James Madigan

Jim Madigan served as Interim Executive Director of Equality Illinois, the state’s political and public education organization focused on securing the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender (LGBT) people.  Mr. Madigan was an attorney at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of LGBT people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.  

Mr. Madigan co-wrote for state legislators the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act, now pending in the Illinois General Assembly.  He represented Fair Illinois, the grassroots organization that stopped an attempted statewide anti-gay ballot initiative.  

Mr. Madigan graduated summa cum laude from Case Western Reserve University in 1997.  He graduated with honors from the Law School in 2000.  As a law student, Mr. Madigan was a member of the University of Chicago Law School Roundtable, Chairman of the Hinton Moot Court Board, and recipient of the Ann Barber award for contribution to life at the Law School and the Thomas R. Mulroy prize for excellence in appellate advocacy.  

From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Madigan taught legal research and writing and a seminar on the law of domestic abuse at the Law School as Harry Bigelow Teaching Fellow.  From 2002 to 2005, he was an associate in the law firm of Goldberg Kohn in Chicago, Illinois.  There he worked on class action defense, corporate bankruptcy-related litigation, and pro bono prison litigation.

Mr. Madigan's published works include "Questioning the Coercive Effect of Self-Identifying Speech," 87 Iowa Law Review 75 (2001), and "The Idea of Public Reason Resuscitated," 10 William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 719 (2002).