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Anna M. Ahronheim is an attorney in private practice. Ms. Ahronheim obtained her J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law. For the next 22 years, she was an attorney with the Illinois Office of the State Appellate Defender. From 2008 through 2017, she was the supervisor of the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Public Defender’s Office in the Western District of Pennsylvania and represented clients in habeas corpus proceedings. She has given presentations on postconviction practice at seminars sponsored by numerous organizations and law schools. She intends to devote her post-public-defender practice to the representation of incarcerated clients in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Michigan.
Richard Dvorak is the owner of Dvorak Law Offices, LLC, in Willowbrook and Chicago, where he concentrates in criminal defense and appeals and civil rights litigation involving police misconduct. He is member of the Advisory Board for First Defense Legal Aid. He authored Cracking the Code: “De-Coding” Colorblind Slurs During the Congressional Crack Cocaine Debates, published in the Michigan Journal of Race and Law. Mr. Dvorak received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his J.D. from DePaul University College of Law.
Rachel J. Hess is a sole practitioner in St. Charles, where she concentrates in criminal defense and appeals and has been Conflict Counsel for Kane County since 2004. In addition, she represents clients before the Secretary of State and other administrative agencies. Ms. Hess received her B.S. from Illinois State University, her J.D. from Mississippi College School of Law, and her L.L.M. in Information Technology from The John Marshall Law School.
Thomas A. Lilien is the Deputy Defender in charge of the Second District Office of the State Appellate Defender. He received his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 1978 and was admitted to the Illinois Bar that same year. He joined the Office of the State Appellate Defender as an Assistant Defender in the Third District Office in October 1978 and worked there until his transfer to the Second District Office in 1988. Mr. Lilien continued to serve as an Assistant Defender until he assumed the Deputy Defender position as of January 1, 2006. Mr. Lilien served as an adjunct faculty member co-teaching an appellate advocacy course at Northern Illinois University College of Law from 1986 to 2015. He has also spoken on criminal and appellate topics to several organizations, including the Illinois Public Defender Association and the DuPage and Kane County Bars. He served on IICLE®’s Board of Directors from 2006 until 2017.
Alison H. Motta has been in private practice since 2001. She is a Partner with Motta & Motta LLC in Aurora, where she concentrates her practice in criminal defense. She is a member of the state and federal trial bar. She is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and ATLA. Ms. Motta received her J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Robert M. Motta II is a Partner with Motta & Motta LLC in Aurora, where he concentrates his practice in criminal defense (both state and federal) and family and divorce law. He is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and ATLA. Mr. Motta attended Eastern Illinois University for undergraduate studies and received his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Kathleen M. Pantle is a retired Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County. She is a former member of the Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions (Criminal) Committee. She is an Alternate Chair of the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission and has served as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Chicago Bar Association Commercial Litigation Committee. Judge Pantle received her B.S. from Loyola University Chicago and her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Stephen L. Richardsis an attorney at the Law Office of Stephen L. Richards, in Chicago. He has been a member of the Illinois Supreme Court’s Screening Committee for the Capital Litigation Trial Bar and is former President of the Illinois Public Defender Association. He has lectured and written extensively on criminal law and the death penalty.Mr. Richards graduated from the University of Chicago and from Brooklyn Law School.
Joshua Sachs is Principal Attorney of the Law Office of Joshua Sachs, in Evanston, where he concentrates his practice in appellate criminal cases. Mr. Sachs, now semi-retired after 45 years of active practice in the trial and appeals level defense of Illinois and federal criminal prosecutions, has returned to music, his first love. He plays the cello in the Evanston Symphony Orchestra and in the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest. Mr. Sachs earned his B.A. from Grinnell College and his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law.
Jed H. Stoneis a criminal defense lawyer with Stone & Associates, Ltd., in Waukegan, where he focuses his practice on criminal defense. He is a member of both the American Board of Criminal Lawyers and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and he has been named a Super Lawyer (2016 – 2022). Mr. Stone received his B.A. from Lake Forest College and his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.