Gavin Phelps – Chair
Gavin Phelps, CIPP/US began his career in business transactional law. He worked for big law, fortune 500 companies, and even had his own solo practice for five years. In his firm, Gavin served as outside general counsel for start ups, small, and midsize companies. He currently serves as law clerk to the Honorable James E. Hanlon Jr. in the Commercial Calendar, Law Division. Gavin received his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 2016 and is licensed to practice law in California and Illinois. Gavin also serves on the Board of the Jazz Institute of Chicago.
Aleksandra Petrovic – First Vice Chair
Aleksandra Petrovic is an associate attorney at Damisch & Damisch, Ltd. She represents Plaintiff's in a variety of Civil Litigation matters including personal injury, premises liability, medical malpractice, product liability, and wrongful death. Aleksandra has also assisted her clients and other attorneys nationwide with ERISA subrogation negotiation on both a state and federal level. Aleksandra has received a Certificate of Excellence from the Office of the Cook County Treasurer for her commitment and dedication to the Serbian American community through her participation with the Serbian Bar Association of America. She also received the Rising Star Award from the YLS in 2020. Aleksandra graduated from Lake Forest College with a bachelors in Economics and Philosophy and earned her J.D. from Tulane University Law School. In the past she has spent time working with the City of Chicago Department of Buildings General Counsel helping the City of Chicago modernize its crane, masonry, and trade regulation codes. She also had an externship with the New Orleans City Attorney's Office assisting on various Federal Civil Litigation cases and spent two summers with a 711 License at the Cook County Public Defender's Office where she defended and won a Felony Bench Trial.
Bianca Ciarroni –Second Vice Chair
Bianca is a member of the commercial litigation practice group at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. Her focus includes shareholder and partnership disputes, business torts, trademark and trade secret cases, breach of contract cases, Section 1983 civil rights litigation and trust litigation. She also represents creditors enforcing their judgments and third-party respondents pulled into post-judgment matters. Before Taft, she was an associate at a mid-sized law firm in Chicago and represented creditors, creditors’ committees and Trustees in bankruptcy as well as judgment creditors in post-judgment litigation. Bianca also advocated pro bono on behalf of two inmates based on infringements of their constitutional rights while in prison.
Bianca was selected for Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Stars as well as Best Lawyers “Ones to Watch” in both 2023 and 2024. Previously, Bianca was a director for the Young Lawyers Section and before that served as a Special Project Coordinator. In 2024, she was recognized by YLS and received the Rising Star Award for Leaders with Exceptional Promise.
Bianca graduated cum laude from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. During that time, she was Chief Justice of the Moot Court Honors Program and a published member of the UIC Law Review.
Stephanie Moon – Recruitment Officer
Stephanie Moon is an associate in Armstrong Teasdale LLP’s Litigation practice group. In this role, she focuses on a variety of legal matters, including professional liability, shareholder disputes, cannabis and employment. She represents clients in a variety of industries and business sectors in both federal and state courts through the entire litigation lifecycle. Stephanie was previously a trial lawyer at Novack and Macey in Chicago. While at Novack and Macey, Stephanie focused her practice on legal malpractice matters and commercial litigation. During that time, she co-authored over a dozen blog posts for the firm’s Illinois Legal Malpractice and Defense of Lawyers blog. Stephanie joined the Chicago Bar Association while in law school. Since that time, she has served as the Social Committee Chair for the Young Lawyer’s Section (“YLS”) and was appointed to serve on the YLS Executive Committee in 2023.
Pam Sran – Philanthropy Officer
Pam is an employment litigation attorney with Fox Rothschild, where she represents and counsels employers across a wide range of industries on local, state, and federal employment laws. Prior to joining Fox Rothschild, she was an associate at a boutique trial firm in Chicago and a litigation associate at a global law firm before that. Pam has also served as in-house counsel at a multinational fast-food corporation. She also maintains an active pro bono practice, providing legal services to a variety of local and national legal organizations.
Andre Hunter, Jr. – Secretary-Treasurer
Andre A. Hunter, Jr. is a litigation attorney at Gordon & Rees, America’s only law firm with offices in every state. As an "all-tort" defense attorney and former Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois, Andre is recognized as a forward-thinking litigator and trial lawyer who excels at mitigating risks and reducing costs for his clients.
Known for his ability in cross-examining eyewitnesses, physicians, and industry experts, Andre specializes in defending cases involving product liability, premises liability, and environmental and toxic torts, including asbestos, talc, and PFAS (“forever chemicals”) lawsuits. He is also a published author on toxic tort litigation and shares his knowledge at CLE events to help guide law students and young lawyers.
As Secretary-Treasurer for the Chicago Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section, Andre also serves as Chair of the Tort Law Committee. During his previous term on the Board of Directors, he was honored with the "Rising Star Award for Leaders with Exceptional Promise" and appointed as an Ambassador to Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Andre is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he served as President for the Class of 2017. He subsequently earned his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, distinguishing himself by winning multiple mock trial titles and achieving recognition as part of the #2 mock trial team in the United States.
Deepa Singh – Program Officer
Deepa Singh is a Trademark Examining Attorney at the US Patent and Trademark Office. Prior to relocating to Chicago, Deepa was a tenants' attorney in New York City representing tenants in eviction proceedings in Brooklyn, New York during the height of the Pandemic. While taking a couple of years to assist tenants during the pandemic, Deepa's primary interest in law and legal background is in trademark prosecution and litigation for startups, family-owned businesses, and Fortune 100 companies. Deepa graduated Cum Laude from the American University Washington College of Law and was the Executive Editor and published author for the International Law Review.
Cha'yra Eddie – Program Officer
Cha’yra (/KY-ruh/) Eddie is a litigation associate at Levenfeld Pearlstein (“LP”). She represents clients in complex business disputes and commercial litigation. Cha’yra also has extensive experience in product liability and mass tort, personal injury, class action, and construction litigation. She represents clients in both federal and state courts and is hands-on at every stage of the litigation process, including pre-litigation and appeal. Before LP, Cha’yra was an associate at two, global AmLaw 100 firms.
Cha’yra earned her B.A. in Sociology from Princeton University, her J.D., cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and her M.A. in teaching from Dominican University. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family, friends, boyfriend, dog and cat, refreshing her black belt in taekwondo, and volunteering at local organizations, including her church.
Joshua Epstein - Inclusion & Engagement Officer
Joshua Epstein is an Associate in Goldberg Kohn's Commercial Finance Group. He represents banks, finance companies and other financial institutions in structuring, documenting and negotiating a broad range of complex commercial finance transactions. Josh has experience representing financial institutions in secured and unsecured financing transactions, including senior secured, mezzanine, and subordinated debt transactions, acquisition financing, loan workouts, restructurings, and fund finance transactions. He joined Goldberg Kohn in February 2024. Previously he was an associate with two separate law firms where he focused his practice on banking and corporate finance on behalf of lending institutions, private equity funds and corporate borrowers, as well as corporate matters, including representing businesses in sales, mergers and acquisitions through the drafting and negotiation of membership interest purchase agreements, stock purchase agreements and other methods of acquisition and sale.
In June 2024, Josh received the Chicago Bar Association's Milton H. Gray Award for Outstanding Project Leadership. The Gray award is presented annually to a leader of a CBA Young Lawyers Section project for their exceptional performance in that role.
Katherine Hanson – Co-Editor in Chief of the YLS Journal
Katherine Hanson is Program Director at the Independent Practice Initiative at Chicago-Kent College of Law and a clinical staff attorney practicing employment and employee benefits law at The Law Offices of Chicago-Kent.
J. Kopczyk – Co-Editor in Chief of the YLS Journal
Hannah Werner – Co-Editor of the YLS Blog
Hannah graduated with a B.A. in Public Relations and a B.A. in Psychology from Auburn University. After working at Ankin Law Office for almost a year, she discovered an interest in law and joined the Chicago-Kent community. She is a recent graduate from Chicago-Kent College of Law, where she served as a representative for the Society of Women in Law, as well as being a member of various organizations matching her passions, such as the First-Generation Law Student Association and the Chicago Kent Animal Legal Defense Fund. Because of an amazing, hands-on legal internship, she looks forward to a career in estate planning, real estate, or business law, and will be sitting for the bar this summer.
Sara Shiffman – Co-Editor of the YLS Blog
With more than 15 years of experience in integrated marketing and communications, Sara now focuses on helping brands and other attorneys mitigate risk and navigate the legal and regulatory requirements inherent in creating strategic, compliant and compelling brand identities, social, digital and influencer campaigns. Prior to her career pivot, she was focused on creating and executing creative marketing that drove positive sentiment and purchase among consumers, patients and healthcare professionals for some of the country's biggest consumer packaged goods, food, spirits, healthcare and pharmaceutical brands. She graduated from Loyola University Law School Chicago in 2023 and was admitted to the Illinois Bar in May 2024.
Kenneth A. Matuszewski – Immediate Past Chair
Kenneth A. Matuszewski is a registered Patent Attorney and Associate at Rozier Hardt McDonough PLLC with a background across several technical backgrounds, including the life sciences, software, electrical, and mechanical technologies. His practice focuses on complex and high-value intellectual property litigation in federal district court and before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Kenny leverages his experience working with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to early-stage startups to obtain favorable outcomes during litigation and while drafting and prosecuting patent applications. Representative technologies he has worked on include gaming technologies, cancer treatments, blockchain, opioid treatments, medical devices, microphones, drones, gene therapies, pollution control technologies, and power tools.
He has been recognized early in his career for his leadership and writing, including the American Bar Association’s On The Rise: Top 40 Young Lawyers Award, the Top Emerging IP Player Award from IPR Gorilla Conference, and earned the Richard Linn American Inn of Court's inaugural Best Program Award. He has also been selected to Super Lawyers' Rising Stars List since 2021, which is awarded to less than 2% of all attorneys under the age of 40 in Illinois. Patexia has also ranked Kenneth among the Most Active and Best Performing Patent Litigators since 2022 for Plaintiff Activity out of 14,685 patent litigators across the country.
Previously, he co-founded and co-chaired the Young Lawyers Section's Racial Justice Coalition and served as the first Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning @theBar blog. The YLS has recognized Kenneth for his efforts over the years by honoring him with all 4 awards that YLS members are eligible to receive. A firm believer that learning is a lifelong process, Kenny graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science from Oregon State University. Previously, he double-majored in Biological Sciences and Spanish at the University of Notre Dame and earned his J.D. at Chicago-Kent
College of Law.