Board of Directors

David Simon, Chair

David Simon is a member of the Litigation Department of Edwards Wildman. His experience includes cases involving antitrust, securities fraud, lender liability, complex contracts and business tort claims, statutory and regulatory violations, and corporate governance, SEC investigations, and management of related complex electronic discovery issues.

Edgrick Johnson, Treasurer

Edgrick Johnson is the retired Director of Internal Control at the Public Building Commission Of Chicago.  Edgrick is a graduate of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and has held various executive positions in local community banks.

Maria Whiteman Coar, Secretary

Maria Whiteman Coar is Senior Counsel for Hyatt Corporation. Before joining Hyatt Corporation, Maria was an associate at Ungaretti and Harris, LLP, and Messer & Stilp, Ltd. Maria graduated from the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law. She maintains an active pro bono practice which includes serving as a volunteer attorney with FDLA.

Carolyn Gold Aberman

Carolyn Gold Aberman is a former staff attorney, former executive director, and long-time volunteer with FDLA. She was formerly Assistant General Counsel to the Brunswick Corporation, focusing on bankruptcy and commercial law. Carolyn  is currently a Managing Director with McCormack Schreiber Legal Search Inc., Chicago's premier attorney search firm. Carolyn specializes in the permanent placement of associates, partners and practice groups at large, midsize and boutique law firms, and in-house counsel of all levels at regional, national and international corporations. 

Robert Blazejowski

Robert Blazejowski currently serves as corporation counsel for Abbott Laboratories.  He is a former partner in the Litigation Department at Jenner & Block LLP.  Rob maintains an active pro bono practice representing indigent defendants charged with state and federal crimes.  He is a graduate of The John Marshall Law School.

Jessica Hunter

A native Chicagoan, Jessica Hunter is presently an Assistant Appellate Defender, representing indigent criminal defendants on direct appeal and in post-conviction matters, including claims of actual innocence.  She graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison and Loyola Law School, where she edited several journals, including the Public Interest Law Reporter.  Jessica formerly served as the secretary of the board of First Defense Legal Aid and currently volunteers as a hotline attorney and participates in the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago’s Lawyers in the Classroom program.

Scott T. Kamin

A graduate of Occidental College and Drake University Law School, Mr. Kamin has litigated police misconduct cases and defended those accused of crimes for the last fifteen years.  In addition to his practice, Mr. Kamin has served as a panel member of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, a board member of Comite de Justicia, a volunteer and Steering Committee member of First Defense Legal Aid as well as a Board member of FDLA.

Roshna Bala Keen 

Roshna Bala Keen is a civil rights attorney at Loevy & Loevy.  Her practice focuses on police misconduct, unconstitutional conditions of confinement at jails and police stations, and wrongful convictions.  In addition, she works extensively on civil rights class actions on behalf of arrested and incarcerated individuals.  Roshna also practices in the area of False Claims Act litigation, representing whistleblowers in state and federal qui tam lawsuits involving contractor (MBE/DBE) fraud, tax fraud, and off-label marketing.  

Kristine Neal

Kristine Neal is an Assistant Appellate Defender at the Office of the State Appellate Defender, representing indigent criminal defendants on direct appeal and in post-conviction matters, including claims of actual innocence. Kristine is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Northwestern University School of Law. Kristine began volunteering with FDLA while in law school.

Timothy O’Hara

Timothy O'Hara is a litigation attorney with Brustin & Lundblad, Ltd.  Tim is a graduate of Boston College (cum laude) and Loyola University Chicago School of Law.   He has served as an Assistant Public Defender with the Cook County Public Defender's Office.  He is also active as a head coach of the Phillip H. Corboy Mock Trial Team at Loyola University Chicago and he has also lectured extensively on many different areas of criminal law.  

Sarah Garza Resnick

Sarah Garza Resnick is an Assistant Cook County Public Defender.  Before joining the Public Defender’s Office, Sarah served as the Executive Director of FDLA. Prior to working at FDLA, she volunteered for the organization and clerked for the Cook County Public Defender’s office. Ms. Resnick graduated from Cardozo School of Law, where she worked on the Innocence Project. Ms. Resnick received her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Economics from Brandeis University and her master’s degree in Political Sociology from the London School of Economics. Prior to law school, Sarah worked on Democratic political campaigns as a Field Director for four years.

Advisory Board

Jeff Brown, Northeastern University

Patricia Smith, Law Offices of Patricia A. Smith

Richard Dvorak, Dvorak, Toppel & Barrido, LLC

Craig Futterman, University of Chicago School of Law

Scott Levy, Law Offices of Scott Levy

John Lyke, Law Offices of John Lyke Jr.

Dev Parikh, Law Offices of Dev Parikh

Zenaida Alonzo, Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers

Shaena Fazal, John Howard Association

Theodore Woerthwein, Woerthwein & Miller

Wayne Novak, Law Offices of Wayne Novak

Elfreda Dockery, Law Offices of Elfreda Dockery

Sulaiman M. Qazi, Abbott Laboratories

Honorary Board

Locke E. Bowman, Northwestern University School of Law

Carol A. Brook, Federal Defender Program

Edwin A. Burnette, Former Cook County Public Defender

Kenneth L. Cunniff, Law Offices of Kenneth L. Cunniff

John T. Fitzgerald, Howard Area Community Center (Retired Executive Director)

Richard S. Kling, Chicago-Kent College of Law

Andrea D. Lyon, DePaul University College of Law

Terence F. MacCarthy, Federal Defender Program

R. Eugene Pincham, In Memoriam, Former Justice, Illinois Appellate Court

Randolph N. Stone, University of Chicago School of Law

Scott Turow, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP and Author

Staff

Anthony W. Hill, Executive Director

Anthony W. Hill's entire career has been devoted, both in the public and private sectors, to representing individuals facing criminal charges.  A graduate of Northwestern University School of Law, Anthony began his career at the Miami-Dade County Public Defender’s Office, one of the nation’s leaders in indigent criminal defense.  From 2005-2006, Anthony served as a staff attorney at First Defense Legal Aid.  In 2007, Anthony founded the Law Offices of Anthony W. Hill, where he continues his work in private practice, representing criminal defendants in trials and appeals in both state and federal cases.

Caitlin Patterson, Staff Attorney

A recent graduate of DePaul College of Law, Caitlin has been committed to ensuring that all people are treated fairly by the justice system since she coordinated tutoring and arts programs for incarcerated youth as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan.  Before going to law school, Caitlin worked with teen leaders who directed community service activities to improve quality of life for their families and neighbors on Chicago’s north side.

Scott Finger, Staff Attorney

Scott Finger is committed to indigent criminal defense and advancing police accountability. While in law school, Scott clerked in the Felony Trial Division of the Cook County Public Defender's Office and was active in the National Lawyers Guild. He is a graduate of The John Marshall Law School. Before law school, he had a career as a chef.