Spotlight on Alums

 

Meet some of the UIC alums who are currently making their marks in the legal community:

Attorney Catherine Caporusso:

Catherine Caporusso received her BA in Political Science from UIC in 1992. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1995, Catherine worked as a staff attorney for NOW (the National Organization for Women) and then at the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organization) as a Georgetown Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellow. After returning to Chicago, she was an associate and then partner at the H. Candace Gorman Law Firm. She is currently a solo practitioner who represents plaintiffs in employment and civil rights cases. She is a member of the board of Illinois NELA and Women Employed, president of the Northwest Suburban chapter of NOW; and founder of Chicago Area CodePINK: Women for Peace. In 2004, she and her law partner won a unanimous decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in a race discrimination case. She also teaches courses as an adjunct professor in the Honors College here at UIC.

Attorney Nicholas Gowen:

Nicholas A. Gowen received his BA in Political Science from UIC in 2000, Phi Beta Kappa; and received his Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2003. He practiced white-collar criminal defense for three years as an attorney in the Chicago office of the international law firm of Winston & Strawn, LLP. He now practices commercial litigation as an attorney at Schopf & Weiss, LLP a business litigation firm in Chicago. Nick has been a Visiting Instructor for the UIC Undergraduate Trial Advocacy Program in the Political Science Department since 2005, where he is responsible for coordinating the Mock Trial Program and coaching the 11-time nationally ranked mock trial team.

Attorney Miguel Rodriguez:

Miguel Rodriguez is a 1982 graduate of the College of Education. He taught for a year and a half for the Chicago Board of Education before attending the University of Michigan Law School and graduating in 1987. After law school Miguel worked for a private law firm for a year before joining the Chicago Board of Education’s Law Department in 1988. At the Board of Ed’s Law Department, he is currently Deputy General Counsel in charge of the School of Law unit which includes eight attorneys. They are responsible for overseeing all legal matters involving the Board’s educational initiatives. This unit also oversees the student discipline process, Board rules and policies, local school council governance, truancy adjudication, constitutional issues and legislative proposals which may impact the Board.

Attorney Elaine Smith:

Elaine A. Smith received her Bachelors Degree in Psychology from UIC in 1999, Phi Beta Kappa. She then went on to receive her Juris Doctor cum laude from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2002, where she also got a Certificate in Child Law. During law school, Elaine completed a judicial externship with the Honorable Charles P. Kocoras of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. While in law school, she was also an Associate Editor of the Children’s Legal Rights Journal. Currently Elaine works for the Cook County Public Guardian’s Office where she represents children in abuse and neglect cases.

Attorney Alon Stein:

Alon Stein received his BA in Psychology from UIC in 1998, Phi Beta Kappa. In 2002 he received his Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison, Wisconsin. While there he served as the Managing Editor of the Wisconsin Law Review and was the recipient of a Wisconsin State Bar Academic Achievement Award. After first practicing at a downtown Chicago law firm, in 2004 he joined the Lincolnwood, Illinois firm of Kamensky Rubinstein Hochman & Delott, LLP. As a member of the litigation department, Alon primarily represents physicians and medical corporations in their business and corporate disputes.