CBA Record July-August 2021

a prosecutor’s office in Indiana, she man- aged trafficking and misdemeanor cases and also started the county’s first pre-trial diversion program. Given her grades and ambition, Grayson eagerly participated in the on-campus interview process and met with a recruiter in the environmental department at the Illinois Attorney Gen- eral’s office. In the late 1980s, this office’s workload was overflowing with enforc- ing new environmental laws, and they desperately needed more environmental attorneys. Although Grayson had not seen herself entering this particular prac- tice area, she did have a strong awareness towards the environment, and she wanted to be a prosecutor. Therefore, she accepted an offer to become an Assistant Attorney General for Illinois under Neil Hartigan immediately following law school. In this position, she prosecuted numerous federal and state environmental cases and coinci- dentally met the man who later became her husband, Joseph Madonia, who happened to be her office mate. At age 26, Grayson left the Attorney General’s office to become at that time the youngest Chief Legal Counsel for the Illinois Emergency Services and Disaster Agency and the State Emergency Response Commission (now the Illinois Emergency Management Agency). This was an excit- ing time to practice environmental law, as so many new laws were emerging on a frequent basis. For example, the Illinois Chemical Safety Act had just passed, and enforcement of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act was being delegated to the states. Grayson’s expertise was greatly needed to help the agency navigate these new laws, focusing on managing and enforcing chemical and nuclear safety in Illinois; leading emergency preparedness and natural disaster assistance; developing a 24-hour command center; and working on emergency response plans with nuclear power plants. In 1990, Grayson left her government position and moved to Chicago with her future husband. Because there was a hiring freeze in government at that time, Grayson switched to private practice and became an associate at Coffield Ungaretti & Harris

Grayson with Judge George Leighton and Jennifer Burke.

(now Nixon Peabody), where she stayed for four years practicing environmental law and became partner. In 1994, Grayson joined Jenner & Block as a partner and spent the next 24 years growing the firm’s environmental law practice. She served as a leader in many areas of the firm including serving as the firm’s Environmental andWorkplace Health & Safety Law Practice’s Chair- woman and the Diversity Committee’s Co-Chairwoman and leading theWomen’s Forum. Lynn Grayson is a preeminent envi- ronmental lawyer who will be CBA President in our profession’s transitional time. As a nationally recognized leader, with a history of promoting women and diversity in the profession, Lynn has advocated tirelessly for change. As one of the first women equity partners in an international law firm, she has promoted women to serve on the bench and be chosen for law partnerships. In her bar year, she will support all of our members, and inspire a renaissance of the CBA. ‒ Nina Fain, Co-chair, CBA D.I.C.E. Committee Grayson also served as Jenner & Block’s lead environmental counsel in U.S. and international transactions and counseled corporate leadership on the management

of material environmental risks and liabili- ties. A significant part of her practice at this time focused on Superfund cleanups and what her clients’ connections were to hazardous waste sites. She worked with attorneys for other “potentially responsible parties” to develop a plan and work with all parties involved in completely resolving the case if there was any liability.

In 2018, Grayson became a partner at Nijman Franzetti LLP, a women-owned boutique environmental law firm, where she currently defends clients in natural resource damage matters, manages all aspects of site cleanups, and represents clients in substantive enforcement pro- ceedings related to air and chemical use. She also dedicates a significant portion of her practice to serving as national envi- ronmental counsel supporting corporate law departments with the development of environmental strategies and management Grayson with Past CBA President Jennifer Nijman (2002-2003).

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