Professional Profile
Dawn is an associate in the firm’s Chicago office, where she began her legal career as a legal assistant. After becoming a paralegal at Wexler Wallace, Dawn developed a passion for complex litigation that led her to law school. She immersed herself in a curriculum of consumer protection, antitrust, class action litigation, products liability and pharmaceutical regulation, received CALI awards for obtaining the highest grade in a number of her classes, and graduated magna cum laude from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She was then welcomed “home” to Wexler Wallace, where she continues to thrive and grow as an attorney.

Dawn has various levels of responsibility on a variety of the firm’s important matters.  She has been heavily involved in the firm’s healthcare litigation practice, and has devoted countless hours to the IFDA litigation, brought to vindicate the rights of funeral directors throughout the State of Illinois. Dawn is often the point person on client contact and has an excellent grasp of all phases of litigation, from case initiation through discovery, and all the way to summary judgment and beyond.

Memberships

• American Bar Association
  • Section of Litigation: Class Action & Derivative Suits Committee (Consumer Subcommittee Chairperson)
• Illinois State Bar Association
• Chicago Bar Association
• American Association for Justice
• Illinois Trial Lawyers Association

Publications, Presentations & Teaching

• What Cases About “All Natural” Labels Mean for Marketing, CADS Report, Vol. 22, Spring 2012
• Preemptive Collateral Estoppel Blocks Consumer Class Action in Thorogood, CADS Report, Vol. 21, Winter 2011 (Co-authored by associate Amy E. Keller)
• Consumer News:  President Obama Selects New FTC Chairman, 21 LOY. CONSUMER L. REV. 429, 437 (2009)
• Consumer News: Supreme Court Finds FDA Approval of Pharmaceutical Warning Labels Does Not Preempt State Tort Claims, 21 LOY. CONSUMER L. REV. 429, 434 (2009)
• Consumer News:  Linkline Decision Puts the Squeeze on the Price Squeeze Theory of Liability, 21 LOY. CONSUMER L. REV. 429, 429 (2009)
• Consumer News: Justice Department’s Section 2 Report Sparks a Heated Debate in the Antitrust Community, 21 LOY. CONSUMER L. REV. 268 (2008)
• Consumer News: Supporters and Opponents of Federal Preemption Take Sides, Anticipate High Court’s Ruling on Third FDA Preemption Case This Year, 21 LOY. CONSUMER L. REV. 96 (2008)
• Student Article: Protecting Our Protectors: The Defense Department’s New Rules to Prevent Predatory Lending to Military Personnel, 20 LOY. CONSUMER L. REV. 81 (2007)

State Court Admissions

• State of Illinois

Federal Court Admissions

• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit

Academic Background

• J.D., magna cum laude, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 2009
• B.S., cum laude, Architecture, Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, MI, 2002

Academic Leadership & Awards

• Recipient, Honors at Entrance Academic Scholarship
• CALI Award, highest grades in Legal Writing, Appellate Advocacy, Products Liability, Professional Responsibility and Complex Litigation
• Student Fellow of the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies (2006-2009)
• Staff Editor, Loyola Consumer Law Review (2007-2008)
• Consumer News Editor and Executive Board Member, Loyola Consumer Law Review (2008-2009)
• Dean’s List all six semesters of law school
• Featured in Chicago Lawyer magazine, September 2008