Celebrating WBAI Member 2025-2026 Awards & Honors
The Women’s Bar Association of Illinois is proud to recognize the extraordinary accomplishments, leadership, and contributions of our members throughout the 2025-2026 bar year. Our membership continues to shape the legal profession through advocacy, scholarship, service, mentorship, and professional excellence across countless areas of law and leadership.
This year, the WBAI launched a new initiative dedicated to celebrating the achievements of our members through a permanent Awards & Honors section on the WBAI website, social media recognition, and this annual Spring Newsletter feature. We are honored to highlight the many accomplishments submitted by our members and congratulate each of them on their well-deserved recognition.
Member Awards, Honors, Publications, and Professional Achievements
Helen Bloch, President of the Law Offices of Helen Bloch, P.C., served as a mock trial judge at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law on May 27, 2026, where freshman pre-law students from four participating Chicago Public Schools high schools demonstrated their advocacy skills through opening statements, witness examinations, and closing arguments.
Michelle DiSilvestro, Attorney at Romanucci & Blandin, was recognized as an Emerging Lawyer by Leading Lawyers, named One to Watch by Best Lawyers, and selected as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers.
Michelle also contributed her expertise through several professional and leadership roles, including:
- Panelist for Impact Litigation at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law
- Presenter for Environmental and Toxic Section Presents: Ethylene Oxide during an AAJ Lunch and Learn
- Executive Committee Member of the Justinian Society of Lawyers
- Co-Chair of the Young Lawyers Division of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
Jaci Fortini, Attorney at Hale Law, LLC, published the article “The Challenge of Navigating Governmental Immunities When Representing Vulnerable Clients” in the Summer 2026 issue of the ITLA Trial Journal Magazine.
Lori Levin, Attorney at Lori G. Levin, Attorney at Law, was named a 2026 Illinois Super Lawyer, recognized among the Top 50 Women Illinois Super Lawyers for 2026, and also named a 2026 Illinois Leading Lawyer.
Colleen Mixan Mikaitis recently launched her own law firm, Mixan Mahony, LLC, alongside partner Mackenzie Mahony. The firm handles a broad range of personal injury matters, including wrongful death, medical negligence, nursing home negligence, sexual abuse, motor vehicle collisions, and other catastrophic injury cases.
Sarah Raisch, Partner at Romanucci & Blandin, received recognition as a Leading Lawyer and Best Lawyer and was recognized among the Top 50 Verdicts in Illinois. She was also named to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin 40 Under Forty.
Sarah additionally served as:
- Co-Presenter for Representing Clients Injured by ICE and CBP at the Lake County Bar Association 2026 Civil Trial & Appeals Seminar
- Panelist for the 2026 Journal for Social Justice Symposium: Defending the Rule of Law at DePaul University College of Law
- Presenter for Personal Injury and Civil Rights at Lake Forest College’s Legal Studies Program
- Presenter for Civil Remedies for Sexual Abuse Survivors at the Lake County Bar Association Criminal Law Committee Conference in Nashville, Tennessee
- Member of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois Board of Directors
- Member of the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission
- Board Member of the Lake County Bar Association
Jennifer A. Sawicz, Law Student and Legal Extern at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, had her note, “Thus Conscience Does Make Cowards of Us All: How a Duress Exception to the Persecutor Bar Should Function in Modern Asylum Law,” published in Volume 39, Issue 3 of the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal. Her work also received an Honorable Mention for the Mother Cabrini Foundation Prize for Immigration Law Scholarship.
Tracey L. Schroeder, President & CEO of Schroeder Communications, was recognized by the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts (AIVA) when Schroeder Communications’ website received an Award of Distinction in the B2B category at the 32nd Annual Communicator Awards.
Ashley Stead, Attorney at McGann, Ketterman & Rioux, served as a panelist for The State of Women’s Rights in Illinois hosted by the Chicago Bar Association on April 27, 2026.
Jill M. Webb, Founding Partner of the Law Office of Jill M. Webb LLC, was elected President of The Society of Trial Lawyers in September 2025. She also became the host of ABOTA Speaks, the podcast of the American Board of Trial Advocates, in August 2025. In September 2025, she was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and later received a Service Award from ABOTA in January 2026 recognizing two years of service as National Secretary.
Sandra Yamate, CEO of the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession, was sworn in as the 99th President of the National Association of Women Lawyers, becoming the first Asian American to hold the position.
The WBAI is honored to celebrate these accomplishments and the many ways our members continue to lead, advocate, mentor, publish, educate, and strengthen the legal profession. Congratulations to all of our recognized members for their outstanding achievements and continued dedication to excellence.