August 6, 2012 - Central Regional Conference Sponsorship & Advertisement Form Due

August 15, 2012 - Dream Relief Day: Navy Pier

August 16, 2012 - ABA Leadership Fellows Program Application Due 

August 17-19, 2012 - NAPABA Central Regional Conference hosted by AABA-Chicago

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[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) announced that the application for the position of U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois is now online.

Prospective applicants can download the application at

www.durbin.senate.gov OR www.kirk.senate.gov

Applications must be returned by Friday, August 31, 2012.

The Screening, Recommendation and Nomination Process: A screening committee will conduct an open application process and will screen applicants with the goal of recommending candidates of top quality and integrity to Senators Durbin and Kirk. That committee was announced last week.  Names and biographies of the screening committee members are included below.  The Senators will then review the screening committee's recommendations, conduct interviews of finalists and - in consultation with one another - agree on a list of names to provide to the White House.

Once the President submits a nomination to the U.S. Senate, the nominee will be reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Senator Durbin is a member, and will receive a vote in the committee.  The approval of both home state Senators is required for the Senate Judiciary Committee to take up and consider any U.S. Attorney nominee.  If a nomination is approved by the Judiciary Committee, the nomination will be sent to the full Senate for consideration.

On average, it takes between two and four months to confirm a U.S. Attorney once that nomination is sent to the Senate.

Until a new U.S. Attorney is confirmed by the Senate, Gary Shapiro will serve as Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Screening Committee for the Northern District of Illinois:

The Honorable David H. Coar (Ret.) (Co-Chair):  Judge Coar served as a United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois for sixteen years.   He had previously served the Northern District for eight years as a United States Bankruptcy Judge and for three years as a United States Bankruptcy Trustee.  Judge Coar taught for over a decade at DePaul University College of Law as an Associate Professor of Law and additionally served as Associate Dean.  He has also worked in private practice and as an arbitrator.  Judge Coar received his B.A. from Syracuse University, his J.D. from Loyola University Law School, and his L.L.M. from Harvard Law School.  He is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps Reserves.

The Honorable Mark Filip (Co-Chair): Mr. Filip is currently a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in the Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices. He previously served as the United States Deputy Attorney General, after being unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in 2008. He served as Acting Attorney General for the new administration after January 20, 2009, until Attorney General of the United States Eric Holder was confirmed. Prior to his tenure at the Department of Justice, Filip was a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois after being confirmed 96-0 by the U.S. Senate. He also worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois (1995-1999). He has taught at the University of Chicago Law School and Northwestern University School of Law. He received a B.A. from the University of Illinois, a B.A. from the University of Oxford and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he also served as Editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Zaldwaynaka ("Z") Scott:  Ms. Scott currently works in the Chicago office of Kaye Scholer LLP, where she serves as the Chicago Co-Chair of the firm's white collar litigation and internal investigations practice.  From 1987 to 2003, she worked as a federal criminal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, serving in various management positions including Chief of the General Crimes Section.  After her service at the U.S. Attorney's Office, she served as Executive Inspector General for the Office of Governor of Illinois (2003-2005).  She also served for four years in the Office of the Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago (1983-1987).  She has taught as an adjunct instructor at Northwestern University School of Law, the University of Chicago Law School, and The John Marshall School of Law.  She received her B.S. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and her J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington.

Christina Egan: Ms. Egan currently works in the Chicago office of McGuireWoods LLP as a partner in the firm's Government Regulatory and Criminal Investigations Department. Ms. Egan spent ten years as a federal prosecutor for the Northern District of Illinois (2002-2012), where she served as a Deputy Chief of the Narcotics and Gangs Section for the last four years. Prior to her service in the U.S. Attorney's office she was in private practice in Chicago. She is an instructor at Northwestern University School of Law and has lectured at the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Department of Justice. She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her J.D.from Northwestern University School of Law.

Terence MacCarthy: Mr. MacCarthy served for 42 years as the Executive Director of the Federal Defender Program for the Northern District of Illinois, stepping down in 2009.  He continues to provide training and continuing legal education for attorneys in the Federal Defender Program in the Northern District and across the country.  Over his career he has lectured in all 50 states and over a dozen foreign countries, and has taught for the Federal Judicial Center, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the State of Illinois Attorney General's Office.  He is a former chair of the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section, and has served on the ABA's Board of Governors.  He received his B.A. from St. Joseph's College and his J.D. from the DePaul University College of Law.

Lawrence Oliver II: Mr. Oliver currently serves as Chief Counsel, Investigations at The Boeing Company. Prior to joining Boeing, he was a partner at the firm of Perkins Coie in Chicago. Mr. Oliver was also a federal prosecutor for the Northern District of Illinois. Before his work in the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr. Oliver was an attorney at Skadden Arps et. al in Chicago. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the University of Illinois. He served on the Illinois Reform Commission and the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission where he fought to advance campaign finance reform and against public corruption. He received his B.S. in Engineering from Purdue University and his J.D. from Detroit College of Law after graduating first in his class.

The ABA Litigation Section is offering a terrific new fellowship program. The program provides opportunities for lawyers in under-represented groups such as racial/ethnically diverse lawyers, persons with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, to participate in leadership roles within the Section of Litigation.  The primary objectives of the program are to attract, retain and develop talented diverse lawyers, foster a culture of diversity and inclusion, to further demonstrate the Section's commitment to ensuring equal opportunity in the profession and to create a pipeline of future leaders of the Section.

The Application Deadline is Thursday, August 16, 2012.

For more information on How to Apply & the Application Process,