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2024 SEMINAR SPEAKERS


Justice Amy C. Lannerd
Thomas E. McClure
Jeffrey Ruppel
Robert Schaller
Ryan Gammelgard

Anisa Jordan


Justice Amy C. Lannerd
has been serving on the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court since December 2022. Prior to her assignment there, Justice Lannerd was appointed as a Circuit Judge for the Eighth Judicial Circuit of Illinois in April 2016 and later elected to that position in November 2018. She received her B.S. degree in business administration from the University of Arizona and her J.D. from the University of Denver. After graduating from law school, she began her legal career as a general practitioner in Quincy, Illinois. Justice Lannerd has been a presenter multiple times at Ed Con, the mandatory biennial judicial education program for all Illinois judges and has also presented at various Illinois Bar Association continuing legal education courses.


Thomas E. McClure is the Director of Legal Studies and a Professor at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. He has been a full-time faculty member at ISU since 2007. Prior to entering academia, he was a judicial law clerk for the Illinois Appellate Court and practiced law as a principal at Elliott & McClure, P.C. for 26 years. He teaches courses in legal studies and constitutional law and is the co-author of Fundamentals of Criminal Practice for Paralegals. Mr. McClure has written book chapters and journal articles on a wide array of legal topics. He recently completed his third term as the Chair of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Paralegals. He also served a three-year term as the Chair of the ABA Approval Commission for Paralegal Education Programs.


Jeffrey Ruppel leads Caterpillar’s Digital, IT, Data, and eCommerce Global Legal team. He received an Engineering degree, Law degree and his MBA from the University of Illinois. Prior to his current position, he worked as an engineer and practiced law in the areas of patents, compliance, and agreements. He grew up on a farm in southern Illinois and currently lives in Washington, Illinois, with his wife and 4 wonderful children.  In his spare time, Mr. Ruppel mountain bikes, hikes, and continues to be active on the farm.


Robert Schaller practices in the areas of bankruptcy and tax law. He provides IRS tax relief to consumers struggling with back-taxes, particularly with the IRS programs: Innocent Spouse Tax Relief and Offer in Compromise. He earned his J.D. from DePaul University and his CPA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a Registered CPA (Illinois). He earned the OIC Scholar certificate from the National Offer in Compromise Academy. Mr. Schaller has published numerous books and articles on IRS tax law, bankruptcy, and legal marketing. He has written numerous online training courses on bankruptcy and tax law. He lives in Hinsdale, Illinois.

 


Ryan Gammelgard
is an Associate General Counsel for State Farm and leads the Law Department HR/Agency Counseling and Litigation Section, which specializes in labor and employment law issues and independent contractor agent matters.  Prior to serving in the HR/Agency Section, he was part of the Law Department Public Policy Resource Group developing and analyzing the company's public policy positions and various legislative endeavors, including those related to such innovation-related issues as automated vehicles, drones, blockchain, and advanced analytics. He also worked at Livingston, Barger, Brandt, and Schroeder and the Office of the General Counsel for the Illinois Farm Bureau and affiliated companies. He is a graduate of Eastern Illinois University and the University of Illinois College of Law. Mr. Gammelgard is active in the community with many organizations and pro bono work. He is a past president of the McLean County Bar Association. He and his wife have two sons and a dog, Chewie. 


Anisa Jordan is the Ethics Education Counsel for the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC). Ms. Jordan is a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she earned a degree in Political Science with a specialization in International Affairs and a minor in Spanish. She received her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, Illinois, and was admitted to practice law in Illinois in 2009. She began her legal career as an Assistant State Attorney with the Cook County State Attorney's Office. Ms. Jordan ran The Jordan Law Firm, specializing in criminal defense, from 2015 to 2023. An active member of the Illinois State Bar Association, she was recently appointed Vice Chair of the Criminal Justice Section. This position allows her to contribute to the advancement of criminal justice initiatives and to support the professional development of fellow attorneys.