Current Board

Through organized activities and individual contributions from its members, the CCBA has held various legal clinics and community forums at various sites and is supported by renowned civil rights organizations including Rainbow PUSH, local chapters of the NAACP, and other local groups and churches.

Executive Board

  • Nicholas E. Cummings | President

    President Cummings is the founder of Osiris Professional Services, LLC, and the former Corporation Counsel/City Attorney for the City of Evanston, the first person of color to serve in the role. Prior to being appointed to Corporation Counsel, Nicholas served as the Deputy City Attorney, where he advised Evanston’s Reparations Subcommittee regarding the legal hurdles facing restorative justice programs.

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    Nicholas currently serves as the President-Elect of the Cook County Bar Association and will be installed in June 2024. Prior to being elected to President-Elect, Nicholas has served as the Vice President of Committee on Committees; Vice President of Education and Information; Financial Secretary; and Chair of the Judicial Evaluation Committee.

  • Antonio C. Lee | President Elect

    Antonio Lee is an Assistant United States Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana at the U.S. Department of Justice. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Lee was an Assistant State’s Attorney at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO), where he handled all aspects of civil litigation for torts and civil rights cases in state, appellate, and federal court.

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    Prior to working at the CCSAO, Mr. Lee was selected into the prestigious U.S. Presidential Management Fellows program, where he served with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and U.S. Department of Justice – Community Relations Service. He holds several local and national leadership positions while tutoring law students to successfully pass state bar examinations and increase diversity in the legal profession. Mr. Lee is a licensed attorney in Georgia, Illinois, and the District of Columbia.

  • LeDeidre S. Turner | Vice President of Operations

    LeDeidre Turner currently serves the Cook County Bar Association (“CCBA”) as the Vice President of Education and Information and Co-Chairman of the Minority Law Student Job Fair. She is an Assistant General Counsel with Commonwealth Edison Company (“ComEd”) where she represents ComEd before the Illinois Commerce Commission and other state agencies in administrative proceedings and other relevant litigation.

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    LeDeidre also serves as a Board Member for Legal Aid Chicago and Foster Progress. She is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Lambda Tau Omega Chapter. LeDeidre received a Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School (now known as UIC School of Law) and a Bachelor of Arts from Spelman College.

  • Mark A. Dunham | Vice President of Education and Information

    Mark A. Dunham, Jr. serves as the Parliamentarian of the Cook County Bar Association, providing advice to the Board of Directors and the membership on the application of parliamentary procedure and the interpretation of the Association’s Constitution and Bylaws, as well as chair of the Bylaws Committee. Professionally, Mr. Dunham works as Director & Senior Counsel, Corporate Governance & Compliance at Mondelēz International – makers of iconic global and local brands such as Oreo, Ritz, and Clif Bar.

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    Prior to in-house work, Mr. Dunham was in private practice at three large, international law firms. Prior non-profit board service includes work with the National Black Law Students Association, Inc., where he served in numerous roles, including as its 48th National Chair, chair of its Alumni Advisory Committee, and general counsel. A double graduate of American University, Mr. Dunham received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 2012 and his law degree in 2018. Mr. Dunham is married to Attorney Christian A. Conway, a member of the New York and Illinois bars, and lives in Oak Park, Illinois.

  • Vy'Shaey M. Mitchell | General Secretary

  • Wiley S. Adams | Financial Secretary

    Wiley S. Adams retired as Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of PGIM, Inc., the global investment management businesses of Prudential Financial, Inc. PGIM has offices around the world and is one of 10 largest investment managers in the world with approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management as of December 31, 2021. Wiley led a team of approximately 80 lawyers in support of PGIM’s operations around the world.

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  • Charmaine A. Saffore | Treasurer

    Charmaine A. Saffore is a current member of the Board of Director’s for the Cook County Bar Association. She is a solo practitioner specializing in tax law. Before that she was an Assistant Attorney General at the Illinois Attorney General’s Office litigating white collar crime. Also, she served an Assistant State’s Attorney at the Lake County States Attorney’s Office. She received her Master of Laws in Taxation (LLM) in 2017 and Juris Doctorate in 2015 from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Law. She is the mother of twin daughters currently in college

Board of Directors

  • Glori Bond

    Glori is an associate in the Firm's business litigation practice. She handles complex business litigation and class action matters, typically representing city governments and municipalities.

    Glori enjoys how litigation cases do not have a one-size-fits-all solution and finds that each case has a unique set of complex issues, allowing her to constantly learn something new.

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  • Joseph Deloney

    Joseph Deloney is an associate at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, where he practices product liability and mass tort litigation. Prior to working in private practice, Joseph served as a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Justice Carl A. Walker of the Illinois Appellate Court. He currently sits on the associate board for the Black Men Lawyers' Association and is a proud member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated.

  • Lesley Gool

    Lesley D. Gool grew up in the Beverly Hills neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago and graduated from Morgan Park High School. She earned a B.A. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and later pursued further education, receiving her J.D. and LL.M. in Intellectual Property from The John Marshall Law School. During law school, Lesley worked as an extern at the Illinois Appellate Court, where she clerked for the current Illinois Supreme Court Justice P. Scott Neville, gaining valuable experience in the field.

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  • Hon. Arnette Hubbard, Ret.

    Judge Arnette R. Hubbard has had a long tenure in law and public service. As an attorney, public official and elected circuit court judge in Cook County, Judge Hubbard has devoted her life to working for the protection of individual rights and freedoms. Judge Hubbard was appointed to

    the bench by the Illinois Supreme Court in 1997, and elected by the people of Cook county in 1998.

    Judge Hubbard, a local and national legal trailblazer was installed in 1978 as the first female President of the Cook County Bar Association, the oldest Association of African-American lawyers and judges in the nation. Judge Hubbard continued to make history by being elected as the first female president of the National Bar Association on July 31, 1981. Judge Hubbard has served in many leadership positions in a number of renowned organizations and boards such as the Illinois Commission on the 50 th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the American Law Institute, and the Chicago Board of Elections to name a few.

    Judge Hubbard began her legal career in 1969 as an attorney for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, eventually focusing her practice on criminal defense and civil litigation.

    Judge Hubbard’s career in private practice spanned two decades in Illinois and federal courts.

    Before taking the bench, Judge Hubbard served for nine years as a member of the Illinois Bar Admissions Committee. In this position, she championed unrestricted access for all qualified applicants.

    Judge Hubbard received her Juris Doctorate degree from the John Marshall Law School which honored her with its Distinguished Alumnus Citation. Her undergraduate degree, earned at Southern Illinois University is in chemistry and mathematics. She was bestowed Southern

    Illinois University’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Judge Hubbard has also been installed into the Cook County Bar Association’s Hall of Fame.

  • Alexzandria N. Rice

    Alexzandria N. Rice (Johnson) is employed as an Associate Attorney at Lipe Lyons Murphy Nahrstadt & Pontikis practicing civil defense-insurance litigation. Alexzandria was honored as a Rising Star in Civil Litigation by Illinois SuperLawyers for the 2023-2024 year. Previously, Alexzandria served as a State's Attorney. In 2020, NCCU’s Law Review published Alexzandria’s article entitled, “We Deserve Better: How Hip Hop Perpetuates the Rape Culture of Black Women.” 

     Alexzandria has been honored by CCBA with awards including the Junior Counselor Award, Meritorious Service Award, Next Generation Award, and Presidential Awards. In 2016, she founded the MD Chamberlain Foundation which is named after a friend she lost to gun violence. The organization focuses on uplifting underserved communities. Alexzandria also mentors law students, and is a member of ELITE Chicago, which provides young women with mentorship.

  • Louis Raymond, II

    Louis C. Raymond II, Esq., is a dynamic attorney and seasoned government affairs expert with a rich background spanning law, military service, and impactful leadership roles. As the Principal of Raymond Law Group, LLC, he specializes in municipal law, real estate, and probate matters, actively assisting not-for-profit organizations and small businesses.

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  • Larry Rogers, Jr.

    Larry R. Rogers, Jr. is a trial lawyer with over 25 years of experience advocating for victims. As a trial attorney and partner at Power Rogers, LLP, Mr. Rogers, Jr. has successfully settled and tried to verdict many multi-million dollar results for his clients in medical negligence, trucking, product liability, and civil rights litigation.

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  • Lori Roper

    Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. I attended Lindblom Technical High School, Class of 1983. I received an Associates of Arts from Kennedy – King College and a B. A. in Political Science from Roosevelt University. Received a Juris Doctorate from The Claude Petit College of Law at Ohio Northern University in 1993. Employed as an Assistant Public Defender at the Law Office of the Cook County Public

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  • Felicia Simmons-Stovall

    Attorney Felicia H. Simmons-Stovall has been practicing law for over 25 years. Attorney Simmons-Stovall is currently an Assistant State’s Attorney for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, Child Support Enforcement Division. In this capacity, she manages a daily court call involving child support and enforcement matters on behalf of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

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  • André A. Sutton, Esq.

    Originally from South Florida, Andre is a double graduate from the University of Florida. He was a first generation college student and is the first attorney in his family. Moving to Chicago 10 years ago with just a television and two suitcases, Andre attended and earned his J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. While his original plan was to move back to Florida, he fell in love with the city of Chicago and now calls it home. Andre began his legal career at Chicago Transit Authority before moving into private practice as a Labor and Employment attorney. Having received valuable experience and training at law firms, Andre now works as Lead Labor and Employment Counsel at the Cook County Public Defender's Office. He is the first person in this role.

    Andre has been a part of the CCBA since he started law school and was a part of the 2023 inaugural class of CCBA's Next Generation awardees. In Andre's spare time, he serves as Corresponding Secretary for the Theta Mu Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., traveling the world, and binging shows on Netflix.

  • Juan Thomas

    Juan R. Thomas is Of Counsel to Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A., and is the founder and principal of The Thomas Law Group. Dr. Thomas practice includes the following specialties: real estate/estate planning, labor and employment, and family law. In addition, Dr. Thomas provides counseling and training to firm clients in areas involving personnel, collective bargaining, and business development matters.

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  • Mecca L. Thompson

    Ms. Thompson received her undergraduate degree (political science), minor in African American Studies, and International Studies from Loyola University of Chicago in 1995. Before entering law school she worked for Kirkland Ellis from 1995-1996. She graduated from Howard University School of Law in 2001.

    • She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Cook County Bar Association

    • She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Westside Branch of the NAACP

    • She has served as member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution.

    • She possesses a license to practice law before the courts in the state of Illinois and the general courts of the Northern District of Illinois.

    • Ms. Thompson has served as an arbitrator with the Cook County Mandatory Arbitration program and has also served as an instructor for East West University.

    • Ms. Thompson is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.

    Mecca Thompson entered private practice to provide legal services to anyone seeking to

    prepare for the transitions of life like, death, disability, divorce, or unplanned pregnancies..

  • Monique Woody

    Monique Patton Woody currently serves as Assistant General Counsel for ComEd’s Regulatory Litigation Division. She is the General Secretary for the Cook County Bar Association’s Board of Directors, Chair of the Cook County Bar Association’s Mental Health Committee, and a member of the Board of Directors for Center for Independent Futures.

  • Raymond D. Rushing | Ex-Officio

    President Raymond Rushing is Corporate Counsel of Global Litigation at Cummins Inc. Prior to Cummins, President Rushing spent six (6) years at national and global law firms helping clients solve some of their most complex issues in the areas of product liability, toxic tort, and commercial litigation. Prior to private practice, President Rushing served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Maria Valdez of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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    In 2021, President Rushing was named as a Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and Chicago Lawyer 40 Under Forty Illinois Attorneys to Watch honoree. In 2024, President Rushing was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to the Committee on Character and Fitness. President Rushing is also a fierce advocate for service in the community and lives by the motto "be better and do better." President Rushing also serves on the board of BUILD, one of Chicago’s leading gang intervention, violence prevention, and youth development organizations. A native of Oklahoma, President Rushing received his Bachelor of Arts in African and African American Studies and Master’s in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma. President Rushing received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.

  • Eileen Letts | General Counsel

    Eileen Letts is a premier civil trial attorney, with dozens of jury trials and over 100 bench trials, often. to Fortune 500 companies and iconic government entities. Ms. Letts has won high-stakes trials in a wide variety of subject matter areas. Areas of focus include complex tort and commercial litigations.

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  • Cordelia Brown | Executive Director

    Cordelia Brown serves as the Executive Director for the Cook County Bar Association, which is the oldest association of African American Lawyers and Judges in the Country.  She has served as the head administrator for Bar Associations for past 19 years.  Cordelia is known for her warm smile, thoughtful ability to recall everyone’s name, kind spirit, and generous soul.  Cordelia has helped organize and manage conferences, seminars, and organizations for a variety of law related organizations, including having served as the Administrator for the Illinois Judicial Council Foundation and the Black Women Lawyers’ Association. 

    She was also instrumental in volunteering for a variety of projects for Just the Beginning—A Pipeline Organization.   

     Cordelia is married to her husband of 29 years, Andre Brown and they have 3 children, William, Andre II and DeAndrea, and a seven-year old granddaughter, J’Nyah. She received her degree in Computerized Accounting and Business Administration from the Illinois School of Commerce.