Welcome the Society's New Officers!

Judge Thomas Nowinski has been in public service his entire legal career because he has a dedication to the service of others. Judge Nowinski began his career as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cook County where he tried hundreds of criminal and civil bench and jury trials in state and federal court. While assigned to the Civil Actions Bureau, Judge Nowinski became the lead attorney representing Cook County offices in the Shakman litigation. In that role, Judge Nowinski worked to rid government employment from unlawful political discrimination.

In 2022, Judge Nowinski was elected to the Circuit Court of Cook County.

First Vice President 
Kathy E. Bojczuk

Kathy Bojczuk is an assistant attorney general for the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, working in the Revenue Litigation bureau. Before her work in public service, she was a supervising attorney for a non-profit organization, helping survivors of domestic violence with obtaining orders of protection and litigating family law cases. She especially enjoyed her job in mentoring and supervising attorneys, paralegals, and law clerks.

Before entering the non-profit sector, Kathy worked in private practice in the areas of family law, estate planning and real estate for 12 years. Being fluent in Polish, a large portion of her clients were from Polish and Ukrainian immigrant communities. She used her legal knowledge and skills to provide positive changes for her clients.  

Roman Drewniak is an associate attorney at the personal injury law firm of Abels & Annes, P.C.  Roman focuses on all areas of personal injury, with his main focus in the areas of auto accidents, premise liability, and medical malpractice. He speaks fluent Polish and is dedicating his career to helping personal injury victims.

Roman was born in Breszko, Poland and moved to Chicago at the age of four. Growing up he attended Lane Tech College Preparatory High School as well as St. Maximillian Marian Kolbe Polish School. Roman went to undergrad at DePaul University with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Sociology. As a senior at DePaul, Roman began working as a law clerk at an insurance defense law firm in Chicago. There he gained valuable experience in the legal system, specifically with regards to medical malpractice cases. Read more.

Julia Smolka is a shareholder at Robbins DiMonte, Ltd. in their Park Ridge office. She has over 20 years of experience representing diverse business industries and individuals as debtors in reorganizations, bankruptcy, and debt restructuring. Julia has in-depth experience drafting contracts, leases, business sales transactions and settlement agreements with an eye toward anticipating potential litigation and protecting her clients. Additionally, she represents condominium and homeowners’ associations in litigation, collection, negotiations with vendors and disputes with utilities and municipalities. Julia is experienced with drafting estate plans and representing estate and beneficiaries in probate litigation.

Julia is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago Law School and lives on the Northwest Side.

Secretary
Hon. Michele Gemskie

Judge Michele Gemskie was chosen to be an associate judge in Cook County in March 2023. She is now assigned to the Skokie Courthouse where she handles criminal cases and supervises the Drug Treatment Court.  Prior to her ascension to the bench, Judge Gemskie was an assistant state’s attorney for 28 years. She handled some of the most complicated and high profile cases in the Criminal Division. She was also a supervisor in the Traffic Division for several years where she trained the newest state’s attorneys in the office.

Judge Gemskie attended the University of Illinois in Champaign as an undergraduate and graduated from Northwestern University School of Law. She was a Moot Court Semi-Finalist and was published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.

Historian
Dr. Justyna Regan

Justyna H. Regan, Ph.D. is a Partner at Hinshaw & Culberton, LLP where provides counsel to clients on matters related to international trade, cross-border transactions, US and European business law. In particular, she assists European companies with entering the U.S. market, through greenfield investments, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, as well as through trade.

She also focuses on European and U.S. data privacy. Justyna has held leadership roles at the Chicago Bar Association, including Chair of the Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Committee, and Vice-Chair of the Foreign and International Law Committee.

Justyna is internationally recognized for her experience in cross-border cases involving defamation and data privacy. She acted as an expert witness on European and Polish law and was also appointed as a special master in a U.S. federal court case related to cross-border discovery.

She has also been a Fulbright scholar at Chicago-Kent College of Law, and she holds an LL.M. in American Business and International Law from the Catholic University of America, and a Ph.D., as well as the title of doctor habilitatus from the University of Wroclaw Law School.

Treasurer
Hon. Alon Stein

Hon. Stein is a Circuit Court judge with the Circuit Court of Cook County. Prior to joining the bench, he owned and operated Stein Law Offices and before that, he was an attorney at the law firms of Kamensky Rubinstein Hochman & Delott, and Blau & Bonavich. As an attorney, he represented local businesses in multi-state complex civil and commercial litigation in both the state and federal courts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Arizona and Indiana. He argued before several state appellate courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Supreme Courts of Wisconsin and Indiana. He also served as an arbitrator for the Circuit Court for 12 years.

Immediate Past President

Hon. Michael J. Chmiel

Michael J. Chmiel was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois.  He received his B.A. in Economics (and Administration) from the University of Notre Dame in 1987, and his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1990.  He served as Law Clerk to the late Honorable Richard N. DeGunther, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, Western Division, from 1990 to 1992.  From 1992 to 2004, he engaged in the general practice of law, with offices in Chicago, Rockford, and Crystal Lake, Illinois.  On January 1, 2005, he was appointed by the Supreme Court of Illinois to fill a Circuit Judge vacancy in the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit of the State, then elected as a Circuit Judge in 2006 in the new Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit.