FN-1975754 MN-1975754 LN-1975754, Esq.
Strategic Leader, Corporate Board Director and C-Suite Executive, Licensed Arbitrator and Mediator, and Adjunct Professor
Riverside, Illinois
Accomplished C-Suite Executive and Northwestern University College of Engineering MS Adjunct Professor, BigLaw partner and honored and recognized NGO leader (including National President and Board Member of the Girl Scouts of the USA (2017 to 2023), University of Illinois 2023 Alumni Achievement Comeback Award Winner and Crains' 2022 Not-for-Profit Leader).
M.A.I.T. Co. - CEO
Northwestern University McCormick School of Engineering - Adjunct Professor
Northwestern University McCormick School of Engineering - Adjunct Professor
Strategic Leader, Corporate Board Director and C-Suite Executive, Licensed Arbitrator and Mediator, and Adjunct Professor
CEO, M.A.I.T. Co., 2018 – Present; Adjunct Professor, McCormick School of Engineering MS EMDC Program – Northwestern University, 2018 – Present; Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel (2014 – 2018)/General Counsel and Vice President Corporate Development (2013 – 2014), Scheck Industries, 2013 – 2018; Shareholder (Chair of the Litigation Practice Area and Construction Law Section/senior member of the Board of Directors/Compensation Committee Chair/Hiring Partner/founding member of the Diversity Committee/Summer Program Chair), Vedder Price P.C., 1990 – 2013; and Associate, Chadwell Kayser et. al. (many attorneys of this firm were retained by Vedder Price) 1987 – 1990.
Founded consulting firm representing clients in projects ranging from accounting, commercial and insurance fraud investigations, construction practices and enterprise risk management and governance policy and program development. Recent engagements include retention as special counsel to the Trustee in the In Re: Central Grocers, Inc. bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the N.D. of Illinois. Adjunct faculty at Northwestern University teaching ethics, cyber risks, ADR, crisis management and due diligence in the College of Engineering MS programs for Engineering and Design Construction and Engineering Project Management. Served as Chief Strategy Officer and GC to national industrial mechanical contractor; negotiated, drafted and litigated all contracts for $100 million plus EPC and maintenance refinery projects. At Vedder Price, counseled and represented public and private companies in sophisticated litigation matters including emphasis on mega construction projects, manufacturing, indemnification, dealer termination, accounting and commercial fraud and contract matters. Experienced Board, Audit and Finance Committee member and strategist including as National President of the Girl Scouts of the USA and first woman President of the 7th Circuit Bar Association.
COMMERCIAL LAW AND LITIGATION: Financial, Accounting and Bankruptcy disputes including fraud and misappropriation, Corporate Espionage, Pharmaceutical disputes, Intellectual Property, Trademark and Trade Dress disputes, Franchisor/Franchisee disputes; Manufacturer/Distributor and requirements contract disputes (domestic and international); Joint Venture, License, Partnership and Shareholder Agreements and basket holdback disputes; Lender/Borrower issues; Supply Chain and Logistics disputes; Professional, Criminal and other Employment investigations and ERM audits; Commercial Sellers/Vendors matters; Warranty disputes and other UCC matters; Professional practice and other business dissolutions; Business and Trade Association matters.
CONSTRUCTION, REAL ESTATE, ENERGY LAW AND LITIGATION: Representative clients and dispute participants include project owners, construction and program managers, developers, public entities, general and design build contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, engineers, architects and designers, in public and private commercial, industrial, institutional, governmental and residential projects. Projects include manufacturing and energy co-generation, ethanol, solar, wind, natural gas and electrical power plants, pharmaceutical and mechanical and firestopping disputes, cell tower construction and leasing, condominiums, hospitals, senior care facilities, office buildings, underground tunneling, railroad, and pipeline and utility construction, stadiums, public transit authority, universities and school districts, hotels, plants and factories, port authorities, airport, parking facilities, casinos, financial institutions, and infrastructure projects including road building, heavy and highway, and bridge design and construction. Experienced in disputes involving design matters, all construction trades, criminal and civil governmental investigations including OSHA violations, False Claims Act and Foreign Corrupt Government Practices Act claims, project delays, acceleration and inefficiencies, cyber theft and corporate espionage and spoliation claims. Also extensive experience in all facets of insurance coverage and ERM and workers’ compensation audits, General Liability and Professional Errors and Omission coverage and liability issues, OCIP and CCIP policies and coverage. Extensive experience in real estate matters, both from the litigation and business sides and actual developer of multiple rehabilitation projects. Represented local and multi-state builders, developers, equity funds, and financial institutions.
COMMERCIAL LAW AND LITIGATION: Financial, Accounting and Bankruptcy disputes including fraud and misappropriation, Corporate Espionage, Pharmaceutical disputes, Intellectual Property, Trademark and Trade Dress disputes, Franchisor/Franchisee disputes; Manufacturer/Distributor and requirements contract disputes (domestic and international); Joint Venture, License, Partnership and Shareholder Agreements and basket holdback disputes; Lender/Borrower issues; Supply Chain and Logistics disputes; Professional, Criminal and other Employment investigations and ERM audits; Commercial Sellers/Vendors matters; Warranty disputes and other UCC matters; Professional practice and other business dissolutions; Business and Trade Association matters.
CONSTRUCTION, REAL ESTATE, ENERGY LAW AND LITIGATION: Representative clients and dispute participants include project owners, construction and program managers, developers, public entities, general and design build contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, engineers, architects and designers, in public and private commercial, industrial, institutional, governmental and residential projects. Projects include manufacturing and energy co-generation, ethanol, solar, wind, natural gas and electrical power plants, pharmaceutical and mechanical and firestopping disputes, cell tower construction and leasing, condominiums, hospitals, senior care facilities, office buildings, underground tunneling, railroad, and pipeline and utility construction, stadiums, public transit authority, universities and school districts, hotels, plants and factories, port authorities, airport, parking facilities, casinos, financial institutions, and infrastructure projects including road building, heavy and highway, and bridge design and construction. Experienced in disputes involving design matters, all construction trades, criminal and civil governmental investigations including OSHA violations, False Claims Act and Foreign Corrupt Government Practices Act claims, project delays, acceleration and inefficiencies, cyber theft and corporate espionage and spoliation claims. Also extensive experience in all facets of insurance coverage and ERM and workers’ compensation audits, General Liability and Professional Errors and Omission coverage and liability issues, OCIP and CCIP policies and coverage. Extensive experience in real estate matters, both from the litigation and business sides and actual developer of multiple rehabilitation projects. Represented local and multi-state builders, developers, equity funds, and financial institutions.
Frequently serves as an arbitrator, mediator, and a Dispute Resolution Board member in complex and multi-party cases in the commercial, trademark and insurance coverage areas including breach of contract and fraud claims, financial and accounting misrepresentations in private and public company M&A deals, construction, engineering, manufacturing, and energy disputes, cyber / data theft and corporate espionage claims, franchise/ distributor disputes, and transportation matters. Serves on the AAA's Mega-Case Construction and Dispute Resolution Board Panels including as a panel chair and sole arbitrator and as a licensed mediator. Represents and consults with businesses in finding business solutions to open and sometimes continuing controversy issues involving existing or threatened litigation. Have mediated complex cases (as the mediator, as well as an advocate), for over 35 years.
Recent engagements include retention as special counsel to the Trustee in the In Re: Central Grocers, Inc. bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Illinois.
Recent engagements include retention as special counsel to the Trustee in the In Re: Central Grocers, Inc. bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Illinois.
Recent representative mediation matters include an environmental toxic tort lawsuit involving multiple plaintiffs and claims for wrongful death and other cancers alleged from groundwater contamination and pollutants and arising injuries; a complex construction delay and damages lawsuit involving an energy manufacturing plant and mechanics lien and wrongful failure to pay claims; a multi-party multi-million dollar lawsuit involving numerous construction projects, subcontractors and suppliers, and a commercial and business bet-the-company defamation and discrimination lawsuit.
I approach each mediation as if I were a member of the Board of Directors and / or ownership of the respective parties. I provide the parties and their counsel important insight to the fiduciary considerations required to justify any settlement and or decision to proceed to litigation, to the corporate shareholders, other stakeholders and / or partners in a closely-held entity. My vast corporate governance and board experience (including as the first woman president of the 7th Circuit Bar Association in its then 51 year history and as the immediate past National President of GSUSA as well as representing fortune 100 companies in the bet-the-company stakes litigation for 35 plus years) has provided me unique and valuable expertise to assist the parties in understanding the enterprise risk management issues and merits related with settling and or continuing to litigate.
Experience conducting arbitrations, mediations, all forms of discovery, and teaching classes in the Northwestern MS in EMDC program on virtual platforms including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, BlueJeans, LoopUp, and GoToMeeting, among others. Willing to conduct hearings/conferences using those platforms. Also, significant experience in use and production of ESI and predictive coding in complex and multi-party cases.
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois (JD-1987; BA, International Economics-1984); University of Dijon (University of Burgundy), Dijon, France: semester abroad program (1982-1983).
Admitted to the Bar: Illinois (1987); U.S. District Court: Northern (1987) and Central (2002) Districts of Illinois, District of Columbia (1989); Trial Bar (1997); U.S. Court of Appeals: Third (2005), Seventh (1991), Ninth (1992) Circuits.
-Girl Scouts of the USA (National President and Chair of the Board of Directors 2020 to 2023 and Board Member 2017-2023);
-Northwestern University, McCormick School of Engineering Industry Advisory Board Member;
-American Arbitration Association Board of Directors (Chair of the Finance and Budget Committee);
-AAA International Centre for Dispute Resolution Foundation Board Member;
-National Construction Dispute Resolution Committee Co-Chair;
-Metropolitan Planning Council of Chicago (former Executive Leadership Advisor member);
-Seventh Circuit Bar Association (First woman President in its then 51 year history, Board of Governors member, and past Secretary);
-Member of the Seventh Circuit Jury Instructions Committee;
-Economic Club of Chicago Member;
-American Bar Association Construction Forum Trial Academy Faculty at all five Academies and former Co-Chair Construction Litigation Committee;
-Member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners; and
-University of Illinois, Alumni Association Board Member and, also, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS Alumni Association, past President and Board of Directors member and Distinguished Service and Loyalty Award winner), Chair of the University of Illinois Council, and awarded 2021 University of Illinois College of Economics Social Impact Award in conjunction with 125th Anniversary of the College.
-Northwestern University, McCormick School of Engineering Industry Advisory Board Member;
-American Arbitration Association Board of Directors (Chair of the Finance and Budget Committee);
-AAA International Centre for Dispute Resolution Foundation Board Member;
-National Construction Dispute Resolution Committee Co-Chair;
-Metropolitan Planning Council of Chicago (former Executive Leadership Advisor member);
-Seventh Circuit Bar Association (First woman President in its then 51 year history, Board of Governors member, and past Secretary);
-Member of the Seventh Circuit Jury Instructions Committee;
-Economic Club of Chicago Member;
-American Bar Association Construction Forum Trial Academy Faculty at all five Academies and former Co-Chair Construction Litigation Committee;
-Member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners; and
-University of Illinois, Alumni Association Board Member and, also, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS Alumni Association, past President and Board of Directors member and Distinguished Service and Loyalty Award winner), Chair of the University of Illinois Council, and awarded 2021 University of Illinois College of Economics Social Impact Award in conjunction with 125th Anniversary of the College.
Panelist Construction Super Conferences: (upcoming 12/2023) on Consequential Challenges in Arbitration Clauses; (12/2018) on SCOTUS Swings the Pendulum Back in Favor of Arbitration: Ensure That Your Next Arbitration Clause Is Effective and Enforceable; (12/2017) on How Effective Preliminary Hearings Ensure Efficiency and Economy and also on panel entitled Streamlining Your Arbitration: How to Avoid Reliving the Construction Project “Brick by Brick;” (12/2016) on Modern Challenges and Ethical Dilemmas at Arbitration; (12/2015) on Ethics in Arbitration; (12/2014) on Ethical Pitfalls of Electronic Communications and (12/2013) on Ethical Lapses and Criminality in Construction Procurement and Staffing; and
Other Representative Speaking Engagements:
Panelist at the Chicago Bar Association program "Advancing Social Justice Initiatives Through Alternative Dispute Resolution" (2/2023); panelist at the AAA Annual Construction Conference: "Arbitrators' Impartiality: The Canons are Only the Starting Point for Ethical Requirements (NYC-6/2022); opening plenary panelist at ABA Annual Meeting: The relationship between the C-Suite and the General Counsel (4/2022); speaker at the National Fireproofing Contractors Association’s hybrid conference: Liability mitigation ideas for fireproofing contractors (10/2021); panelist at AAA Construction Program: Charting Your Path to an ADR Practice: Practical Advice to Help You Prepare to Serve as a Construction Arbitrator or Mediator (7/2021); panelist on 2021 AAA Virtual Construction Conference, Ethical Issues Arising in Multi-Party Mediations and Arbitrations (6/2021); panelist on ABA/ CLC and Ankura Consulting Webinar: "Foreign Corrupt Practices Act" (6/2021); panelist AAA-2020 AAA Construction Webinar Series: How to Effectively Deal With the 300 Change Order Dispute – Who Controls the Process? (10/2020); speaker at the NFCA Fireproofing Educational (Virtual) Conference: Potential Liability and How to Protect your Business" (9/2020) and the NFCA Fireproofing Webinar: Liability Arising Out of Construction Documentation" (10/2020); speaker at the FCIA Annual meeting on Firestopping 20 Years in the Making: What do We Know About Potential Sources of Liability? (4/2019) and at the annual FCIA meeting: Liability Arising out of Firestopping (11/2019) Miami, FL; panelist on ABA Dispute Resolution Spring Conference Educational Program: I Know You Want to “Beat the Heck Out of Them” and that “Money Doesn’t Matter”–How to Save Parties from Themselves in Construction Arbitration (4/2019) Minneapolis, MN; panelist on ABA's 2019 Insurance Coverage CLE Seminar: Workers Compensation: Disruption is the Only Cure to Saving a Broken System (2/2019) Tucson, AZ.; opening plenary speaker at the 2018 ABA Forum on Construction Annual meeting (April 2018) in NOLA on the Economics of Construction and Obtaining Your Mini MBA; panelist on AAA Webinar: What Advocates Can Learn From Walking in an Arbitrator’s Shoes (12/2016); panelist (with Marathon Petroleum) at the ILTA Annual Conference (6/2014) on Ethical and Other Considerations Relating to Electronic Discovery; and panelist at the Seventh Circuit Judicial Conference and Bar Annual Meeting (5/2013) on The How-to of Civil Settlements and Criminal Plea Bargains.
Other Representative Speaking Engagements:
Panelist at the Chicago Bar Association program "Advancing Social Justice Initiatives Through Alternative Dispute Resolution" (2/2023); panelist at the AAA Annual Construction Conference: "Arbitrators' Impartiality: The Canons are Only the Starting Point for Ethical Requirements (NYC-6/2022); opening plenary panelist at ABA Annual Meeting: The relationship between the C-Suite and the General Counsel (4/2022); speaker at the National Fireproofing Contractors Association’s hybrid conference: Liability mitigation ideas for fireproofing contractors (10/2021); panelist at AAA Construction Program: Charting Your Path to an ADR Practice: Practical Advice to Help You Prepare to Serve as a Construction Arbitrator or Mediator (7/2021); panelist on 2021 AAA Virtual Construction Conference, Ethical Issues Arising in Multi-Party Mediations and Arbitrations (6/2021); panelist on ABA/ CLC and Ankura Consulting Webinar: "Foreign Corrupt Practices Act" (6/2021); panelist AAA-2020 AAA Construction Webinar Series: How to Effectively Deal With the 300 Change Order Dispute – Who Controls the Process? (10/2020); speaker at the NFCA Fireproofing Educational (Virtual) Conference: Potential Liability and How to Protect your Business" (9/2020) and the NFCA Fireproofing Webinar: Liability Arising Out of Construction Documentation" (10/2020); speaker at the FCIA Annual meeting on Firestopping 20 Years in the Making: What do We Know About Potential Sources of Liability? (4/2019) and at the annual FCIA meeting: Liability Arising out of Firestopping (11/2019) Miami, FL; panelist on ABA Dispute Resolution Spring Conference Educational Program: I Know You Want to “Beat the Heck Out of Them” and that “Money Doesn’t Matter”–How to Save Parties from Themselves in Construction Arbitration (4/2019) Minneapolis, MN; panelist on ABA's 2019 Insurance Coverage CLE Seminar: Workers Compensation: Disruption is the Only Cure to Saving a Broken System (2/2019) Tucson, AZ.; opening plenary speaker at the 2018 ABA Forum on Construction Annual meeting (April 2018) in NOLA on the Economics of Construction and Obtaining Your Mini MBA; panelist on AAA Webinar: What Advocates Can Learn From Walking in an Arbitrator’s Shoes (12/2016); panelist (with Marathon Petroleum) at the ILTA Annual Conference (6/2014) on Ethical and Other Considerations Relating to Electronic Discovery; and panelist at the Seventh Circuit Judicial Conference and Bar Annual Meeting (5/2013) on The How-to of Civil Settlements and Criminal Plea Bargains.
No charge for expenses for travel within the state of Illinois and southern Wisconsin and Northwest Indiana.
$500 Per Hour
English
United States of America
Riverside, IL
The AAA’s Rules provide the AAA with the authority to administer a mediation including, mediator appointment, general oversight and billing. Accordingly, mediations that proceed without AAA administration are not considered AAA mediations, even when the parties select an mediator who is on the AAA’s Roster.
The information contained in this resume has been supplied solely by the individual mediator and may, or may not, be a complete recitation of their experience. The AAA assumes no responsibility for the content, completeness, accuracy, or reliability of the information contained in a mediator’s resume. If you have any questions about a mediator’s experience or background, you are encouraged to contact your case manager.
Mediators on the AAA Roster are not employees or agents of the AAA.
The information contained in this resume has been supplied solely by the individual mediator and may, or may not, be a complete recitation of their experience. The AAA assumes no responsibility for the content, completeness, accuracy, or reliability of the information contained in a mediator’s resume. If you have any questions about a mediator’s experience or background, you are encouraged to contact your case manager.
Mediators on the AAA Roster are not employees or agents of the AAA.
