Aronberg Goldgehn is proud to announce that two partners of the firm will make history this June as they become presidents of prominent bar associations in Illinois. Karen R. Mills was installed as DuPage County Bar Association President on June 14, 2024 and John C. Sciaccotta will be installed as Chicago Bar Association president on June 27, 2024. Both attorneys are long-time members and officers of their respective organizations.

This occasion marks the first time in recent memory, and perhaps in the history of Illinois legal community, that two presidents of leading bar associations hail from the same law firm. Aronberg Goldgehn is a full-service business law and litigation firm with offices in Chicago and Wheaton, Illinois.

Aronberg Goldgen partner Karen Mills, a trusts and estates practitioner and probate litigator, has been a member of the DuPage County Bar Association since 2014. She was elected as Third Vice President for the 2021-2022 bar year and subsequently served as Second Vice President (2022-2023) and President-Elect (2023-2024). Prior to that, she served in numerous leadership roles within the organization, including as Co-Chair and later Chair of the Estate Planning and Probate Section, Vice Chair and Chair of Continuing Legal Education, and as a member of the Planning Committee and the Board of Directors. The DCBA with 2,600 members is Illinois’ largest county bar association.

Firm partner John Sciaccotta, a commercial litigation and business attorney, has been a member of the Chicago Bar Association since 1988. He was elected as Treasurer in 2021 and subsequently served as Second Vice President (2022-2023) and First Vice President (2023-2024). Prior to that, he served on the Executive Committee, co-founded the Civics Committee and the Business Divorce & Complex Ownership Disputes Committee, and participated in numerous other roles throughout the many years. The CBA has over 17,000 members and is Illinois’ second largest bar association.

Karen has chosen “Inspiring Change, Igniting Futures” for her bar year theme. Her work as President will focus on the bar association’s role in leading change highlighted by assembling a Mental Health Task Force to assist the judiciary, legal practitioners, the strategic partners in DuPage County and the community and developing younger lawyers into future legal leaders.

The focus of John’s bar year is “Leaving a Legacy for the Legal Profession.” His priorities include initiatives like a national symposium on leadership, negotiations and ADR; a health and wellness program for lawyers and judges; a domestic violence symposium; a gun violence summit; and planning for a future Legal History Museum & educational center in Chicago.

“We are beyond fortunate to have not one, but two outstanding partners taking the reins at their respective bar associations,” stated Elizabeth Lazzara, co-chair of Aronberg Goldgehn’s Executive Management Committee. “Our entire firm is extremely proud of both Karen and John for their tremendous commitment to the legal profession.”

One firm having two simultaneous bar presidents is unprecedented in recent memory in Illinois, although neither Karen Mills nor John Sciaccotta is Aronberg Goldgehn’s first bar president. In 1969 Frank Greenberg, who was a partner at Peebles Greenberg Keele Lunn & Ford (as Aronberg Goldgehn was then known), was elected as President of the Chicago Bar Association. His tenure was just getting underway when he was asked to join and head what became known as the “Greenberg Commission” that investigated allegations of judicial malfeasance against two Illinois Supreme Court Justices.

Karen R. Mills focuses her practice on estate planning, probate administration, guardianships and probate litigation. She co-chairs the firm’s Trusts and Estates practice group. She joined Aronberg Goldgehn in 2021, and was in private practice for seven years before that. Before her legal career, Karen spent nearly 20 years at JPMorgan Chase and BMO Harris Private Bank with experience in trusts, estates, guardianships and wealth management. She currently serves on the Northwestern Medicine Memorial Foundation Board of Directors, and has been an active member of the DuPage County Adult Protective Services Abuse and Neglect Program Multidisciplinary Team for several decades. She frequently writes and speaks on estate planning, probate, guardianship and related topics. Since 2021, Karen has been recognized as a Rising Star by Illinois Super Lawyers. In addition to the DuPage County Bar Association, Karen is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association. Karen earned her undergraduate degree from Aurora University in 2007 and her law degree, cum laude, from Northern Illinois University in 2012.

John C. Sciaccotta represents publicly and privately held domestic and foreign business entities, lawyers, law firms. business owners, lenders, employers, municipalities, government bodies and individuals in transactional matters and disputes, with a special emphasis on complex civil trial and appellate cases brought in federal and state courts and tribunals throughout the United States. His 36 years of experience includes advocating for clients in arbitration, mediation and business counseling matters as well. He serves on the Commercial Panel of the American Arbitration Association's National Roster of Arbitrators. John is active in firm leadership. He serves on the firm's Executive Management Committee, and is the founder and co-chair of the firm's Business Divorce practice group, the chair of the Commercial Litigation marketing group, a founding member of the firm's DEI Committee, and co-chair of the firm's Marketing Committee. In addition to the Chicago Bar Association, John is a member of the American Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association. John earned his undergraduate degree from Creighton University in 1984 and his law degree from DePaul University College of Law in 1987.

John C. Sciaccotta during the June 27, 2024 ceremony when he was sworn in as Chicago Bar Association President

ABOUT ARONBERG GOLDGEHN

Aronberg Goldgehn is a premier full-service business law and litigation firm with offices in Chicago and Wheaton, Illinois. The firm represents clients ranging from entrepreneurial individuals and middle-market businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Continuing its more than 130-year presence in the Chicago-area legal landscape, firm attorneys assist and counsel clients in a broad range of complex business transactions and commercial litigation matters, and offer a full suite of personal legal services, including estate and tax planning and family law.  The firm’s geographic reach is enhanced by its role as a founding member of Legal Netlink Alliance.

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