Monforti received her B.S. summa cum laude from the Illinois Institute of Technology and her J.D. (Order of the Coif) from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, where she received the Dean’s Distinguished Public Service Award and the Sandra P. Zemm Prize in Labor & Employment Law.
Andrew S. Paine is a Partner at Tressler LLP in Chicago, where he is Cochair of Tressler’s Local Government Law practiceand focuses his practice on the representation of Illinois park districts, municipalities, and other governmental entities in transactional and litigation-related matters. Mr. Paine earned his B.A. cum laude from Beloit College and his J.D. from University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.
Bernard Z. Paul is in private practice in DeKalb, where he concentrates his practice in municipal law. He represents and has represented numerous home-rule and non-home-rule cities and villages and other units of local government. He is a two-time former Chair of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Administrative Law Section Council and a former Chair of the Illinois Municipal League Committee of Home Rule Attorneys. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois and his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Enza Petrarca is the Village Attorney for the Village of Downers Grove. Prior to being appointed Village Attorney, she served as the Assistant Village Attorney for Downers Grove and was an associate with Scariano, Himes and Petrarca. She is a Past President and Past Board Member of the Illinois Institute of Local Government and is a member of the Illinois Municipal League Home Rule Attorneys Committee. She currently serves on the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference’s Legislative and Regulatory Committees. Ms. Petrarca received both her B.A. and her J.D. from Loyola University.
James J. Powers is a Partner at Clark Baird Smith LLP in Rosemont, where he focuses on labor and employment law. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the Editor of the monthly newsletter and frequent speaker for the Illinois Public Employer Labor Relations Association. Mr. Powers received his B.A. with distinction from Northwestern University and his J.D. from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he was valedictorian, Order of the Coif, and wrote for the Law Review.
James D. Rock is Of Counsel at Ancel Glink, P.C., in Chicago, where he focuses on local government. Mr. Rock received his B.S. from Central Michigan University, his M.A. from Northern Illinois University, and his J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.
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