CBA Record May-June 2023

as an Associate Judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County since 2008 and now presides in the Housing Court Divi sion. Judge Ball-Reed consistently gives back to the community via involvement in various bar associations and not-for profit organizations. She has served as President and a founding member of the Black Women Lawyers Association of Greater Chicago. She has also served as President of the Women’s Bar Asso ciation of Illinois, the John Marshall Alumni Association, and the Illinois Judges Foundation. Judge Ball-Reed has received various awards, moderated and presented on different legal topics, and serves as a Topic Editor for the Illinois Judicial Bench Book on Evidence. Judge Clarence Burch has served as an Associate Judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County since 2009 and currently presides over the deferred prosecution call for Branch 9 and the Chicago Prostitu tion and Trafficking Intervention Court. Previously, he was a founding member of Burch & Delgado, later Burch & Asso ciates, where he specialized in defend ing the rights of accused individuals in criminal cases. Notably, in 2007, he led the defense team that spared Juan Luna the death penalty for the killing of seven people in a Brown’s Chicken restaurant in 1993. Judge Burch has served his com munity as a member of the Cook County Bar Association and the Illinois Continu ing Education Faculty, and now serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Near North Health Services Corpora tion, which assists those who otherwise lack access to care. Kenya A. Jenkins-Wright has been the General Counsel of the Illinois Guardianship Advocacy Commission since February 2015. Prior to joining the IGAC, she served as a commercial liti gator with Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP and Greene and Letts. Her commitment to leadership, civic service, and increasing access to justice pervades every aspect of her professional career. She serves as First Vice President of The Chicago Bar Foun dation and Co-Chair of the Illinois State

Bar Association’s Steering Committee on Equity and Justice. She has received numerous other awards, including being recognized by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and Chicago Lawyer as a Top 50 Women in Law (2021), Northern Illinois University College of Law Alum of the Year (2022), and Illinois Bar Foundation inaugural Changemaker Award (2020). Judge Preston Jones, Jr. was appointed to the bench in 2017 and elected as Circuit Judge in 2018, and is currently assigned to the Law Division. Previously, he spent 23 years as an assistant public defender with the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender, where in his final 12 years he distinguished him self as a member of the Homicide Task Force, concentrating on representing indigent individuals accused of murder. Also a member of the Capital Bar, Jones has represented several defendants in cap ital cases before the abolition of the death penalty. He coaches spring and fall soccer for developmentally and physically dis abled teenagers and remains active with the historically African American frater nity Phi Beta Sigma’s graduate chapter. Erica Kirkwood is Vice President and General Counsel at GMA Con struction Group, a veteran, minority owned national general contractor that builds facilities in the affordable hous ing, healthcare, and education indus tries. She previously worked for the City of Chicago and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. A past president of the Black Women’s Lawyer Association of Greater Chicago, Inc., Kirkwood established the first annual Black Women Lawyers Judicial Recep tion, the first free Illinois public directory of black women attorneys, and founded The BWLA Directors Institute. Her activities in the community include serv ing on the Executive Board of the Chi cago Chapter of Jack & Jill, Inc. and as a member of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce Infrastructure & Digitaliza tion Committee. She is also a founding Co-Chair of the Leaders for Tomorrow Political Action Committee.

Derrick M. Thompson, Jr. is a trial lawyer and partner in Taft, Stettinius & Hollister’s Litigation and Intellectual Property practice groups. As lead trial counsel, he focuses on complex litiga tion including contract and licensing disputes, intellectual property disputes with a focus on trademark infringement, trust and fiduciary matters, and sports and entertainment related disputes. He also serves as Special Assistant Corpo ration Counsel for the City of Chicago in civil cases. Thompson’s other acco lades include being selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer for Business Litigation from 2021-2023, as well as being one of 43 attorneys selected by his peers as a top lawyer demonstrating diversity in the Illinois Bar. He serves as a member of the Big Ten Conference Advisory Com mission and Big Ten Conference Equal ity Coalition as well as on Northwestern University’s Department of Athletics and Recreation’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force. Attendees of the Dickerson Awards luncheon included CBA members, associate judge candidates, friends, and family. Dignitaries from near and far also joined the celebration, including Justice P. Scott Neville, Illinois Supreme Court; Justice Joy V. Cunningham, Illi nois Supreme Court; Justice Elizabeth Rochard, Illinois Supreme Court; Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans, Cook County Circuit Court; Chief Judge Michael Chmiel, 22nd Judicial Circuit Court; Judge Vincent F. Cornelius, 12th Judicial Circuit Court. Leaders from the Advo cates Society, Asian American Bar Associ ation of Greater Chicago, Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, Inc., Cook County Bar Association, Fili pino American Lawyers Association of Chicago, Illinois Judicial Council, Illi nois State Bar Association, and the Wom en’s Bar Association of Cook County also attended. Highlights from the luncheon can be viewed on CBA’s YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/chicagobar.

CBA RECORD 9