Charles E. Hervas graduated from the DePaul University College of Law in 1983. While in law school, Chuck served on the Moot Court Board and represented DePaul on two national moot court teams. After graduation, Chuck has a long history in local government. His government service is highlighted by his appointment and election as an Alderman on the City Council in Des Plaines, Illinois, from 1986 through 1989 and election as a school board member for Itasca School District 10 from 1997 through 2005. He serves as counsel to a variety of governmental bodies, including service as Village Attorney for the Village of Itasca since 1990. Chuck also serves as legal counsel to Northeast Multi-Regional Training, one of the largest police training organizations in the United States.

Chuck is an experienced trial lawyer who concentrates his practice in the defense of government officials and governmental entities in civil rights, employment, and personal injury cases. He has handled a multitude of complex litigation matters in both the federal and state courts. He has argued many important cases in the appellate courts, and he has assisted in the preparation and briefing of two arguments before the United States Supreme Court. He also has substantial experience in the area of fire and police discipline, and he has represented numerous fire and police commissions in complex hearings and the subsequent administrative review process. On the rare occasion in which Chuck has accepted a case on the plaintiff side, he successfully argued a First Amendment retaliation case to a jury which awarded his police officer client 12.5 million dollars. Chuck also is experienced in administrative process and has handled a multitude of cases involving the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

Chuck is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and in various federal district courts in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. He has published several works, including his contribution in Illinois Jurisprudence—Municipal Law, published by Lawyer’s Cooperative Publishing. He is a frequent lecturer in the area of police training, and for several years he was a featured speaker for the FBI-sponsored Midwest Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar (MLEEDS). Chuck’s wife leads a local theater company. Chuck and his wife have three grown children.

Highlights

• NEMRT Annual Meeting Police Training Seminar, Spring 2018
• Public Safety Employee Benefits Act (PSEBA), Fall 2015 Seminar of Illinois Local Government Lawyers Association, Downers Grove, Illinois
• Legal Liability Landscape of Local Governments and Public Officials, Spring 2015 Seminar of American Public Works Association Chicago Metro Chapter, St. Charles, Illinois
• Expert witness (report and deposition testimony) in jail litigation dispute in federal court, Fox v. Admiral Ins. Co., No. 12 cv 8740 (N.D. IL)
• Use of Force Trends, Recent Case Law, and Tips for Avoiding Liability, Illinois Sheriff’s Association, 2014 Chief Deputy/Jail Administrator Conference, Springfield, Illinois

Michael Condon is a 1986 graduate of the John Marshall Law School, where he was the Executive Lead Articles Editor of the Law Review. He was published in the John Marshall Law Review and also participated in the school’s Moot Court program. During law school, Michael served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Donald P. O’Connell, the former Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County. In his college days at Marquette University, Michael worked a summer internship at the White House during President Carter’s Administration in the Office of Political Affairs.

For the past thirty years, Michael has represented public officials and various units of local government across the State of Illinois at both the trial and appellate levels. He has served as lead counsel for a myriad of public and private clients in discrimination suits brought under Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Fair Housing Act. Michael has successfully tried numerous jury cases in federal court on behalf of public officials and their employers. In one well publicized case, Michael and his partners obtained a $1.7 million jury verdict against the Town of Cicero in a whistleblower suit brought on behalf of the town’s former Police Chief and Deputy Chief. Over the years, Michael also has had the privilege of arguing numerous cases before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals which have resulted in published opinions. In addition to his federal trial practice, Michael also has substantial experience in litigating administrative matters involving units of local government. He has successfully represented police chiefs and other officers in disciplinary proceedings before local fire and police commissions.

Michael frequently lectures on the topics of civil rights and tort liability for both public and private employers. He has been retained by many local villages and police departments to provide training to their employees on such topics as use of force, racial profiling, police pursuits, and sexual harassment in the workplace. Michael has also conducted numerous training seminars sponsored by different police organizations, including the Northeast Multi-Regional Training, Inc., the Illinois Tactical Officers Association, the Illinois Association of Police Planners, the Illinois Association of Police Chiefs, and the Illinois Sheriff’s Association.

Highlights

• Use of Force Trends, Recent Case Law, and Tips for Avoiding Liability, Illinois Sheriff’s Association, 2014 Chief Deputy/Jail Administrator Conference, Springfield, Illinois
• Jail Suicide Liability: Trends, Standards, and Caselaw, 2011 Illinois Sheriff’s Association Chief Deputy/Jail Administrator Conference
• Strip and Body Cavity Searches of Pretrial Detainees – The Judiciary’s “Hands On” Approach to Jail Administration, Bliss McKnight Insurance Co. (2009)
• Conflicts Representing Public Employees, Illinois Institute for Local Government Law (2009)
• Use of Force Incidents and Civil Liability Issues, Hoffman Estates Police Department In-Service Training (2004)

Mike Bersani is a 1988 graduate of the John Marshall Law School and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1985. Upon graduation from law school, Mike served as a judicial clerk to Florida Appellate Court Judge Edward T. Barfield. He entered private practice in 1990, first as an associate attorney with Schirott & Associates and then later as a partner with Hervas, Condon & Bersani, P.C. Mike has been active in various bar associations and professional organizations. He serves on the Professional Development Committee of the Illinois Local Government Lawyers Association (ILGL) and is a speaker on federal civil rights and state law tort immunity topics at the ILGL Annual Conference. He also chaired the Illinois State Bar Association Local Government Law Section Council in 2013-2014, and the DuPage County Bar Association Local Government Committee in 1996-1997. Mike has an extensive litigation practice and is rated AV^® Preeminent in Martindale.com.

On a personal note, Mike lives in Bartlett, Illinois, where he served as an elected village trustee from 1995 to 1997, plan commissioner from 1997 to 1999, and again as an elected village trustee from 1999 to 2003. He also served 13 years as an appointed fire commissioner for the Bartlett Fire Protection District, and currently serves as an elected trustee on the District’s Board of Trustees.

Highlights

• Civil Rights Liability, Illinois Municipal Law: Contracts, Litigation, and Home Rule (Chapter 5) Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (2020 Edition)
• The Demise of the General Willful and Wanton Exception to the Tort Immunity Act, Illinois Bar Journal, Vol. 99, July 2011, p. 348, Michael Bersani
• Pre-Suit Tips for Winning Deadly Force Cases – Municipal Lawyer Magazine (July/August 2002), Michael Bersani and Kim Fahrbach
• Federal Civil Rights and Illinois Tort Immunity Case Law Update, Illinois Local Government Lawyers Association, Annual Conference (2010 to Present)
• Use of Force Trends, Recent Case Law, and Tips for Avoiding Liability, Illinois Sheriff’s Association, 2014 Chief Deputy/Jail Administrator Conference, Springfield, Illinois

Jason W. Rose is a 1991 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, where he was an associate editor of the Law Review. Before law school, Jason graduated with honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he majored in finance. After graduation, Jason worked as litigation counsel for a Chicago-based insurance company, successfully defending hundreds of clients in tort cases. During that time, Jason tried numerous cases to verdict and arbitrated over 150 cases. Additionally, before joining HCB in 1996, Jason worked as litigation counsel at the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), where he investigated and prosecuted allegations of misconduct against lawyers.

For the last 19 years, Jason has handled a wide variety of cases at HCB and became a partner in 2001. Jason primarily represents police officers in false arrest, malicious prosecution and excessive force cases but also represents scores of correctional officers and private and municipal clients in tort, employment, discrimination, and adult use ordinance cases. Additionally, because of his past experience at the ARDC and his knowledge of legal ethics, Jason often represents lawyers facing ARDC investigations.

As a trial lawyer, Jason has prevailed in numerous cases on both the state and federal level. Jason has also personally handled over a dozen appeals, prevailing in appellate cases before the Seventh Circuit and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jason has been married since 1993 to his wife Lisa and is a proud father of two college students. Jason and his family live in Northbrook.

Highlights

• Arbitrated over 200 cases and is a Certified Arbitrator
• Extensive experience and expertise in ethics and ARDC-related matters
• Member of the Federal Trial Bar, Illinois State Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association and DuPage County Bar Association

Yordana Wysocki practices in the areas of civil rights and local government litigation, §1983 claims, and municipal law. She joined Hervas, Condon & Bersani, P.C. in 2008, and became a partner in 2016. In 2017, she was awarded the Litigation Award by the Illinois Local Government Lawyers Association for her representation and defense of the city in Willie Pearl Burrell Trust v. City of Kankakee. She has successfully tried several cases before federal juries and has argued §1983 and First Amendment cases before the Seventh Circuit Appellate Court. Yordana received her law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law in May 2006 and her bachelor of science degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She currently serves on the Local Government Section Council of the Illinois State Bar Association as their newsletter editor. She has previously co-chaired the Local Government Committee of the Chicago Bar Association and served on various committees of the Legacy Project, which works to advance women in local government.

While at Chicago-Kent, she worked as an extern with Cook County Circuit Court Judge James Henry and was an extern at the Office of the Cook County Public Guardian. She was the recipient of various awards, including the Chicago-Kent Merit Scholarship and Kent Justice Foundation Fellowship. Before joining Hervas, Condon & Bersani, P.C., Yordana was a Research Staff Attorney at the Illinois Supreme Court in Springfield. Yordana lives in Woodridge with her husband, son and daughter.

Highlights

• “Safe T Act and Trailer Bill: How it Impacts Local Governments,” presented separately to Illinois State and Chicago Bar Associations (Fall 2021)
• Social Media, Public Speech, and the First Amendment, Illinois Municipal Treasurers Association Institute and PR Council of Lake County (Nov. 2018 and Sept. 2020).
• Reasonableness, Deliberate Indifference, and Kingsley v. Hendrickson’s Legacy, For the Defense, Vol. 58, No. 7 DRI, (July 2016).
• Balancing Jail Security with Arrestees’ Constitutional Rights in Pre-Arraignment Strip Search Cases After Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders, DRI Governmental Liability Committee Newsletter, Vol. 22, Issue 1, March 22, 2016, with Michael Condon & Mike Bersani.

David joined Hervas, Condon and Bersani, P.C. in 2017 and became a partner in 2019. He represents local government entities and their employees in all aspects of tort, employment, and civil rights litigation.  He has tried a half-dozen federal civil juries and argued a similar number of cases to the Seventh Circuit. David’s jury successes include a defense verdict in a fatal officer-involved shooting and a race discrimination claim by a police officer against his superiors.

Before coming to HCB, David began his career as a law clerk for the Hon. Danny J. Boggs, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He then moved to Kirkland & Ellis, where he spent four years as a litigation associate, focusing on critical motions in complex contract, class action, and mass tort matters. He then moved to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, where he spent five and a half years, including eighteen months assigned to Felony Review. David enjoys putting this diverse set of experiences to work in service of his current clients.

David graduated summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 2007. He earned the Dean Joseph O’Meara Award for High Academic Achievement for ranking second in his graduating class. He worked as a Staff Editor for the Notre Dame Law Review during his second year and then as the Executive Notes Editor during his third year.

David lives in Bartlett with his wife and two small children. He enjoys tennis, backpacking, and historical fiction. He also speaks at seminars and bar associations on topics related to his practice.

Highlights

• “Safe T Act and Trailer Bill: How it Impacts Local Governments,” presented separately to Illinois State, Chicago, and DuPage Bar Associations (Fall 2021)
• “Past, Present, and Possible Future(s) of Qualified Immunity,” DCBA Brief, Sep./Oct. 2021
• “Video Evidence in Defense of Excessive Force Claims Against Police,” Illinois Municipal League’s Police Use of Force Workshop, (May 2019).
• “Searches, Social Media, and the Schoolhouse Gate – Constitutional Law and School Resource Officers in 2018,” DuPage County Bar Association, School Law Group (November 2018)
• Note, Shadow of a Bulldozer?: RLUIPA & Eminent Domain after Kelo, 801 NOTRE DAME L. REV. 1653 (2006), reprinted in 2007 ZONING & PLANNING L. HANDBOOK 735.

Christian E. Ketter is an Adjunct Professor of Law at University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, teaching legal writing and academic success; an Adjunct Professor of criminal procedure at Morton College; and a member of the American Association of University Professors. He graduated cum laude from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago in 2018, as a Dean’s Scholar, and received his undergraduate degree from DePaul University, graduating cum laude. While in law school, Christian served as President of Phi Delta Phi International Legal Honors Society and on the Moot Court Board, as a national competitor—winning an award for best oralist. He was the recipient of the DuPage County Bar Association’s Judge William J. Bauer scholarship. Christian is a former prosecutor in Chicago, Illinois, having worked as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Criminal Prosecutions Bureau. Prior to this, he served as a certified court-appointed mediator in Cook County. He served also in an internship as a judicial clerk at the U.S Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit under the Honorable Judge William J. Bauer. He worked as a 711 Licensed Attorney for the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and clerked in the Appellate Division of the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office. Christian’s legal scholarship has focused primarily on constitutional theory, American legal history, criminal procedure, Chief Justice John Marshall and the Roberts Court. His scholarship on John Marshall’s treason doctrine was cited in the American Law Reports Federal Registry, and his article about the Heck doctrine was covered by Racism.org: Race, Racism and the Law. He was the 2021 winner of the Illinois Local Government Lawyer’s Association Legal Writing Competition. Christian’s work has been published in The University of Toledo Law Review, Wayne State Law Review, Florida Coastal Law Review, The Arizona State Sports and Entertainment Law Journal, UIC John Marshall Law Review, Campbell Law Review, Illinois Bar Journal, and Cleveland State Law Review. He is the Vice-Chair of the Appellate Law Division for the DuPage Bar Association and serves as the Associate Editor for the DuPage Bar Association’s Journal, the DCBA Brief. Christian is a member of the American Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Society of Scholars, the Will County Bar Association, and the Seventh Circuit Bar Association in which he served on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. He has presented continuing education lectures on legal ethics for the National Business Institute and the Institute of Paralegal Education, and he co-authored a 2021 presentation on jail litigation for the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association Conference for Chief Deputy & Jail Administrators.

On a personal note, Mr. Ketter enjoyed a national career as an operatic tenor, making his Carnegie Hall debut in 2014, covered by The Washington Post. He released an album in 2014 and made his Symphony Center debut in 2015, as the national winner of the American Prize. He sang regularly in concert and opera with the Cook County Bar Association’s Symphony Orchestra and for the Lyric Opera of Chicago Chapters. Christian has appeared as a guest-lecturer at Northwestern State University of Louisiana and has written on employee misclassification and labor abuse in the American performing arts industry, published in The Arizona State Sports and Entertainment Law Journal, and was interviewed by the American Bar Association magazine regarding industry practices. A member of the Itasca Lions, Christian lives in Itasca, Illinois with his wife, a concert-violinist, and their son.

Highlights

• A Second Amendment in Jeopardy of Article V Repeal and A Legislative Proposal: Affordable Mandatory Firearms Insurance & Tax (AMFIT), Maintaining the General Welfare, 64 Wayne State Law Review 473 (2019). Read Article.
• A Jury of Citizens Both Free and Imprisoned: If Voter Rights are Ensured for the Incarcerated, is a Prisoner’s Right to Serve on a Jury Far-Fetched?, 51 University of Toledo Law Review 37 (2019). Read Article.
• “Making Administrative Law Strict Again” In the Era of Trump: The Future of the Chevron Doctrine, According to the Federal Judicial Conference, 19 Florida Coastal Law Review 201 (2020). Read Article.
• Contractual Curtain-Call for the Performing Arts: Nonunionized Stage-Performers Are “Employees” Not “Independent Contractors,” 9, Arizona State Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law, 1 (2020). Read Article.
• The NFL Player, the Schoolchild, and the Entertainer: When the Term, “Free Speech,” is Too Freely Spoken, Exactly “Who’s on First?,” 68 Cleveland State Law Review 421 (2020). Read Article.
• Chief Justice John Marshall’s Judicial Statesmanship: Political Balancing Against Jefferson in Burr’s Treason Case, 53 UIC John Marshall Law Review- 4 (2020). Read Article.

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Andrea Nikolai represents local government entities and their employees in tort and civil rights litigation.  Since her admission to the Illinois Bar in November 2014, she has focused her law practice on civil defense litigation. Prior to joining HCB, she practiced trucking litigation, premises liability, correctional healthcare, and medical malpractice at Chicago-based litigation firms. Andrea is admitted to practice in all Illinois state courts and federal courts for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois and Western and Eastern Districts of Wisconsin.

She graduated cum laude from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2014. While in law school, Andrea received a CALI Award for Excellence in Legal Writing.  She was an editor of Chicago-Kent’s Journal of International and Comparative Law and the Seventh Circuit Review, in which she published an article analyzing gender as a particular social group for asylum relief.  Andrea served as a judicial extern for Judge John P. Kirby of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Law Division, and for Judge Joan H. Lefkow of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  She also served as a legal extern for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Andrea holds leadership roles in the Illinois State Bar Association, including as a member of the Tort Law Section and editor of its publication, Illinois Bar Journal.  She is also a member of Illinois Defense Counsel.

Kaleah M. Ault graduated first in her class from the Valparaiso University School of Law in 2019, with Honors, and received her undergraduate degree in Organismal Biology from the University of Kansas in 2016. While in law school Kaleah served as an Executive Editor for the Valparaiso University Law Review, receiving awards that included the Excellence in Editing Award and the Dedicated Service Award. She also served as a Trial Advocacy Coach and Competitor, receiving multiple awards as both a competitor and a coach, including Best Overall Advocate at her first competition and Coach of the Year. After law school, Kaleah took a position as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cook County, IL. There she prosecuted both misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses.

While in law school Kaleah worked as an extern for both the United States Northern District Court of Indiana and the Chicago branch of the United States Attorney’s Office. She volunteered for the Valparaiso Criminal Law Clinic as a defense attorney. Additionally, Kaleah worked as a legal clerk in private practice, and as an intern for the Hoosier Environmental Council.

On a personal note, Kaleah was a student athlete throughout college, playing women’s rugby while working part-time as an assistant for biology, virology, and pathology laboratories.

Highlights

• Keeping Man’s Best Friend His Best Friend: Why Minors Should Not Witness Animal Abuse and Legislation That Can Prevent This Exposure, 53 Val. U.L. Rev. 133 (2019).
• How the West was Lost: How Tribal Jurisdiction Must Change to Deal with Sexual Assault, Native American Women, and the Changing Times, Du Page Bar Association Journal: DCBA Brief (Impending Publication Fall 2021).