“Big Law” Panel with UIC Alumni

Join us on Zoom for a panel discussion on working in "Big Law". Two UIC undergraduate alums and current attorneys, Binjal Chaudhari and Valentina Zivak ,will share their law school/legal career stories and answer your questions.

Binjal Chaudhari is a corporate lawyer who represents public and private companies on a range of transactional matters. She joined WilmerHale in 2023. WilmerHale is a leading international law firm with more than 1,100 lawyers located throughout 13 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. During law school, Ms. Chaudhari interned in the International and Commercial Law Group at VMWare, where she reviewed a range of agreements related to technology transactions, partnerships and confidentiality. She served as a legal extern for both AT&T’s Commercial Litigation Group and the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. Ms. Chaudhari also gained experience as a Hearings Unit intern for Administrative Judge Shayla Sipp at the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Atlanta, Georgia.

EDUCATION

• JD, Emory University School of Law, 2023
• BA, Political Science, University of Illinois, Chicago, 2019

Valentina Zivak is an associate at Morgan Lewis. Morgan Lewis has more than 2,200 lawyers and legal professionals who provide comprehensive corporate, transactional, litigation, and regulatory services in major industries, including energy, financial services, healthcare, life sciences, retail and ecommerce, sports, technology, and transportation. Valentina advises a diverse range of clients, including issuers, underwriters, borrowers, and lenders, in connection with a variety of structured transactions. She focuses her practice primarily on securitizations and structured finance, representing clients engaged in public and private offerings of debt and equity securities secured by auto loans and leases, consumer loans, mortgage loans, trade receivables, and various other assets and payment streams.

EDUCATION

• Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, 2023, J.D.
• University of Illinois – Chicago, 2019, A., criminology, law, and justice, summa cum laude