Karen Kies DeGrand leads the firm’s appellate practice group. She has briefed and/or argued cases in a wide array of substantive matters before the appellate and supreme courts of Illinois, as well as in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and in the Wisconsin and Indiana appellate and supreme courts.

Recently, Ms. DeGrand handled the briefing and oral argument in Favia v. Ford Motor Company, 381 Ill. App. 3d 309 (1st District 2008), in which the appellate court affirmed a verdict in favor of the defendant. The appellate court rejected plaintiffs’ contentions that the lower court judgment and verdict should be reversed and a new trial granted because of certain evidentiary rulings by the judge. Plaintiffs had asked the jury to award them in excess of $29 million.

Ms. DeGrand also is an experienced trial lawyer whose practice is concentrated on professional liability (medical and legal malpractice) and business and insurance coverage disputes. The matters underlying the legal malpractice cases have involved a variety of areas, including criminal defense, domestic relations, transactional work, estate planning and tort litigation. Her coverage experience includes insurance disputes involving contested interpretations of professional liability policies and of commercial general liability policies in the context of construction and product liability lawsuits.

Ms. DeGrand serves as Treasurer of the Appellate Lawyers Association (“ALA”). The ALA is an organization of Illinois lawyers whose practices are focused on the courts of review. She is the Editor of “The Brief,” a publication of the ALA. In 2007, 2008 and 2009 Ms. DeGrand was named a Super Lawyer in Illinois in the area of appellate practice. Super Lawyers are the top 5 percent of attorneys in each state, as chosen by their peers.

Ms. DeGrand joined the firm in 1995 and was elected to partnership in 1998. She was previously with Baker & McKenzie, which she joined in 1985 after her graduation from the University of Illinois College of Law, where she was an Associate Editor of the University of Illinois Law Review. She received her undergraduate degree in Journalism from the University of Illinois where she was awarded Bronze Tablet, the University’s highest recognition for academic excellence.