Seven Clark Hill Chicago Attorneys Named Illinois Leading Lawyers 2013

CHICAGO, IL –

Seven Clark Hill Chicago attorneys were named Illinois Leading Lawyers for 2013. Aurora N. Abella-Austriaco, Frank D. Ballantine, Richard H. Chapman, Gary E. Green, John L. Hines, Jr., Ray J. Koenig, III, and L. Steven Platt were named Illinois Leading Lawyers in their respective areas of practice.

Leading Lawyers Network is a division of Law Bulletin Publishing Company. The list of Leading Lawyers is the result of contact with thousands of lawyers in a given state. Only those lawyers who are most often recommended qualify as Leading Lawyers.

Austriaco concentrates her practice in the areas of commercial and real estate litigation, construction litigation, mechanic’s liens, mortgage foreclosure, mortgage fraud, title insurance claims and other special chancery remedy cases.

Austriaco is currently serving as President of the Chicago Bar Association, an organization of more than 22,000 lawyers. She serves on the board of the Chicago Bar Foundation and served on the board of the Center for Conflict Resolution (CCR) for five years and as its vice president for two years. She was elected as the first female and minority president of the Illinois Real Estate Lawyers’ Association (IRELA), an organization of approximately 1,500 real estate lawyers throughout Illinois. Austriaco also served as board member of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois (WBAI). She is a founding board member of the Filipino American Bar Association, past board member and current member of the Asian American Bar Association, and past member of the ISBA Real Estate Section Council. She also was elected to the Board of Directors of Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund Inc., a bar related title insurance company. Austriaco was appointed by Chief Judge Holderman to serve as Chair of the 2012 Magistrate Merit Selection Panel.

Ballantine is a trusted advisor and counselor to senior management, boards of directors and investors for public and private companies based in the United States and abroad, and across a wide range of industries. Active client sectors include information technology, food, life sciences, manufacturers, lenders and business services. Ballantine serves innovative and rapidly growing businesses and the investors who fund them. He is outside general counsel to numerous businesses and lead transaction counsel to investors and management in venture and private equity investments, mergers and acquisitions, and debt financings. He also assists clients in joint ventures, marketing alliances and licensing. He has served or is serving on the boards of over 20 clients, as well as the advisory boards of two technology venture funds. Frank frequently speaks on topics involving private equity and venture capital finance, mergers and acquisitions, securities transactions, and high-growth developmental companies.

Chapman is a member of Clark Hill’s Litigation Practice Group. He has more than 29 years of successful experience as a leading trial lawyer concentrating in business and employment litigation in federal, state and bankruptcy courts, as well as in arbitration, throughout the United States. Richard has litigated cases in Illinois state, federal and bankruptcy courts, as well as courts in California, Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Michigan.

Green practices in the Banking, Litigation and Creditors’ Rights and Bankruptcy Departments. He has more than 23 years of experience representing financial institutions in foreclosures, receiverships, lender liability, bankruptcy and restructuring.

Hines concentrates his practice in the areas of intellectual property, technology licensing, technology procurement and outsourcing, cloud computing, electronic commerce and information management. He regularly counsels clients on technology and computer-driven liability. He also advises businesses on policies and practices relating to data protection, document retention, reputation management, social media, and generally to the dissemination of content in an electronic environment. He teaches Internet law and Intellectual Property at Northwestern University School of Law and speaks and writes regularly on legal issues related to technology and the online environment.

Koenig is the Managing Member of Clark Hill’s Chicago office and a member in Clark Hill’s Litigation Practice Group. He practices in the areas of probate litigation, trust litigation, fiduciary litigation, elder law, estate planning, and estate administration, with an emphasis on will, trust, guardianship, and advance directive contests and other fiduciary litigation. Koenig has represented individuals, families, financial institutions, medical institutions, and governmental organizations in all areas of his practice. Koenig has extensive trial, appellate and mediation experience in state and federal courts.

Platt is a Member of the Firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group. Steve has been practicing law since 1978 and focuses his activities in labor and employment law as well as litigation. Prior to joining Clark Hill, Steve was a partner for many years at a Chicago labor and employment boutique firm. During his practice, Steve has represented litigants in employment discrimination matters, did multi-employer Taft-Harley fringe benefit fund work, ERISA and other general litigation.