CBA Record July-August 2022

YOUNG L AWYERS S EC T I ON : BU I LD I NG BR I DGE S

YLSWelcomes New Leadership at Annual Meeting By Ann Glynn, CBA Public Affairs Director

• Margaret Mendenhall Casey of the City of Chicago Department of Law was recognized with the Milton H. Gray Award for Outstanding Project Leadership. • The Rising Star Award for a Leader with Exceptional Promise was presented to Genevieve Redd of KPMG LLP. • The Terrence M. Murphy Award for Leaders with Substantial Impact on the Section was awarded to Kaitlin King of Hart David Carson, LLP, and Theodore Kontopoulos of FORVIS. The YLS continues to strive to pro vide meaningful opportunities for profes sional growth, community service, and networking to its approximately 7,000 members, which include attorneys in their first 10 years of practice and law students. The YLS offers 28 committees covering substantive practice areas and public ser vice offerings, implements member and public service projects, and hosts numer ous seminars and networking events. For further information, contact the Young Lawyers Section at 312-554-2070 or yls@chicagobar.org.

T he Young Lawyers Section of The Chicago Bar Association introduced Daniel J. Berkowitz as their next Chair at the YLS Annual Meeting in June. The reception, held at CBA headquarters, also introduced a new Executive Council and honored YLS Members for their ser vice and contributions throughout the year. Berkowitz, an Assistant Attorney Gen eral with the Office of the Illinois Attor ney General, practices in the General Law Bureau with a focus on defending state agencies and state employees when they are sued in court. He is actively involved in several CBA initiatives including the CBA Record Editorial Board, the Strate gic Planning Committee, and the 150th Anniversary Committee. “I am honored and humbled to be chosen to serve as the Chair of the Young Lawyers Section during this chal lenging time,” said Berkowitz. “The last two years have forced the CBA and the YLS to assess what makes bar associa tion membership valuable, and how best to deliver the services and experiences that our members need. We are excited to embrace the challenge of continuing to deliver to our membership the profes sional education, public service oppor tunities, and social interaction that are vital to the development of a strong legal community.” Joining him on the 2022-2023 Execu tive Council of the YLS are Martin Gould of Romanucci & Blandin, LLC as First Vice-Chair; Kenneth Matusze wski of Goldberg Segalla LLP as Second Vice-Chair; Gavin Phelps of Phelps LLC as Member Service Manager; Mar garet Mendenhall Casey of the City of Chicago Department of Law as Public Service Manager; Aleksandra Petrovic of Damisch & Damisch Ltd. as Project Officer; Brittany Kaplan of K & L Gates as Project Officer; Kernisha Padilla of Latham & Watkins as Secretary/Trea

surer; Jacob Berger of Tabet DiVito & Rothstein as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the YLS Journal; Theodore Kontopoulos of FORVIS as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the YLS Journal; Nikki Marcotte of Tabet DiVito & Rothstein as Assistant Editor of the YLS Journal; Brian Bentrup of Pluymont, MacDonald, Hargrove & Lee, Ltd. as Co-Editor of the YLS Blog; Alex andra Morelli of Baker, Castro, Kuban & Steinback, LLC as Co-Editor of the YLS Blog; and Tracy Brammeier of Clifford Law Offices as Immediate Past Chair. In addition to welcoming new lead ership, the YLS honored members who have shown outstanding project leader ship and excellent committee service: • The David C. Hilliard Award for Outstanding Committee Service was awarded to the YLS Family Law Committee; Anna Aguilar of the Law Office of Erin M. Wilson, LLC; Erica Berstein of Berger Schatz; and Colleen Breems of Lavelle Law, LTD.

Pictured Top Row from Left: YLS Family Law Chair Erica Bernstein, Berger Schatz, YLS Public Service Manager Maggie Mendenhall Casey, City of Chicago, YLS Journal Editor Ted Kontopoulos, Forvis, Genevieve Redd, KPMG LLP, YLS Family Law Chair Anna Aguilar, Law Office of Erin M. Wilson, and YLS Family Law Chair Colleen Breems, Law Office of Erin M. Wilson. Bottom Row: 2022-23 YLS Chair Daniel Berkowitz, Office of the Illinois Attorney General, and 2021-22 YLS Chair Tracy Brammeier, Clifford Law Offices.

42 July/August 2022