CBA Record November-December 2025

More About the Winners Aurora Austriaco is a shareholder at Valentine Austriaco & Bue schel, P.C., a women-owned law firm. She practices commercial and real estate litigation, construction litigation, mortgage fore closure defense, plaintiffs’ side mortgage fraud actions, and other special chancery remedy cases. Austriaco currently serves as Com missioner for the Illinois Courts Commission. She has served 11 years as Commissioner for the Cook County Human Rights Com mission and is past president of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, The Chicago Bar Association, and the Lawyer’s Trust Fund of Illinois. She is the President of the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce and serves on the boards of the National Association of Asian American Professionals, the Asian American Coalition of Chicago, and the Chinese Mutual Aid Association. John Bouman is the Director of Legal Action Chicago. Legal Action Chicago has worked to pass four bills in the 2025 Gen eral Assembly session, including new protections for debtors and for children of families being evicted. Bouman worked 24 years at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law and two decades super vising public benefits advocacy at the Legal Assistance Founda tion of Chicago. He helped lead the design and implementation of Illinois’ new welfare law in 1997. He spearheaded statewide efforts to create both the FamilyCare program, which provides health care insurance for up to 400,000 working poor parents of minor children, and All Kids, the first state plan to extend health coverage to every child. Chief Judge Virginia M. Kendall serves the Northern District of Illinois and was appointed to the federal bench in 2006. She lectures extensively both domestically and internationally in the areas of trial practice, public corruption, ethics, electronic dis covery, patent litigation, internet and computer investigations, intellectual property case management, and child exploitation and human trafficking. Judge Kendall is the co-author of two books on U.S. and global child exploitation and trafficking. She teaches human trafficking enforcement at the University of Chi cago Law School, Northwestern University School of Law, and Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She served on the Judicial Codes of Conduct Committee and the United Nations’

Judicial Integrity Network. In 2018, she was the Peter and Patri cia Gruber Fellow in Women’s Rights at Yale Law School. Prior to her judicial appointment, she served as a federal prosecutor and as the Child Exploitation Coordinator, where she tried dozens of jury trials. Michael R. Lufrano is executive vice president of the Chi cago Cubs. He joined the team in 2004 and is responsible for its community affairs, government relations, neighborhood involvement, and charitable participation. He also serves as legal counsel for the team. Lufrano helped spearhead investments in local baseball diamonds including Kerry Wood Cubs Field, Little Cubs Field at Humboldt Park, and Cubs Care Legends Field at Hamlin Park. Since Lufrano joined the team, the Cubs’ charita ble efforts have supported more than $51 million in investments to help create strong, resilient children; fund sports-based youth development and academic programming; and build safe places to play. From 1993-95, Lufrano served in the White House as a special assistant to the president. He serves on the board of directors of NAMI-Chicago supporting the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Professor Michael P. Seng has been a professor at UIC Law School (previously The John Marshall Law School) since 1976. He has taught courses in constitutional law, civil rights, federal courts, and comparative law. He co-founded the Fair Housing Legal Center and Clinic at the UIC Law School with attorney F. Willis Caruso. He and the late Judge Sheila Murphy started a course and externship program in restorative justice at the law school. Professor Seng was a Fulbright Professor in Nige ria, and he later served as a Fulbright senior consultant in the Czech Republic. He has co-authored books on eyewitness tes timony and restorative justice. Prior to teaching, he served as a law clerk for the Hon. John F. Kilkenny on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, he was an associate at Jenner & Block, and he was the Directing Attorney for the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation in Cairo, Illinois. Watch the Justice John Paul Stevens Awards presentation ceremony on the CBA’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/ chicagobar.

LAWPAY, THE PAYMENT SOLUTION TRUSTED BY OVER 115,000 LEGAL PROFESSIONALS, JUST GOT EVEN BETTER. With a new look and features including invoicing, time tracking, and contact management, LawPay makes it easier to streamline billing, manage client infor mation, and boost productivity—so firms can spend less time on admin work and more time practicing law.

Schedule a demo at www.lawpay.com/member-programs/chicago-bar.

CBA RECORD 9