Karl R. Barnickol

Karl R. Barnickol

Karl R. Barnickol is a Partner at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP, in Chicago, where he focuses his practice on litigation. Mr. Barnickol has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since 2008 for both Corporate Law and Securities Litigation and has been recognized as an Illinois Super Lawyer since 2016. He received his J.D. from Washington University St. Louis School of Law and his A.B. cum laude from Georgetown University.
Jennifer T. Beach

Jennifer T. Beach

Jennifer T. Beach is Special Counsel at Jenner & Block LLP, in Chicago, where she focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, appellate issues, and ERISA. Ms. Beach is a Steering Committee Member of Jenner & Block’s Women’s Forum, a Member of the Chicago Bar Association, and a Board Member of the Girls in the Game Auxiliary Board. She earned her J.D. magna cum laude from Washington University School of Law, where she was Order of the Coif; her M.S. from Washington University George Warren Brown School of Social Work; and her B.A. summa cum laude from Washington University, Phi Beta Kappa.
Nicole C. Berg

Nicole C. Berg

Nicole C. Berg is an attorney, in Chicago, with experience in a variety of civil litigation matters, both at the trial and appellate level. 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.A. 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.
Laura C. Bishop

Laura C. Bishop

Laura C. Bishop is a Chicago attorney who focuses her practice on litigation. Ms. Bishop is a Board Member of the Domestic Violence Legal Clinic and a Member of the American and Chicago Bar Associations. She earned her B.A. from the University of Chicago and her J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she served as a Managing Editor of the Harvard Environmental Law Review. Prior to law school, she served as the Chief Research Assistant to Hon. Richard A. Posner at the University of Chicago Law School.
Elizabeth P. Butler

Elizabeth P. Butler

Elizabeth P. Butler concentrates her practice in juvenile law in Cook, Lake, and DuPage Counties. She serves as a court-appointed attorney for the Cook County Juvenile Court, receiving appointments to represents parents and minors in trial and appellate proceedings. She also represents parents and foster parents in administrative proceedings conducted by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. She is a Member of the Illinois Appellate Lawyer’s Association, Chicago Bar Association (Past Chair of the Juvenile Law Committee), and the Illinois State Bar Association. Ms. Butler volunteers as a senior child advocate for the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. She received her J.D. from Loyola University of Chicago.
Stacy E. Crabtree

Stacy E. Crabtree

Stacy E. Crabtree is an attorney with Caterpillar Inc., in Peoria. During law school, Ms. Crabtree served as a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Corrigan and interned with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. She also participated on the school’s mock trial team and was an editor for the Florida Coastal Law Review. Ms. Crabtree earned her B.A. summa cum laude from Bradley University and her J.D. summa cum laude from Florida Coastal School of Law.
Patrick E. Dwyer III

Patrick E. Dwyer III

Patrick E. Dwyer III, of Dwyer & Coogan, P.C., in Chicago, concentrates his practice on appellate, personal injury, workers’ compensation, general litigation, civil, and criminal issues. Mr. Dwyer is a Member of the Illinois Trial Lawyer’s Association, the Appellate Lawyer’s Association, and the St. Ignatius Law Society. He received his J.D. from Loyola University and his B.A. from Georgetown University.
Brad A. Elward

Brad A. Elward

Brad A. Elward is a Partner with Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, P.C., in Peoria, where he concentrates 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 since 2008 and an Illinois Leading Lawyer since 2014. Mr. Elward received his undergraduate degree 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.
Gregory G. Forfa

Gregory G. Forfa

Gregory G. Forfa is an associate at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP, in Chicago, where he is in the firm’s securities and commodities litigation group. Mr. Forfa is a Member of the ACLU Next Generation Board and has been recognized as a Rising Star by Illinois Super Lawyers. He received his J.D. cum laude from Chicago-Kent College of Law and his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
William P. Hardy

William P. Hardy

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. He also maintains an active litigation practice and has tried cases before juries, judges, arbitrators, and various administrative agencies. 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.
Kara Kapp

Kara Kapp

Kara Kapp is a member with Cozen O’Connor, in Chicago, where she concentrates her practice in appellate, commercial litigation, and criminal defense. Ms. Kapp is Amicus Committee Chair of Women Lawyers on Guard, has been named a 2018 Rising Star by SuperLawyers, D.C., and received a 2014 Seventh Circuit Bar Association Pro Bono and Public Service Team 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, where she received the Downey Family Prize in environmental studies.
Jason F. Krigel

Jason F. Krigel

Jason F. Krigel is an Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, in Chicago. Previously, he worked as an associate at Jenner & Block LLP, in Chicago, in the firm’s Litigation Department and Professional Responsibility Practice Group. 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. Before attending law school, Mr. Krigel worked as a political consultant and fundraiser.
Brett E. Legner

Brett E. Legner

Brett E. Legner is the Deputy Solicitor General of Illinois. Prior to that, he was an Assistant Attorney General of Illinois in the Civil Appeals Division. Mr. Legner has filed over 300 appellate briefs and presented more than 90 appellate arguments, including to the U.S. Supreme Court, Illinois Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and every Illinois appellate district. For the last 15 years, he has served as an Adjunct Professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, teaching Appellate Advocacy, Advanced Legal Writing, and State Constitutional Law. Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, he was a law clerk to the Honorable Robert V. Boharic of the Circuit Court of Cook County Chancery Division. 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.
Barry Levenstam

Barry Levenstam

Barry Levenstam is a Partner at Jenner & Block LLP, in Chicago, where his practice emphasizes civil and criminal appellate litigation, as well as complex civil litigation. He has served as counsel for parties or amici in more than 100 appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Courts of Appeals across the country, the Illinois Supreme Court and appellate courts, and various other states’ appellate and supreme courts. During law school, Mr. Levenstam served as a judicial extern for the Hon. Robert J. Steigmann. Mr. Levenstam clerked for Judge Philip W. Tone on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Mr. Levenstam is AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability. He maintains an active pro bono practice and undertakes appointments from the Seventh Circuit frequently. The Federal Bar Association recognized Mr. Levenstam with the Walter J. Cummings Award “for excellence in advocacy on the part of appointed counsel” before the Seventh Circuit (1995), and the Seventh Circuit Bar Association honored him with its First Annual Justice John Paul Stevens Pro Bono Award (2010). Mr. Levenstam has lectured for the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, and the DuPage County Bar Association on preserving error for appeal and on appellate practice generally.
Owen E. MacBride

Owen E. MacBride

Owen E. MacBride is a Partner with Schiff Hardin LLP, in Chicago, where he concentrates his practice in energy and telecommunications. Mr. MacBride is a member of the American, Illinois State, Chicago, and Energy Bar Associations. He received his B.A. from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from Yale Law School. He formerly served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert P. Anderson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Andrew G. May

Andrew G. May

Andrew G. May is an associate at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP, in Chicago, and focuses his practice on litigation. Mr. May has been recognized by Illinois Super Lawyers as a Rising Star (2014 – 2018) and has received his firm’s Pro Bono Excellence in Service Award. He received his J.D. from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and his B.A. from Colgate University.
Anne Mergen

Anne Mergen

Anne Mergen is an attorney with Robert Riffle Esq., in Morton. Ms. Mergen received her LL.B. from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, where she was a Taylor Mattis Fellow, and her B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Brij B. Patnaik

Brij B. Patnaik

Brij B. Patnaik is an associate in Jenner & Block LLP’s litigation department, in Chicago, where he has represented clients in complex commercial litigation, securities litigation, internal investigations, and a variety of appeals. He graduated from Grinnell College and the University of Iowa College of Law with distinction.
Emily Perkins

Emily Perkins

Emily Perkins is an associate at Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, in Peoria, where she concentrates on employment/labor law, governmental law, Section 1983 civil rights litigation, and medical malpractice. Ms. Perkins was named to the Law Bulletin Publishing Company's list of Illinois Emerging Lawyers (2018) and has won the Winter National Law Review 2014 Writing Competition. She is received her J.D. from Northern Illinois University College of Law, her M.B.A. from Bradley University, and her B.S. from Illinois State University.
Steven F. Pflaum

Steven F. Pflaum

Steven F. Pflaum is a Partner and Cochair of the Litigation Department in Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP, in Chicago. Mr. Pflaum is a member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, former President of the Illinois Appellate Lawyers Association, and former General Counsel of the Chicago Bar Association. 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.A. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he was a Member of Phi Beta Kappa and a James Scholar.
Geoffrey M. Pipoly

Geoffrey M. Pipoly

Geoffrey M. Pipoly is an associate at Mayer Brown, in Chicago, where he is in the firm’s litigation and 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

Hon. Clare J. Quish

Hon. Clare J. Quish is a judge on the Circuit Court of Cook County in the First Municipal District. She previously was a Partner with Schuyler, Roche & Crisham, P.C., in Chicago, where she worked in the areas of appellate practice and commercial and civil litigation. Judge Quish is President of the Appellate Lawyers Association, and she previously served on the Illinois Supreme Court’s Committee on Character and Fitness for the First Judicial District. Judge Quish is a former adjunct professor of Appellate Advocacy at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and a former judicial law clerk to Justice Mary Jane Theis, formerly on the Illinois Appellate Court. She received her B.A. from Northwestern University and her J.D. cum laude from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Jessica R. Sarff

Jessica R. Sarff

Jessica R. Sarff is an associate at Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, P.C., in Peoria, where she focuses on appellate advocacy, business and commercial litigation, railroad litigation, trucking, and insurance coverage. Ms. Sarff is a member of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, the Appellate Lawyers Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the Peoria County Bar Association, where she is a member of the Young Lawyers Committee and Cochair of the Legal Mentoring Program. She earned her J.D. summa cum laude from Southern Illinois University School of Law and her B.S. from Illinois State University.
Michael A. Scodro

Michael A. Scodro

Michael A. Scodro is a Partner in the Supreme Court and Appellate Practice at Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago. He previously served as the Illinois Solicitor General, overseeing the civil and criminal appeals divisions in the state Attorney General’s Office. 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 ABA’s Council of Appellate Lawyers, first Vice President of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Professional Responsibility, Past President of the Appellate Lawyers Association, a Member of the American Law Institute, and a 2010 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow. Mr. Scodro teaches a seminar on U.S. Supreme Court practice as a Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School and speaks frequently on appellate practice. Mr. Scodro earned his A.B. summa cum laude from Dartmouth College and his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was Executive Editor of the Yale Law Journal and Articles Editor of the Yale Journal of International Law. After graduating from law school, he 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.
Brian M. Smith

Brian M. Smith

Brian M. Smith is a Partner at Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, P.C., in Urbana, where he concentrates his practice in the areas of civil rights, professional liability, employment law, education, and trucking/motor carrier litigation. Mr. Smith has been named to the Law Bulletin Publishing Company’s list of Illinois Emerging Lawyers (2015 – 2018) and as an Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Star (2012 – 2017). He received his B.A. from the University of Illinois and his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law.
Gretchen Harris Sperry

Gretchen Harris Sperry

Gretchen Harris Sperry is a Partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, in Chicago. Ms. Sperry clerked for the Honorable Mary Jane Theis and the Honorable Maureen E. Connors in the Illinois Appellate Court. She was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to serve as a member of the Character and Fitness Committee of the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar, and she serves as the Secretary of the Illinois Appellate Lawyers Association. Ms. Sperry received her B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Henry C. Thomas

Henry C. Thomas

Henry C. Thomas is an associate at Jenner & Block, LLP, in Chicago, where he focuses his practice on litigation. Mr. Thomas represents companies in a broad range of litigation matters, including patent disputes and Lanham Act claims. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his B.S. from Indiana University.
Craig L. Unrath

Craig L. Unrath

Craig L. Unrath is a Partner at Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, P.C., in Peoria, and is Chair of the firm’s Appellate Practice Group and Vice Chair of the Professional Regulation/Licensure Practice Group. Mr. Unrath is Chair of the Amicus Committee for the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel and has been named to the Illinois Super Lawyers list (2008 – 2018). He earned his J.D. from the University of Illinois and his B.A. from Shimer College.
Nadine J. Wichern

Nadine J. Wichern

Nadine J. 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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Civil Appeals: State and Federal 2018 Edition

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Karl R. Barnickol

Jennifer T. Beach

Nicole C. Berg

Laura C. Bishop

Elizabeth P. Butler

Stacy E. Crabtree

Patrick E. Dwyer III

Brad A. Elward

Gregory G. Forfa

William P. Hardy

Kara Kapp

Jason F. Krigel

Brett E. Legner

Barry Levenstam

Owen E. MacBride

Andrew G. May

Anne Mergen

Brij B. Patnaik

Emily Perkins

Steven F. Pflaum

Geoffrey M. Pipoly

Hon. Clare J. Quish

Jessica R. Sarff

Michael A. Scodro

Brian M. Smith

Gretchen Harris Sperry

Henry C. Thomas

Craig L. Unrath

Nadine J. Wichern

Civil Appeals: State and Federal 2018 Edition