2027 Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Panelists
Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, will moderate the two-hour program.
Robert A. Clifford
Moderator, Founder and Senior Partner Clifford Law Offices, P.C.
Founder and senior partner of internationally acclaimed plaintiffs’ firm Clifford Law Offices, Robert A. Clifford has led the nation in wrongful death/personal injury matters, particularly in the area of plaintiffs’ aviation litigation. He has represented victims in every major commercial U.S. airlines crash in the last five decades, including serving as Lead Counsel in federal district court in Chicago in the crash of a Boeing 737-MAX8 plane in Ethiopia killing all 157 on board.
Clifford was the first to file against the government in the 2025 midair crash of a commercial jet and an Army helicopter over the Potomac River, representing families of numerous passengers killed in that tragedy. The firm also filed against Boeing on behalf of four flight attendants who were on board the Alaska Air commercial jet when a door plug flew off mid-flight in 2024. He filed the first wrongful death lawsuits in the 2025 crash of a UPS cargo jet in Louisville, Kentucky. Over the years he has obtained billions of dollars in settlements and verdicts, including serving as Lead Counsel in the subrogation and business claims in property damage from the 9/11 collapse of the World Trade Center that settled for $1.2 billion.
Clifford is dedicated to the furtherance of the legal profession through his leadership roles serving as President of the Chicago Bar Association, Chicago Inn of Court and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. For nine years, he served as leader of the Illinois delegation for the American Bar Association. Clifford chaired the ABA Fund for Justice and Education, its charitable arm. He is a member of the American Law Institute, American College of Trial Lawyers, International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Inner Circle of Advocates.
Robert Clifford has received many awards over the years for his work in the legal field from Forbes, The National Law Journal, Crain's Chicago Business, the American Bar Association, Super Lawyers, Chicago Magazine, Chicago Lawyer Magazine, among many others.
Clifford is a Past Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Naples Children & Education Foundation, a charitable organization that benefits more than 200,000 at-risk and underprivileged children in Southwest Florida. He serves on the Board of Trustees for WTTW, Chicago ’s public television station, sponsoring closed captioning for the hearing impaired.
The firm prides itself on giving back in sponsoring a free annual continuing legal education program that offers two hours of professional responsibility/ethics credit to lawyers across six states. Now in its 20th year, it is believed to be the largest single program in the country. For more than 30 years, the firm also sponsored the Clifford Symposium on Tort Law and Social Policy at DePaul University, bringing together dozens of academics, judges and lawyers from across the country for a free two-day conference. Also, through DePaul, he initiated the Clifford Scholar-in-Residence program featuring a debate between up-and-coming academics and established scholars on topics vital to civil justice.
Mary F. Andreoni
Senior Counsel for Ethics Education, Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission
Mary F. Andreoni is Ethics Education Senior Counsel for the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) where she develops and implements the ARDC’s ethics education initiatives.
She has authored many articles including the ARDC publications, Client Trust Account Handbook, The Basic Steps to Ethically Closing a Law Practice, and Leaving a Law Firm: A Guide to the Ethical Obligations in Law Firm Departure, a frequent contributor to the Illinois Courts Connect newsletter, and a creator of several recent ARDC webcasts on succession planning, trust accounting and alternative fee structures. She has also spoken at hundreds of programs on legal ethics.
Prior to joining the Commission, Ms. Andreoni was law clerk to Illinois Appellate Court Justice Mel R. Jiganti and later practiced commercial litigation with the law firm of Peterson & Ross in Chicago. While in practice, she also served as a board member on the ARDC Inquiry and Hearing Boards.
Active in the Chicago Bar Association (CBA), she has served on a number of committees, and is past chair of the CBA Professional Responsibility Committee (2014-2015).
Ms. Andreoni received her J.D. from Loyola University School of Law in Chicago.
Erika N. L. Harold
Executive Director, Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism
Erika N. L. Harold is the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism’s Executive Director. An advocate for civility, ethics, and inclusion, Erika leads the Commission’s extensive educational programming focused on advancing professionalism among the state’s lawyers and judges to promote legal excellence and a justice system that works for all.
Before being appointed to this role, Erika was a litigation attorney at Meyer Capel, P.C. in Champaign, Illinois, representing clients at the trial and appellate levels in disputes regarding fiduciary and contractual obligations. Earlier in her career, Erika was a litigation attorney at the Chicago offices of Sidley Austin LLP and Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, P.C. Erika is a member of the teaching faculty for Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop.
Erika graduated from Harvard Law School, where she won a Boykin C. Wright Memorial Award for appellate advocacy in Harvard Law School’s acclaimed Ames Moot Court Competition. She funded her legal education through the scholarships and appearance fees she earned as Miss America 2003.
Erika received a political science degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), graduating Phi Beta Kappa and as a Chancellor’s Scholar, and received the Campus Honors Program’s Calvin Ke Award. The UIUC Department of Political Science awarded Erika its 2025 Distinguished Service Award.
Erika previously served on the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Equality, the board of Champaign County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), and on the board of Prison Fellowship, a national faith-based nonprofit that serves the incarcerated and advocates for criminal justice reform. In 2025, Erika was appointed as a General Trustee of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois, charged with selecting Laureates for the state of Illinois.
The Chicago Bar Association (CBA) awarded Erika an Earl B. Dickerson Award, which recognizes minority lawyers and judges whose careers elevate the law as key to justice for all. Erika was also selected by the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois to receive a Vanguard Award from the CBA, honoring the individuals and institutions who have made the law and legal profession more accessible to and reflective of the community at large.
Additionally, Erika is a bullying prevention advocate and has spoken to more than 100,000 students about peer-to-peer harassment. She was named one of Fight Crime, Invest in Kids’ “Champions for Children” and received a leadership award from the National Center for Victims of Crime.
Erika is currently leading the Commission on Professionalism’s groundbreaking Bullying in the Legal Profession initiative, which included the publication of a report of the first wide-scale research project in the U.S. on this topic. The report’s publication has garnered widespread media coverage in publications such as Chicago Sun-Times, Reuters, the ABA Journal, Law360, JD Journal, Canadian Lawyer, and Bloomberg Law, and was the catalyst for a 2025 ABA Resolution on preventing bullying in the legal profession.
Erika is a frequent speaker and writer on topics including ethics, civility, and leadership, and her pieces have been featured in Crains Chicago Business, the ABA Journal, and Chicago Lawyer Magazine.
Judge Raymond J. McKoski (retired)
University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, Adjunct Professor
A trial judge in Lake County, Illinois for 25 years, Judge McKoski now serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.
At UIC Law, he has taught courses in professional responsibility, evidence, and appellate advocacy.
Ray is the vice chair of the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee and has served on legal ethics committees of the National Center for State Courts, the American Bar Association, the American Judges Association, the Illinois Supreme Court, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the Illinois Judges Association.
Ray’s second book, David Davis, Abraham Lincoln’s Favorite Judge (University of Illinois Press, 2025), examines Judge Davis’s role in Lincoln’s political rise and the judge’s commitment to judicial impartiality.
In his first book, Judges in Street Clothes: Acting Ethically Off-the-Bench (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2017), Ray explores the ethical, practical, and constitutional implications of a judge’s extrajudicial activities.
Erin Clifford, JD, MA, LPC, NBC-HWC
Managing Director, Clifford Law Offices
Founder, Erin Clifford Wellness
Erin Clifford is the Managing Director at Clifford Law Offices, a nationally recognized personal injury law firm in Chicago, and a corporate wellness consultant and Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in mental health and wellness for demanding professions.
An advocate for improving wellness in the legal profession, Erin works with attorneys and professionals to manage stress, prevent burnout, and promote sustainable performance through evidence-based mental health strategies and holistic wellness practices. Her work integrates counseling, lifestyle medicine principles, and practical tools tailored for high-pressure professional environments.
Beyond her leadership at Clifford Law Offices, Erin is recognized for advancing attorney wellness through lawyer education, free CLE programs, and her bestselling book, Wellness Reimagined: A Holistic Approach to Health, Happiness, and Harmony. She frequently speaks to law firms and professional legal organizations about mental health strategies, resilience, and well-being in the legal profession.
Erin holds a Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law and a master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling from Northwestern University. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Illinois, a National Certified Counselor, a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach, and a certified holistic wellness coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.