We invite Chicago-area lawyers interested in Black and Jewish coalition-building for an event that explores the ongoing legal strategy to upend decades of diversity, equity, and inclusion policy. Click here to purchase tickets.

Lisa G. Williams

Before joining Northwestern, Lisa G. Williams spent 16 years with the State of Illinois, beginning as a civil rights attorney in the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, where she litigated discrimination cases in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Seeking more proactive work, Lisa transitioned to DEI in 2010, navigating early challenges and pioneering DEI initiatives across state agencies when diversity work was still in its infancy. Her dedication earned multiple awards, including three State of Illinois awards for disability advocacy, recognition from the African-American Contractors Association, and the Chicago Defender’s “Woman of Excellence.” She has been featured in Crain’s Chicago Business and has presented nationally, including for the San Francisco Giants and the Center for Elder and Disability Law.

Quinn Rallins

Mr. Rallins, based in Loevy & Loevy’s Chicago office, litigates civil rights cases nationwide, focusing on wrongful convictions, police violence, and racial discrimination, securing over $75 million for clients in verdicts and settlements, including two landmark $33 million cases in 2022. Previously, as Illinois’s Director of the Justice, Equity, and Opportunity Initiative, he led reforms like ending wealth-based pretrial detention and directing funds to impacted communities. Rallins began as a community organizer, later working with the NAACP and the Equal Justice Initiative. He has received multiple awards, teaches at Northwestern and the University of Chicago, and leads the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.

Kalman Resnick

Kalman Resnick, a shareholder with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd., has over 40 years of experience in immigration law, covering business immigration, family unification, asylum, nationality issues, and defense in removal proceedings. After graduating law school in 1973, he served in Chicago’s Legal Assistance Foundation and later established one of the first legal advocacy centers for immigrant rights. Resnick has litigated before U.S. Courts of Appeals, District Courts, and the Board of Immigration Appeals, notably securing a landmark decision in Silva v. Bell that protected and granted employment authorization to over 500,000 individuals. His clients range from multinational corporations to individual foreign nationals, universities, and nonprofits.