Speakers
Judge Georgia Alexakis
Judge
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
On February 21, 2024, President Biden nominated Georgia N. Alexakis (JD '06) to serve as the United States District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois.
Prior to the nomination, Alexakis was an Assistant United States Attorney and the Chief of Appeals for the Criminal Division in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois since 2022. She previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in that office from 2013 to 2021. While at the U.S. Attorney's Office, she worked on high-profile trials such as that of foiled Chicago bar bomber Adel Daoud and that of Marco Proano, a Chicago police officer found guilty of excessive force.
From 2021 to 2022, Alexakis worked as a partner at Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP in Chicago, focusing on government enforcement, investigations, and white-collar criminal defense work, as well as appellate advocacy for businesses and key executives facing crises ranging from sensitive internal matters to high-profile enforcement actions.
From 2008 to 2012, she was an associate and then a partner at Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP, also in Chicago. Alexakis served as a law clerk for Judge Milton I. Shadur on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and for Judge Marsha S. Berzon on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
She graduated magna cum laude from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in 2006 and magna cum laude from Harvard University in 2000. Between college and law school, Alexakis worked as an associate and then as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in Chicago. After graduating from Northwestern Law, Alexakis served on the Center for Practice Engagement and Innovation Advisory Board.
William Baude
Harry Kalven Jr. Professor of Law and Faculty Director
University of Chicago Law School, Constitutional Law
William Baude is the Harry Kalven, Jr. Professor of Law and the Faculty Director of the Constitutional Law Institute at the University of Chicago Law School, where he teaches a range of subjects such as federal courts, constitutional law, election law, conflict of laws, and elements of the law. His current research interests include the nature of circuit precedent, constitutional time, and the dubious legacy of Erie Railroad vs. Tompkins.
Among his other activities Baude is: the co-editor of two textbooks, The Constitution of the United States and Hart & Wechsler's Federal Courts in the Federal System and a podcaster and blogger at Divided Argument. In 2025, he won both the University of Chicago's Academic Communications Network Excellence Award for digital media, and the Diversity Leadership Faculty Award (with Clinical Professor of Law Judith Miller). In 2026, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Professor Baude received his BS in Mathematics from the University of Chicago and his JD from Yale Law School. He then clerked for then-Judge Michael McConnell on the United States Court of Appeals, and Chief Justice John Roberts on the United States Supreme Court. Before joining the Chicago faculty, he was a fellow at the Stanford Constitutional Law Center, and a lawyer in Washington, DC.
Samuel L. Bray
Professor of Law and Walter Mander Research Scholar
University of Chicago Law School
Samuel Bray is a legal scholar who teaches remedies, civil procedure, and constitutional law. He joined the University of Chicago faculty in 2025 after serving on the law faculty at UCLA and at Notre Dame.
Bray has written widely on injunctions, declaratory judgments, and the equitable powers of courts. He is the coauthor of two legal textbooks: Ames, Chafee, and Re on Remedies (with Emily Sherwin); and The Constitution of the United States (with Michael Paulsen, Michael McConnell, and Will Baude). Bray is an elected member of the American Law Institute, an adviser on the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Remedies, and a McDonald Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. He has testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the House Judiciary Committee, and the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Bray graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 2005 and clerked for then-judge Michael W. McConnell on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Charlie Dameron
Lead Counsel for Appellate and Strategic Commercial Litigation
Walmart
Charlie Dameron is lead counsel for appellate and strategic litigation at Walmart. He was previously a lawyer in the Supreme Court & Appellate practice group at Latham & Watkins in Washington. He clerked for Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. on the U.S. Supreme Court and for Judge Raymond M. Kethledge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He graduated from Dartmouth College and Yale Law School.
Sarah Konsky
Director, University of Chicago Law School, Jenner & Block Supreme Court and Appellate Clinic
Sarah Konsky is the Director of the Supreme Court and Appellate Clinic and a Clinical Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School.
Konsky and the clinic represent parties and amici curiae in cases before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and other appellate courts. Since the clinic's launch in 2016, Konsky and the clinic have represented parties in thirteen Supreme Court cases spanning a wide range of issues. Konsky and the clinic also have represented numerous clients in criminal, post-conviction, and civil rights appeals in the Seventh Circuit.
Before joining the Law School faculty, Konsky was a partner at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago. Konsky received her BS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her JD from the University of Chicago Law School. She was a law clerk for Chief Judge Mary M. Schroeder on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Konsky currently is a member of the board of directors of the Pro Bono Network, a member of the advisory board of CARPLS Legal Aid, and an elected member of the American Law Institute.
Kenneth Manaster
Author of Illinois Justice
Kenneth A. Manaster is Professor of Law, Emeritus, at Santa Clara University School of Law, where he specialized in environmental law. He has been visiting professor at Stanford Law School, the University of Texas School of Law, and Hastings College of the Law. After public schooling on Chicago's South Side, he attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School and was a Fullbright Fellow in Peru. He clerked for U.S. District Judge Bernard M. Decker in Chicago, was an associate with the firm now Sidley Austin LLP, and was an Illinois Assistant Attorney General. Over 17 years he served on and chaired the Hearing Board of the Bay Area Air District. Threreafter he was Of Counsel to the environmental practice at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP for 30 years. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the John Paul Stevens Foundation. He has authored, among other publications, Illinois Justice: The Scandal of 1969 and the Rise of John Paul Stevens (The University of Chicago Press) and The American Legal System and Civic Engagement: Why We All Should Think Like Lawyers (Palgrave Macmillan). He is General Editor of California Environmental Law and Land Use Practice (LexisNexis).
Javaria Neagle
Associate General Counsel for Litigation
United Airlines
For over a decade, Javaria Neagle has led significant litigation and provides strategic advice on key company initiatives at United Airlines, Inc. She currently serves as Associate General Counsel of Litigation. In that role, she oversees a robust team of attorneys and legal professionals responsible for providing client counseling on an array of customer/external partners issues, in addition to a vast portfolio of litigation including antitrust, commercial, and personal injury. She also manages eDiscovery, record retention, and subpoenas functionalities for the enterprise. Javaria serves as President of United's newest Business Resource Group for parents and caregivers, and previously served on the Board of United's Business Resource Group for women. Outside of work, Javaria represents asylum seekers and is a founding board member for Dress for Success-Central.
Jane Elinor Notz
Illinois Solicitor General, Office of the Illinois Attorney General
Jane Elinor (Jenny) Notz has served as Illinois Solicitor General since 2019. As Solicitor General, she oversees the work of the Civil and Criminal Appeals Division in the Illinois Attorney General's Office in the state and federal courts of appeal, including the United States Supreme Court and the Illinois Supreme Court.
Jenny's prior positions include First Assistant Corporation Counsel at the City of Chicago's Law Department and the Law Department's Deputy Corporation Counsel for Affirmative Litigation. Before that, she served as Deputy Solicitor General for the Illinois Attorney General's Office and as an Assistant Corporation Counsel with the Appeals Division of the City of Chicago's Law Department. Jenny is a six-time recipient of a Best Supreme Court Brief Award from the National Association of Attorneys General.
Jenny was a law clerk for the Honorable Diane P. Wood of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School, where she was a member of the editorial board of the University of Chicago Law Review and was selected for the order of the coif.
Chad Pekron
Former Head of Litigation
Walmart
Chad Pekron is the former Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel of Litigation at Walmart, where he led the company's enterprise litigation strategy and advised the Board of Directors and executive leadership on litigation risk, regulatory matters, and corporate governance. During his tenure, he oversaw a team of more than 100 attorneys and legal professionals and managed some of the company's most significant litigation matters.
Prior to Walmart, Chad spent nearly 12 years as a partner at Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull, representing businesses in complex commercial, class action, and appellate litigation. Earlier in his career, he practiced at Sidley Austin LLP, focusing on securities, regulatory, and professional liability matters.
A graduate of Yale Law School, Chad brings more than 25 years of experience advising organizations on high-stakes legal, business, and governance challenges. He is widely recognized for his strategic approach to enterprise risk management, litigation leadership, and aligning legal strategy with business objectives.
Honorable Clare J. Quish
Judge
Illinois Appellate Court
Justice Clare J. Quish was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to the Circuit Court of Cook County in June 2016, elected in 2018 and retained in 2024. In September 2025, the Illinois Supreme Court assigned her to the Illinois Appellate Court.
Prior to assignment, Justice Quish presided over a call in the General Chancery Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County and previously served in the First Municipal District, initially in Traffic and then in both the Jury and Non-Jury Sections of that division. Previously, Justice Quish was a partner at Schuyler, Roche & Crisham, P.C., where she concentrated in appellate practice and commercial and civil litigation representing businesses, professionals, and insurers. She is a former Adjunct Professor of Appellate Advocacy at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Justice Quish is a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission Rules and Policy Review Committee, a subcommittee of the Access of Justice Committee. She is the Vice-Chair to the Illinois Judicial College Committee on Circuit Court Clerk Education, a member of the Illinois Judges Association's Educational Programming Committees. She is also involved with judicial education, teaching a class on small claims cases to new judges as well as editing a judicial benchbook. Judge Quish previously served as President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Appellate Lawyers Association.
Justice Quish received her B.A. from Northwestern Univeristy and her J.D., cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Sarah Schrup
Founder
Appellate Advisory LLC
Sarah Schrup is the founder of Appellate Advisory LLC, an appellate law firm and consultancy. Prior to starting the firm, Sarah served as the Circuit Executive and General Counsel to the Chief Judge at the Seventh Circuit. Before joining the court, she was a clinical law professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law where she founded and directed what is now known as the Carter G. Phillips Center for Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy. In that role she worked on more than 250 appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit, and state appellate and supreme courts, and argued cases in each. She also taught more than 250 law students how to handle appeals, received the Dean's Teaching Award, and served as the Harry B. Reese Teaching Professor from 2015-2016. Sarah began her career at Kirkland & Ellis and spent four years clerking in both the Seventh Circuit and for Judge Rubén Castillo, formed Chief Judge of the Northern District of Illinois. She is a member of the American Law Institute and co-author of the textbook Advanced Appellate Advocacy (Aspen 2016). Sarah is a graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and the University of Michigan Law School.
Samantha Sherman
Assistant Attorney General
Illinois Attorney General's Office
Samantha Sherman is an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Appeals Division of the Illinois Attorney General's Office. She previously served as an Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation Fellow for the Illinois Solicitor General. She clerked for Judge Diane P. Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Judge Matthew F. Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Samantha received a J.D. with High Honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 2022 and a B.A., summa cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 2015. Prior to law school, she spent four years in Colombia and Peru working for nonprofit programs supporting English language education, cultural exchange, and ethical tourism.
Paul Taske
Director of Litigation
NetChoice
As Director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, Taske oversees and manages operations across NetChoice's lawsuits to defend free expression and free enterprise from government overreach. His expertise spans everything from First Amendment and constitutional law to Section 230 and privacy regulations.
Before joining NetChoice, Taske worked at the Supreme Court of Ohio for Justice Pat DeWine. He also worked as a Junior Fellow for the Ayn Rand Institute, where he wrote a host of articles about constitutional issues, including the Equal Rights Amendment and Covid-19 measures. While in law school, he wrote as a Student Contributor for Emeritus Professor Marianna Bettman's Legally Speaking Ohio, which provided commentary on cases pending before the Supreme Court of Ohio.
Taske earned his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law and holds a B.B.A. in Management from Eastern Michigan University. He is admitted to practice law in Washington, D.C., and is a member of the United States Supreme Court Bar.
Judge John Daniel Tinder
Former Judge
Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
John Daniel Tinder has worked in litigation since 1975. In addition to practicing law in the private sector, Tinder also served, at various times, as an Assistant United States Attorney, an Indiana state court public defender, the Chief Trial Deputy of the Marion County, Indiana Prosecutor's Office, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana (1984-87), a District Judge in that district (1987-2007) and as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (2007-15). Since Tinder retired from the bench in October 2015, he has been involved in litigation related consulting, alternative dispute resolution and other matters. He is of counsel at Kaplan & Grady LLC in Chicago.