Lecturer Bios
Jefferey Ogden Katz, Esq.
Jefferey Ogden Katz is a leading litigation attorney and has handled numerous professional liability cases throughout the country. Mr. Katz and The Patterson Law Firm, LLC regularly represent individuals, private and public corporations and law firms in litigation, trials and alternative dispute resolution involving professional liability and disciplinary issues.
As a partner in the firm, Mr. Katz has originated and obtained a settlement in excess of $10 million in a legal malpractice matter involving complex intellectual property matters. He has also originated and obtained a judgment in the amount of $2.5 million for a professional athlete in an action involving a failed purchase of a professional sports franchise. Mr. Katz successfully defended an action on behalf of an NBA player in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals brought by that player's former agent for breach of the player-agent agreement. The claim sought damages in excess of $1.2 million.
In addition, Mr. Katz represents attorneys before the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC); attorneys with respect to practice expansion and multi-jurisdictional practice issues; and candidates for admission to the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar.
Mr. Katz has served as the Chair of the Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers Section of the Professional Responsibility Committee since 2009. He is a frequent speaker on professional liability issues and has presented to the Chicago Bar Association, American Association for Justice (formerly American Trial Lawyers Association) and American Conference Institute on professional liability issues. Mr. Katz is a notable media source and has been cited on ESPN and in Sports Illustrated on issues relating to professional liability.
Prior to joining The Patterson Law Firm, LLC in September of 2012, Mr. Katz worked for The Spellmire Law Firm where he personally handled numerous legal malpractice and professional liability cases. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison and received his law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 2004. Mr. Katz is licensed in Illinois, Wisconsin and Kentucky.
Mr. Katz's article "Attorneys, the Internet, and Hate Speech: An Argument for an Amended Model Rule 8.4" was published in the Seattle Journal for Social Justice, Volume 13, Issue 1, in Fall 2014.
To learn more about Jefferey visit his website http://www.pattersonlawfirm.com/who-we-are/our-attorneys/jefferey-katz.aspx.
Eric J. Chisholm, Esq.
Eric J. Chisholm is a litigation attorney who represents clients in a variety of legal matters. Mr. Chisholm was recently involved in the successful settlement of a matter, producing a seven-figure award for his client. Mr. Chisholm is also trained as a general civil mediator.
Mr. Chisholm completed the dual-degree program in law and social work at the University of Michigan in 2010, earning his juris doctor degree from Michigan Law School and his MSW from the Michigan School of Social Work. He spent his two summers in law school focusing on labor and employment law at Hall Render, a healthcare law firm based out of Indianapolis, and at Miller Johnson, a corporate law firm in Grand Rapids, MI. As a student attorney with Michigan Law’s Child Advocacy Law Clinic, Mr. Chisholm represented parents in child-welfare proceedings in counties across the State of Michigan. Mr. Chisholm also served as a law clerk in the Washtenaw County (MI) Office of Public Defender.
Following the completion of the dual-degree program, Mr. Chisholm worked as a staff attorney for the Detroit Center for Family Advocacy, representing low-income and indigent individuals in a broad variety of legal matters throughout Southeast Michigan. Additionally, Mr. Chisholm mediated a wide variety of civil cases as a mediator with the Wayne Mediation Center in Dearborn, MI. More recently, Mr. Chisholm worked in higher-education administration, serving as the Assistant Director of Admissions at the University of Chicago Law School.
Prior to law school, Mr. Chisholm earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. His concentrations were in English and psychology and he completed a minor in Spanish language and literature. Mr. Chisholm also spent one semester studying Spanish language and literature at La Universidad de Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain.
Mr. Chisholm currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors for the Center for Law and Social Work. Mr. Chisholm is a former member of the Board of Directors for Green Star Movement, where he chaired the Governance Committee. He has been selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer Rising Star for 2017. Super Lawyers is a preeminent lawyer rating service. Only 2.5% of lawyers in Illinois are named to the annual Rising Star list.
Mr. Chisholm joined The Patterson Law Firm, LLC, in May 2014 and is licensed in Illinois.
To learn more about Eric visit his website http://www.pattersonlawfirm.com/who-we-are/our-attorneys/eric-chisholm.aspx.
Kenneth Craig Dobson, Esq.
Kenneth Craig Dobson is Of Counsel at Crystal & Giannoni-Crystal, LLC (an international law and ethics law firm), where he practices both immigration and ethics law. He has a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Furman University and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from New England School of Law. During law school, he received CALI awards in both the Law and Ethics of Lawyering and International Business Transactions and served as Editor-in-Chief of the New England Journal of International and Comparative Law.
He previously served as UPL Liaison for the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Georgia-Alabama Chapter and was appointed by the Supreme Court of Georgia to serve as Chairperson of the District 1 UPL Committee for the State Bar of Georgia from 2014 to 2017. He is currently vice chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s National Ethics Committee. In October of 2017, he became one of the first National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coaches.
Elise H. Yu, Esq.
Elise H. Yu is a litigation attorney who represents clients in a variety of legal matters. Ms. Yu graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 2014. During law school, Ms. Yu was a member of the Transactional Lab, a student attorney with the Child Advocacy Law Clinic, and a judicial intern for the Honorable Timothy P. Connors of the Washtenaw County, Michigan Trial Court. Ms. Yu also spent her summers in-house at Coty, Inc. and the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. As a result, Ms. Yu has gained exposure to and experience in many different practice areas ranging from child welfare to corporate governance.
Prior to joining the Patterson Law Firm, Ms. Yu worked closely with Professor Michael Bloom at the University of Michigan Law School and his company, praktio, to develop practical legal training software.
Ms. Yu earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and political science from the University of Michigan. As an undergraduate, she interned at the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office, where she affirmed her desire to become a lawyer. She was also a member of the women's lacrosse team at the University of Michigan.
Ms. Yu joined The Patterson Law Firm, LLC, in November 2014.
Daisy Ayllon, Esq.
Daisy Ayllon is an attorney at Levin & Perconti and has established a reputation as a dedicated advocate for injured victims and their families in cases of elder abuse and neglect; medical malpractice; automobile accidents; construction accidents; premises liability; slip and fall accidents; and other serious personal injury and wrongful death cases.
Daisy, a fluent Spanish speaker, has been selected as an Illinois Super Lawyers - Rising Star for three consecutive years. She was featured in Univision—the major Spanish network in the US—discussing the $875,000 settlement of a case involving a client who was provided the wrong food and choked to death at a nursing home. She is also frequently invited to appear as a speaker on the nightly news to discuss other prescient issues affecting underrepresented communities. In addition to her litigation practice, she volunteers with several organizations providing pro bono legal services to indigent individuals.
During her time at Levin & Perconti, Daisy has worked on an array of cases, including a defamation lawsuit, a case involving a mental-health patient who was negligently discharged from a hospital and later jumped from her balcony and eventually died, and several other elder abuse, nursing home and medical malpractice cases. “This is an area of the law where one is constantly reminded of how the justice system impacts people in a very personal way,” she said. “Being a lawyer at this firm means that I can bring all my passion, compassion, and intellect to find legal solutions that quite literally change people's lives.”
Daniel R. Saeedi, Esq.
Daniel focuses his practice on issues relating to employment law and unfair competition. He represents clients nationwide in the realm of trade secret theft, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, and breaches of fiduciary duties. Daniel also provides counseling to business on how to employ best practices and policies to better position themselves to litigate unfair competition claims. In addition, he helps companies conduct complex internal investigations regarding intellectual property theft, computer fraud and data privacy issues. He also litigates unfair competition claims in federal and state courts around the country.
Daniel is experienced in matters under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, the Lanham Act, various state trade secret laws, legal standards regarding non-competes, and prosecution of common law tort claims related to unfair competition. These important issues involve complex questions regarding information technology and industry norms. Daniel has assisted clients in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, logistics, information technology and software design, marketing, health and medical devices, food, entertainment, and retail. Daniel is a frequent speaker and writer on corporate and employment matters, and provides the yearly continuing legal education training on trade secrets and non-competes for the Illinois State Bar Association. Daniel also frequently speaks on issues relating to diversity, inclusion and implicit bias. He provides implicit bias training to hundreds of lawyers each year, including in-house counsel.
In 2008, Daniel graduated magna cum laude from The John Marshall Law School. During law school, he was the Executive Lead Articles Editor for The John Marshall Law Review. He also served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald, Illinois Supreme Court, and for the Honorable Judge Ronald A. Guzman, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. Daniel has been honored as a Rising Star by Illinois Super Lawyers in 2014-2019.