Madigan names new solicitor general

[January 16, 2014]  CHICAGO — Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced this week that she has appointed Carolyn Shapiro to serve as the new solicitor general in the attorney general's office. Shapiro will succeed Michael Scodro, who will join the Chicago office of Jenner & Block as a partner in the firm's appellate and supreme court practice.

"I am very pleased to announce Carolyn Shapiro as our new solicitor general," Madigan said. "Carolyn brings a tremendous depth of knowledge of the law and exceptional experience as a U.S. Supreme Court and 7th Circuit Court of Appeals law clerk. The people of the state of Illinois will benefit from her expertise."

Shapiro joins Madigan's office from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, where she has served as associate professor of law. Shapiro was the founding director of Chicago-Kent's Institute on the Supreme Court of the United States. Prior to becoming a law professor, Shapiro was an associate at Miner, Barnhill & Galland in civil rights practice, and she was a Skadden Fellow with the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law.

After receiving her law degree from the University of Chicago Law School, Shapiro clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer and Judge Richard A. Posner of the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. She earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Chicago and a master's degree at the university's Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies.

As solicitor general, Shapiro will oversee more than 40 attorneys in Madigan's Appellate Division who work on behalf of the state, its officers and agencies. The solicitor general oversees attorneys' work in the U.S. Supreme Court, Illinois Supreme Court, and the federal and state appellate courts. The solicitor general also serves as a legal adviser to the attorney general.

[Text from file received from the office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan]