At the 2019 fall meeting of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers in Chicago, DBMS partner Karen Kies DeGrand moderated a federal and state appellate judicial panel exploring topics ranging from practical advice for handling appeals to broader issues facing the courts, such as the courts’ proper role, both as adjudicator of individual cases and institutionally, in confronting gender, race and other forms of bias. The distinguished panel included Judge Diane Wood, Chief of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; Judge Amy Barrett, also of the Seventh Circuit; Justice Mary Jane Theis of the Illinois Supreme Court; and Justice Lisa Holder White of the Illinois Appellate Court, Fourth District.
Ms. DeGrand is a Fellow of the Academy of Appellate Lawyers, an organization with its membership limited to appellate lawyers with a minimum of 15 years of practice focusing substantially on appeals and possessing a reputation of recognized distinction as an appellate lawyer.