CBA Record July-August 2025

THE YOUNG LAWYERS SECTION

T he YLS introduced the 2025-2026 Executive Council and Chair Gavin Phelps at the YLS Annual Meeting. YLS members were also honored for their service and contribu tions throughout the year. Gavin Phelps currently serves as a law clerk to Associate Judge James E. Hanlon, Jr. in the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Law Division, Commercial Calendar Section. He began his career in business transactional law and had his own solo practice for five years. He has worked with start-ups, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies. He received his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 2016. “I am honored to serve as the 55th Chair of the Young Law yers Section and excited to share that our 2025-2026 bar year theme is ‘Courage.’” said Phelps. “We have a tremendous team of YLS executives to lead our section We also have a full slate of great events for this year. I encourage all our members to take part in all the YLS has to offer.” Joining him on the 2025-2026 Executive Council of the YLS are Aleksandra Petrovic, Damisch & Damisch Ltd., as First Vice-Chair; Bianca Ciarroni, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, as Second Vice-Chair; Stephanie Moon, Armstrong Teasdale LLP, as Recruitment Officer; Pam Sran, Fox Rothschild LLP, as Phi lanthropy Officer; Deepa Singh, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as Program Officer; Cha’yra Eddie, Levenfeld Pearlstein LLC, as Program Officer; Andre A. Hunter, Jr., Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, as Secretary/Treasurer; Katherine Hanson, Chicago-Kent College of Law, as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the YLS Journal; Joanna Kopczyk, Attorney at Law, as Co-Editor in-Chief of the YLS Journal; Sara Shiffman, Attorney at Law, as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the @theBar Blog; Hannah Werner, Mac Donald, Lee & Senechalle, Ltd., as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the @theBar Blog; and Joshua Epstein, Goldberg Kohn Ltd., as Inclusion and Engagement Officer. The following join Phelps as Directors: Whitney Barr, Caf farelli & Associates Ltd.; Teresa Finucane, Beermann LLP; Elaina Stevens, Tomasik Kotin Kasserman, LLC; Kushtrim Ashiku, J.D. Young Lawyers Section Welcomes New Leadership at Annual Meeting By Ann Glynn, CBA Public Affairs Director

Pictured: Kenneth A. Matuszewski and Gavin Phelps.

Candidate, UIC Law; John Clucas, Monahan Law Group, LLC; John Gilmore, Cook County Circuit Court; Joseph Nelson, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; Jessica Shifman, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office; and Adam Smith, Kaplan Grady. Kenneth Matuszewski, Rozier Hardt McDonough, is the Immediate Past Chair. In addition to welcoming new leadership, the YLS honored members who have shown outstanding project leadership and excellent committee service. Awardees include: l The Milton H. Gray Award for Outstanding Project Lead ership: Deepa Singh, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. l The David C. Hilliard Award for Outstanding Commit tee Service: YLS Criminal Law Committee with Ashley Rodriguez, Second Chance Law, and Robert Alexander, Vanguard Advocates LLP, as Co-Chairs. l The Rising Star Award for a Leader with Exceptional Prom ise: Kushtrim Ashiku, J.D. Candidate, UIC Law. l The Terrence M. Murphy Award for Leaders with Substan tial Impact on the Section: Andre A. Hunter Jr., Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani. l Emeritus Award for Dedicated and Illustrious YLS Lead ership: Daniel J. Berkowitz, Cruser, Mitchel, Novitz, Sanchez, Gatson & Zimet, LLP.

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