Northwestern Pritzker Law Appoints New Law Board and Executive Committee Members

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law is pleased to announce the appointment of three new Law Board members and three new members of the Board’s Executive Committee. The Law Board is dedicated to advancing Northwestern Pritzker Law and supporting its students. The Board serves in an advisory capacity to help shape strategy and acts as an advocate for the Law School in the legal profession, business community, and general public.

“Congratulations and welcome to new members of our Law Board and its Executive Committee,” said Dean Zach Clopton. “They have established themselves as leaders in their fields and given so much back to our students and community. I am especially grateful to our Executive Committee members for their leadership and continued service to our Law Board. I look forward to working with them to support the Law School’s agenda over the coming academic year.”

To learn more about the new Law Board and Executive Committee members, read their profiles below.

New Executive Committee members:

Jeffrey Knox (JD ’99), former head of the U.S. DOJ Fraud Section, is Co-Managing Partner of Simpson Thacher’s Washington, D.C. office and Global Co-Head of the Firm’s Government and Internal Investigations Practice. Jeff represents multinational corporations and independent board committees in high-stakes criminal and civil investigations by the DOJ, SEC, State Attorneys General, and other federal and state enforcement regulators. Jeff has advised some of the world’s leading companies in the financial services, energy, private equity, artificial intelligence, life sciences and cryptocurrency industries in navigating criminal and civil investigations relating to the federal securities and commodities laws, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering statutes, the False Claims Act, antitrust laws, and economic sanctions and other trade control regulations. Prior to joining the Firm, Jeff served as a federal prosecutor for more than a decade, including as the Chief of the DOJ’s Fraud Section in Washington, D.C., and before then, as the Chief of the National Security Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.  He has twice been profiled in the New York Times for his work as a prosecutor. Jeff is a graduate of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and the University of Arizona.

Terra Reynolds (JD ’02) is Global Vice Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry Team and Global Vice Chair of the firm’s White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice Group. As Vice Chair, Terra guides both industry and practice strategy globally for the firm. She is a nationally recognized lawyer in white collar defense and healthcare enforcement, and regularly advises corporations, boards of directors, and individual executives in high-stakes internal and government investigations and complex litigation matters. She has successfully counseled clients through investigations conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG), and other federal agencies. Prior to joining Latham & Watkins, she served as Deputy Chief and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Terra is presently an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and is a member of the board of directors of Legal Aid Chicago.

Richard Trobman (JD ’91), Chair and Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins, sets the firm’s global strategy and promotes a culture committed to success and exceptional client service. Under his leadership, Latham has pursued bold investments and initiatives that have established the firm’s dominant market position and singular global platform. He has consistently identified macro trends shaping future growth, invested in high-demand areas, and positioned the firm to anticipate and meet clients’ changing needs. Rich’s distinguished career at Latham spans more than three decades. Widely recognized for his stand-out capital markets and M&A practice, Rich has regularly advised prominent clients in complex, innovative transactions. He has also played a pivotal role in expanding the firm’s global presence, while building a market-leading transactional practice. Leading industry publications including IFLR, Legal 500 UK, and Chambers UK have consistently recognized Rich as one of the foremost capital markets lawyers. Private Equity International has described Rich as “the godfather of European high yield,” while Chambers has praised him as “an absolutely excellent lawyer.”

New Law Board members:

Drew L. Beres (JD ’13) is a co-founder and the managing partner of Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres LLC.  Founded in December 2019 with nine lawyers, Croke Fairchild has grown to over 125 lawyers with offices in Chicago and New York City. Drew was an associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP prior to co-founding Croke Fairchild. A corporate attorney, Drew counsels investment funds, financial institutions, highly regulated companies, and early-stage companies through a variety of transactions and matters. In the private investment fund space, Drew has advised on the formation of private equity, venture capital, real estate, credit, and special situations funds ranging in size from $50 million to over $2 billion. In July 2020, Drew was appointed by Governor JB Pritzker as a Board Member of the Illinois Finance Authority and was confirmed by the Illinois Senate. Drew serves as a director on the boards of the Chicago Children’s Museum, Access Living Chicago, and the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL). Drew was named to Crain’s Chicago Business’ “40 Under 40” list in 2022.

Jackie Park (JD ’85) is a real estate attorney with extensive experience in leasing transactions for landlords and for tenants in office, retail and industrial settings. She is a guiding force within DLA Piper, where she is the U.S. Co-Managing Partner and a member of the firm’s governing Executive and Management Committees. Her landlord representations include institutional landlords in office buildings and retail shopping centers, such as The Ratkovich Company, Maguire Partners, The Prudential Insurance Company, Rising Realty Partners, Westport Capital, Rubicon Point Partners and Pacshore Partners. Her tenant clients have included financial institutions, entertainment companies and retail entities, with ongoing representation of The Walt Disney Company, Capitol Records, AECOM and Sphere Entertainment.

Adam Phillips (JD ’88) is the founding partner of Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s Silicon Valley office, a member of the firm’s Private Equity Practice Group, and the leader of its growth equity practice. Adam’s practice is focused on representing leading technology-focused private equity funds and their portfolio companies in a wide variety of matters.  Over the course of his career, Adam has advised on hundreds of transactions, including acquisitions, investments, recapitalizations, divestitures and public offerings, with a concentration in Artificial Intelligence investments over the past several years.  In addition to his tenure at Kirkland, Adam spent 13 years in the corporate sector as both an in-house counsel and a senior M&A executive for a number of leading media and entertainment companies. He serves as an adjunct professor at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where he teaches private equity transactions for the San Francisco Immersion Program.