National law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP has elected 17 attorneys to partnership. They are, by state:
California
Cassidy E. Chivers (San Francisco) focuses her practice on complex insurance coverage disputes and insurance litigation. She devotes a substantial portion of her practice to the defense of professional liability matters on behalf of architects and engineers, lawyers, and other professionals.
Jason J. Kim (Los Angeles) concentrates his practice in the defense of workers' compensation claims. He focuses on representing self-insured employers as well as serving on the defense panel for Chubb Insurance and Tri-Star Risk Management. Mr. Kim is an official instructor for the AATP (Attorney Assistant Training Program) at UCLA and teaches legal research.
Anne D. O'Niell (San Francisco) practices in the areas of insurance coverage and insurance bad faith defense, and is experienced in insurance coverage analysis, litigation and negotiation. She has dealt with many kinds of liability insurance disputes, including those involving construction and environmental issues, and she has handled first-party insurance analysis and litigation. Her experience includes successful trial and appellate work, and ADR proceedings.
Florida
Jeffrey M. Novell (Tampa) concentrates his practice on workers’ compensation insurance defense litigation. In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Novell has been a lecturer on a variety of topics within the field of Worker's Compensation, and has been approved as an educator by the Florida Department of Financial Services in the field of Worker's Compensation Law & Policy.
Ronald Pena (Miami) practices in the areas of civil and commercial litigation, with an emphasis on general liability litigation as well as the defense of transportation companies. He is a member of the Put Something Back Pro Bono Project, a joint program by the Dade County Bar Association and the Eleventh Judicial Circuit to provide free legal service to the needy population of Miami-Dade County.
Illinois
James M. Allen (Rockford) focuses his practice in the areas of business torts and business litigation, including an emphasis in construction litigation, condemnation matters, commercial lease disputes and enforcement, and defense of mechanic’s liens. Mr. Allen's practice also involves the collection of commercial and consumer debts and general business transactions.
Matthew M. Hevrin (Rockford) advises clients in the areas of commercial litigation, employment law, real estate and banking. He is involved in all aspects of debt collection, including residential and commercial foreclosures, replevins, and general collection litigation. He also assists lenders and borrowers in commercial loan transactions of all types, and has counseled numerous employers concerning all aspects of employment law.
Cecilia A. Horan (Chicago) concentrates her practice in the defense of cases involving personal injury, catastrophic injury, product defect and intellectual property. Her assignments have included the representation of automobile manufacturers, construction contractors, machinery and product manufacturers, management services providers and property owners and managers.
Linda K. Horras (Chicago) practices exclusively in the defense of employment and labor matters. She routinely represents employers in federal court and at all administrative levels of such regulatory agencies as the EEOC, NLRB, Illinois Department of Human Rights and Illinois Department of Labor. She has also handled appeals, and has litigated employment contract disputes, retaliatory discharge claims, and breach of fiduciary duty suits in federal and state courts. In addition to her litigation practice, Ms. Horras advises and counsels employers on discipline, discharge and reasonable accommodation of disabilities issues as well as policies, procedures and leave issues. She routinely reviews and drafts policies and employment handbooks and handles harassment, discrimination and other wrongdoing investigations.
Anthony J. Jacob (Chicago) focuses his practice in the areas of corporate law, school law, labor and employment, employee benefits and real estate. He has assisted real estate developers with condo conversions and real estate acquisitions. He has advised corporations on a variety of issues, including the formation of corporations and limited liability companies, private stock offerings and stock redemptions and dissolutions. Mr. Jacob also has substantial experience as legal counsel to, and as an official of, school districts and other local government units.
Paul M. Markese (Chicago) focuses his practice in the areas of toxic tort and environmental litigation, with considerable experience in the areas of asbestos, silica and occupational disease claims. He defends various industrial product and equipment manufacturers, contractors and premises owners in toxic tort personal injury claims. Mr. Markese also has experience with mass tort and multi-district litigation (MDL). His clients include several Fortune 500 companies.
Yvonne C. Ocrant (Chicago) practices in the areas of employment law, commercial litigation and equine law. Her equine law practice includes drafting equine related contracts and liability releases as well as litigating disputes under the Equine Activity Liability Act and various other state and federal laws. She is currently legal counsel for Kickapoo Farms, LLC, a professional horse breeding facility, and Cowboy Dreams of Illinois, Inc., a non-profit therapeutic riding program for children with special needs. Ms. Ocrant also litigates title insurance matters on behalf of numerous title insurance agencies and underwriters.
Renee O'Neill Kelly (Joliet) concentrates her practice in commercial litigation and professional liability, with a focus on defending accountant's liability and legal malpractice matters. In accounting malpractice matters, she is involved in assessing audits and compilation reports. In the area of legal malpractice and professional responsibility, she represents attorneys on ethical and disciplinary matters before the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Prior to joining Hinshaw, Ms. O'Neill served for six years in the Cook County State's Attorneys' Office as an Assistant State's Attorney.
Timothy G. Shelton (Chicago) is a member of the firm’s appellate practice group and has briefed and argued appeals in all five districts of the Illinois appellate court, the Illinois Supreme Court and the Seventh and Eight Circuits of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Jennifer W. Weller (Chicago) concentrates her practice on consumer class action litigation and professional liability litigation, with a focus on representing lawyers. She is a co-author of the chapter "The Limitation of Liability Through Business Forms" in Attorneys' Legal Liability, published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education.
Maureen Lennon Zeeb (Lisle) practices in the area of professional liability litigation, with a focus on representing lawyers and physicians in negligence matters. Since 1997, she began advising the attorneys within the firm on ethics issues, primarily in the area of conflicts of interest.
Indiana
Jennifer Kalas (Schererville) is a litigator who focuses in the areas of auto, premises liability, wrongful death litigation, products liability and general tort defense. She has tried cases to verdict in both Indiana state and federal courts. Ms. Kalas is a member and past secretary and treasurer of the Lake County Bar Association.
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is a national law firm with approximately 500 lawyers in 24 offices coast-to-coast. The firm offers a full-service practice, with an emphasis in commercial and defense litigation, corporate, environmental, employment and construction law, as well as the representation of professionals in their liability matters. The firm provides services to a range of clients in financial services, construction, health care, not-for-profit, insurance, lawyers and law firms, manufacturing, real estate, retail, transportation and other industries. Firm clients also include government agencies, municipalities and schools.
Hinshaw was founded in 1934. The firm is headquartered in Chicago, and maintains offices in 12 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.