Nicole Castillo is a partner at Neal & Leroy, LLC. She concentrates her practice in the areas of eminent domain, commercial litigation, real estate transactions, construction disputes and mechanics’ lien litigation. Ms. Castillo represents various governmental agencies in all matters associated with property development including site selection due diligence, property designation, property acquisition, and construction-related disputes. She was counsel to the City of Chicago and Chicago Park District for the Bloomingdale Trail Project: The 606, which dedicated railroad right of way into a public park. Ms. Castillo has also been counsel to numerous property owners in eminent domain matters against the Illinois Department of Transportation. She currently serves as co-chair on the CBA Civil Practice Committee.

Carl A. Gigante is a partner at Figliulo & Silverman, P.C. His legal expertise in the field of eminent domain in the Chicago area spans three decades and eight Illinois counties as well as the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He has been recognized by his peers as one of the leading lawyers in eminent domain in Illinois. His clients include large corporations, small business owners, commercial tenants, public bodies and homeowners. Mr. Gigante also has represented large and small commercial tenants who have lost all or a portion of their leased premises. He has been involved in litigation on the loss or infringement of air rights, sub-surface rights and access rights. Mr. Gigante has lectured and written for the American Business Institute and the American College of Real Estate Appraisers.

Mr. Helfrich has been principal land surveyor with Craig R. Knoche & Associates, P.C. and its successor Koru Group PLLC in the Chicago area for the last 30 years. Mr. Helfrich first picked up a plumb bob in 1971 for Webster & Associates. From tape-and-transit to GPS, mortgage surveys to shopping centers, he has his seal on billions of dollars of commercial, residential and institutional developments and transactions in 23 counties in Illinois together with consulting and managing projects in 15 other states. Mr. Helfrich has enjoyed working with countless prominent developers, attorneys and other professionals in the field and the office. His specialties include real estate law, boundaries and boundary law, easements, rights-of-way and other encumbrances and servitudes, statutory and common-law plats, ALTA surveys, topography, building and site layout, construction- and project-management as well as land development consulting. He has presented classes and co-written manuals with the Illinois Institute For Continuing Legal Education along with classes at the University of Illinois and HalfMoon Education. Mr. Helfrich is a member of the National Society of Professional Surveyors and the Illinois Professional Land Surveyors Association.

Bryan P. Lynch, owner of the Law Office of Bryan P. Lynch, P.C., concentrates his practice on representing owners of commercial, industrial, residential, and agricultural property affected by the power of eminent domain and the condemnation legal process. In his role protecting property owners’ rights, Mr. Lynch routinely opposes state, county and municipal taking agencies, such as IDOT, the Illinois Tollway, CTA, City of Chicago, and Public Building Commission of Chicago. In addition to being a leading Illinois eminent domain attorney, Bryan P. Lynch has presented seminars for organizations such as the Chicago Farmers workshop and National Business Institute and was appointed by several presidents of the Illinois State Bar Association to serve on its Real Estate Section Council. He has been interviewed by the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Business Journal regarding eminent domain and has written articles published in such periodicals as the Chicago Law Bulletin.

Daniel C. Shapiro, founder of Shapiro & Associates Law, has 30 years of experience in the areas of land use, zoning, governmental relations, municipal law, and civil litigation. He has represented a wide variety of clients including: developers, businesses as well as governmental entities and closely advises his clients on complex matters including, securing zoning entitlements before plan commissions, zoning boards, village, towns, and critics. In litigation matters, Mr. Shapiro has also represented his clients at all judicial levels in Illinois and Federal courts. Mr. Shapiro has been a frequent lecturer on issues such as of land use, public/private partnerships, zoning, and local government relations. He is currently the mayor of the Village of Deerfield, Illinois, and was previously a village trustee. He has served as an adjunct professor at Chicago Kent College of Law where he taught land use to 2nd and 3rd year law students.