Standing Up to Intimidation:
Confronting Bullying in the Legal Profession
Tuesday, June 10 | 12 to 1:30 p.m. CDT | Zoom webinar
Presented by the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism
The Commission on Professionalism invites you to attend a free virtual CLE that will explore the experiences and impact of bullying in the legal profession.
Event sponsors
A special thanks to our event sponsors:
Illinois State Bar Association
A list of our event co-sponsors can be found below.
Justice Elizabeth M. Rochford earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Loyola University of Chicago and her Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University School of Law in Chicago. She served as Assistant State’s Attorney (1986-1989), as a solo practitioner, trusts and estates, and real estate (1989-2012), as Commissioner of the Court of Claims (1990- 2012), and as Administrative Law Hearing Officer for municipalities including Lincolnwood, Skokie, Morton Grove, and Glenview (2005-2012).
Justice Rochford was appointed as Associate Judge of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Lake County (Waukegan) in December 2012, and was assigned to hear criminal matters, family law matters and in probate presiding over decedent’s estates and guardianships of minors and disabled adults. In response to the Supreme Court’s mandate on Access to Justice, Judge Rochford took the lead on developing and initially presiding over a courtroom dedicated to Self-Represented Litigants (SRLs) in family law. Justice Rochford was elected to the Illinois Supreme Court from the Second Judicial District in 2022.
Her Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) activities include serving on the Board of Governors (2013-2022), a member of numerous ISBA committees and section councils, including Women and the Law, Bench and Bar, Trusts and Estates, and Mental Health. She also served on the Task Force on Lawyers Feeding Illinois and was Chair of the LFI kick-off at the 2012 Mid-Year Meeting.
Her Lake County Bar Association leadership positions include President (2010-2011), chair of the Community Outreach Committee, chair of the Trusts and Estates Committee (2005- 2008), and chair of the Real Estate Committee (2005-2007). She also served as the President of the Illinois Judges Foundation from 2015-2016 and is currently the Secretary of the Illinois Judges Association.
Justice Rochford is a former co-editor of, and regular contributor to, the IJA’s publication, “The Gavel” and serves as co-chair of the “Paging It Forward” literacy initiative. Her volunteer activities include: the United Way reading program, the IJF Literacy Initiative, the LCBA Guardianship Help Desk, Volunteer Mediator, the Loan Modification Assistance Program, Habitat for Humanity, Volunteer Estate Planners, The People’s Law School, Lawyers in the Classroom, 100 Club Board of Directors, Leader Council for Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, and the Spirit of 67 Board of Directors. She also served as an Adjunct Professor of English for the City Colleges of Chicago.
Justice Rochford’s honors include the Joyce Fitzgerald Award from A Safe Place (2022), the Democratic Women of Lake County RBG Award (2021), the ISBA Woman of Influence Award (2020), the IJA Presidential Service Award (2020), the Lake County Bar Association “Access to Justice Award” (2019), the Lake County Women’s Coalition “Woman of Vision Award” (2019), the 19th Judicial Circuit Liberty Bell Award, on behalf of the LCBA Guardianship Help Desk (2012), the Outstanding Diversity Leader Award, Diversity Scholarship Foundation (2011), the Lake County Bar Association Leadership Service Award (2011), and the Extra Mile Award, NHS (2010).
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 build confidence in the justice system.
Before joining the Commission, 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., representing businesses in commercial disputes and advising religious institutions on First Amendment issues.
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, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and as a Chancellor’s Scholar.
Erika previously served on the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Equality, and on the board of Prison Fellowship, a national faith-based nonprofit that serves the incarcerated and advocates for criminal justice reform. Erika is a member of the teaching faculty for Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop.
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.
In 2025, Governor J.B. Pritzker appointed Erika Harold as a General Trustee of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois, charged with selecting Laureates for the state of Illinois.
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 Bullying in the Legal Profession initiative, which includes the publication of a report on what is believed to be one of the first wide-scale research projects in the U.S. on this topic.
John Kim serves as Associate General Counsel at Edward Jones where he counsels on labor and employment matters. Previously, John worked as in-house counsel at State Farm, and was in private practice in Central Illinois. He received his J.D. from the American University’s Washington College of Law and a B.A. from Wheaton College (IL). Before attending law school, John worked as a refugee and asylee caseworker in Nairobi, Kenya, and for a faith-based organization in Washington, D.C.
John is active in legal organizations at the national, state, and local levels. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Law Foundation. He also serves on the state-wide boards of legal services providers Prairie State Legal Services and the Immigration Project. As a member of the McLean County Bar Association, he serves on the Underwood Committee on Professionalism. In his community, John is a long-time volunteer at the only free and charitable clinic in McLean County, the Community Health Care Clinic. Also, he serves on the board of the Children’s Discovery Museum Foundation.
John joined the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism in 2019. He was appointed Vice-Chair in 2022 and Chair in 2024.
Roberta (“Bobbi”) Liebenberg is a senior partner at Fine, Kaplan and Black in Philadelphia and also a principal in The Red Bee Group, a women-owned consulting group that helps businesses, organizations, and law firms achieve their goals and uses data-based strategies with diverse and innovative solutions.
She focuses her practice on antitrust, class actions, and complex commercial litigation. She has written and spoken extensively about many issues of importance to women lawyers, including co-authoring groundbreaking reports about bullying in the legal profession (“Bullying in the Legal Profession: A Study of Illinois Lawyers’ Experiences and Recommendations for Change”); the effect of motherhood on the careers of women lawyers (“Legal Careers of Parents and Child Caregivers-Results and Best Practices from a National Study of the Legal Profession”); the attrition of experienced women lawyers from the profession (“Walking Out the Door-The Facts, Figures and Future of Experienced Women Lawyers in Private Practice”); the underrepresentation of women as lead counsel in lawsuits (“First Chairs at Trial-More Women Need Seats at the Table”); and the effect of the pandemic on women lawyers (“Practicing Law in the Pandemic and Moving Forward-The Results and Best Practices from a Nationwide Survey of the Legal Profession”). She has also served as Chair of numerous organizations devoted to gender equality in the profession, including the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, the ABA Gender Equity Task Force, the ABA Presidential Initiative on Achieving Long Term Careers for Women in Law, DirectWomen (the only organization devoted to increasing the number of women attorneys on corporate boards), the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations’ respective committees on women in the profession, and the Pennsylvania Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Fairness.
She was recently named by Forbes Magazine as one of “America’s Top 200 Lawyers,” and the National Law Journal named her as one of the “50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America.” She is a recipient of The American Lawyer’s Lifetime Achievement Award; was inducted into the American Antitrust Institute Private Enforcement Hall of Fame and the ABA Antitrust Law Section’s “Hall of Fame-inism;” and received the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award from the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession; the Judge Learned Hand Award from the American Jewish Committee; the Lynette Norton Award from the Pennsylvania Bar Association; the Sandra Day O’Connor Award and Sonia Sotomayor Diversity Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association; the Florence K. Murray Award from the National Association of Women Judges; the Hortense Ward Courageous Leader Award from the Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas School of Law; the Martha Fay Africa Golden Hammer Award from the ABA’s Law Practice Division; and Lifetime Achievement Awards from Corporate Counsel and Inside Counsel, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Legal Intelligencer. She was named by former Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell as a “Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania.” The National Law Journal named her as one of the “Elite Women of the Plaintiffs’ Bar;” Law360 named her as one of the “Titans of the Plaintiffs’ Bar;” and Business Today listed her as one of the “Top Ten Influential Antitrust Plaintiffs’ Attorneys.”
Kenneth A. Matuszewski is a registered patent attorney with a background across a broad range of areas, including life sciences, software, electrical, and mechanical technologies. His practice focuses on complex and high-value intellectual property litigation in various federal courts and before the US. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Kenneth leverages his experience working with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to early-stage startups in order to obtain favorable outcomes during litigation. He also counsels clients on settlement negotiations, case preparation, and litigation strategy. Representative technologies he has worked on include gaming technologies, cancer and opioid addiction treatments, Voice over Internet protocols (“VoIP”), blockchain, medical devices, microphones, drones, gene therapies, pollution control technologies, and power tools.
During law school, Kenneth externed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trials and Appeals Board, where he managed several dockets and drafted opinions. Prior to joining Rozier Hardt McDonough, Kenneth worked in intellectual property litigation and patent prosecution at boutique intellectual property and general practice firms throughout Chicago.
Trisha Rich is a Partner and Chair of the Legal Profession Team in the Chicago office of Holland & Knight LLP, where she practices litigation, legal ethics, and professional responsibility law.
In her legal ethics practice, Ms. Rich advises lawyers, law firms, legal technology companies, and in-house legal counsel on a wide variety of legal ethics and professional responsibility issues, including matters pertaining to confidentiality, conflicts, privilege, fee disputes, lawyer mobility issues, and others. She also works as an expert witness in the area of legal ethics and professional responsibility law.
In her litigation practice, she handles primarily complex commercial litigation. She is a member of the Trial Bar for the Northern District of Illinois and has argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Ms. Rich is the author of more than 60 published works and an adjunct professor of legal ethics at New York University School of Law. She is a frequent speaker and educator on a variety of professional responsibility and legal ethics issues. Ms. Rich founded and coordinates the Attorney Defense Initiative, the first privately sponsored pro bono program in the nation that focuses on assisting impaired lawyers facing disciplinary charges.
Ms. Rich received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Western Michigan University, and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. Ms. Rich is a former philosophy lecturer and has taught practical and theoretical ethics at two universities.
Ms. Rich is a member of the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee, Chicago Inn of Court, Lawyers Club of Chicago, and the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility. She is also the Immediate Past President of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers. Finally, she is a proud member of the Chicago Bar Association, where she currently serves as Secretary of the organization.
Ms. Rich has received numerous awards for her pro bono and charitable work, including the Northern District of Illinois Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service, the Chicago Bar Association’s David C. Hilliard Award for Outstanding Committee Service, the Chicago Bar Association’s Milton H. Gray Award for Outstanding Project Leadership, and the Chicago Bar Foundation’s Maurice Weigle Exceptional Young Lawyer Award. She was a recipient of Crain’s Chicago Business’ 2018 40 Under 40, Law Bulletin Media’s 2017 40 Under Forty, Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Litigators and Trial Attorneys, has been twice named to Crain’s Chicago’s Notable Women Lawyers list (2018, 2020), and was in the 2021 class of Leadership Greater Chicago. She is a National Institute of Trial Advocacy Master Advocate and was named in the 2021 edition of Law Bulletin Media’s Chicago’s Notable Women Lawyers.
Ms. Rich has served on the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism since 2017.
Dorothy Suskind is a writer, researcher, and Associate Professor in the Education and Counseling Department at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. In addition, she is the Director of Longwood’s Southside Virginia Writing Project, part of the National Writing Project. Dorothy earned her B.A. and M.Ed. from Virginia Commonwealth University and her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. Dorothy researches and writes on a variety of topics, including workplace bullying, work cultures, education, creativity, and women in the workplace. Dorothy’s latest book, Workplace Bullying: Finding Your Way to Big Tent Belonging, documents the stories of over 200 survivors of workplace abuse across 35 states, 10 countries, and 36 industries. Dorothy is on the Executive Board of the National Workplace Bullying Coalition, where she serves as their Education Director, and on the National Council of Teachers of English’s Literacies and Languages for All board.
Hon. Sonni Choi Williams was appointed as a Circuit Judge in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, Third Subcircuit, effective February 10, 2025.
Previously, Judge Williams was the city attorney for the City of Lockport, Ill., and deputy corporation counsel for the City of Peoria, Ill., where she worked for the City’s Legal Department for more than 17 years, starting as the assistant corporation counsel.
Judge Williams made history as the first woman of color, first person of Asian American heritage, first person of Korean heritage, and the sixth woman president of the Illinois State Bar Association. She served as the ISBA’s 148th president, recently completing her term.
Judge Williams’ other professional affiliations include the Will County Bar Association, the Will County Women’s Bar Association, and the Will County Black Lawyers Association. She is a board member of the Korean American Bar Association of Chicago and an honorary board member of the Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago.
She served as Hearing Chair for the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, and a Commissioner of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism and the Illinois Supreme Court Special Committee on Professionalism.
Judge Williams has also been recognized for her outstanding contributions to the legal community. She received the 2025 Advocate for Diversity Award, 2014-2015 ISBA Diversity Leadership Award, 2010 ISBA Board of Governors Award, and 2008 Illinois Institute of Local Government Law Annual Achievement Award.
Bullying compounds itself. After being bullied, you begin to worry. Then, you have trouble sleeping. You come to work but you aren’t working at your full capacity. — Black female lawyer in a law firm