Settlement Assistance Program 20th Anniversary
The Settlement Assistance Program (SAP) marks its 20th anniversary this year. Through SAP, volunteer attorneys represent unrepresented litigants in settlement proceedings by entering limited-scope appearances. The Settlement Assistance Program Committee of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights invite the bench and bar to celebrate. The chapter is co-sponsoring the celebration with the Northern District of Illinois Court Historical Association and the Seventh Circuit Bar Association.
The program opens at 3:00PM with a CLE titled “Ethical Considerations When Representing a Party for Settlement Purposes Only.” Professor Wendy J. Muchman of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law presents. At 4:00PM, Chief Judge Virginia M. Kendall and Hon. Morton Denlow (Ret.) lead the 20th Anniversary Celebration and Attorney Volunteer Recognition.
Speakers include:
Hon. Virginia M. Kendall, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Hon. Morton Denlow (Ret.), Mediator & Neutral Evaluator at JAMS
Wendy J. Muchman, Professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
J. Cunyon Gordon, Senior Counsel and Director of the Settlement Assistance Program at the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
John P. Moynihan, Assistant United States Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division
The event takes place on Thursday, November 5, 2026, at 3:00PM It will be held in the Ceremonial Courtroom on the 25th floor of the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, 219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago. One hour of Ethics CLE credit is available (pending approval). A reception with light refreshments follows outside the Ceremonial Courtroom. The event is free and open to FBA members and non-members. Attendees must show a photo ID to enter the courthouse.
Meet Our Settlement Assistance Program Speakers
Hon. Virginia M. Kendall
Chief Judge
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of IL
Judge Kendall is Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States. She was appointed to the federal bench in 2006. Before that, she was a federal prosecutor for more than 10 years and tried dozens of jury trials.
Judge Kendall teaches human trafficking law at the University of Chicago, Northwestern, and Loyola law schools, and holds leadership roles in the Federal Bar Association. She earned her B.A. and M.A. from Northwestern University and her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Hon. Morton Denlow (Ret.)
Mediator & Neutral Evaluator
JAMS
Hon. Morton Denlow (Ret.) joined JAMS in 2012 following 16 1/2 years of distinguished service as a magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Judge Denlow is known as a creative problem-solver who will not rest until a case is settled. During his first 13 years at JAMS, he achieved settlements totaling over $2 billion, including over 340 settlements of $1 million or more.
During his time on the bench, Judge Denlow presided over thousands of civil and criminal matters. He conducted over 2,000 settlement conferences and tried bench and jury trials, including complex commercial, employment, ERISA, intellectual property and civil rights cases.
J. Cunyon Gordon
Senior Counsel & Director of SAP
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
J. Cunyon Gordon is Senior Counsel and Director of the Settlement Assistance Program at the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. She evaluates cases, recruits volunteer attorneys, and represents litigants herself when she can’t find a volunteer match. Before joining the Lawyers’ Committee, she was Of Counsel at Eimer Stahl Klevorn & Solberg LLP, where she was an early SAP volunteer. Earlier, she spent ten years as a civil litigator at Jenner & Block LLP. There, she became the first Black woman to make partner in the firm’s then 75-year history.
Ms. Gordon also served as an attorney with the U.S. Navy JAG. She has taught as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Boston University School of Law and as a Visiting Professor at Seattle University School of Law. For more than 15 years, she served on the boards of Access Living and LAF. She holds a B.A. from Yale College and a J.D. from Yale Law School.
Wendy J. Muchman
Professor
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
Wendy Muchman has primarily taught classes in Professional Responsibility since 2000, including the standard ABA-required course in Legal Ethics. In addition, along with another lecturer, Ms. Muchman developed and currently teaches several innovative ethics courses, including Legal Ethics for the Global Practitioner; Legal Ethics for Business Lawyers; Legal Ethics for the Government and Public Sector Attorney; Ethics in Motion, AI, Technology, and Ethics; and The Law of Whistleblowing.
Teaching Awards: In 2019-2020, she was the recipient of the Robert Childres Award presented annually to the faculty member selected by the student body as the year’s most outstanding teacher. In 2018-2019, she received the award for Outstanding Professors of a Small Class 2018-2019, with Mary Foster.
John P. Moynihan
Assistant United States Attorney
U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division
John P. Moynihan is an Assistant United States Attorney in the Civil Division. Before that, he served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, handling criminal appeals. He was in private practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Buckley LLP, and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. He also clerked for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Mr. Moynihan taught legal writing as an adjunct professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. He also sits on the FBA Chicago Chapter committee working to secure CLE credit for SAP volunteer attorneys. He holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and a B.A. in Classics from Washington University in St. Louis.
Join us on Thursday, November 5th!
Join the bench and bar on November 5 to celebrate 20 years of the Settlement Assistance Program and the volunteer attorneys who make it work. The program includes one hour of Ethics CLE credit (pending approval), followed by an anniversary celebration and reception at the Dirksen Courthouse.
The event is free and open to FBA members and non-members. Please RSVP by Friday, October 30th, to reserve your place.