Adjunct Faculty at UIC Law
Introduction
Meet the industry experts who dedicate their time to providing hands-on knowledge and training to our students.
Aryn Evans - Executive Director, Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission
Aryn Evans (she/they) is an attorney with 13+ years of experience, and an intentional leader with a passion for human rights. With a career dedicated to education and service, she enjoys teaching law students and other professionals how to be more effective lawyers, communicators, and community leaders.
Aryn has served as Executive Director of the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission (“TIRC”) since 2023. TIRC is a state agency that investigates torture claims—specifically, claims that a person was tortured into confessing to a crime. Aryn first joined TIRC in 2020 as a Supervising Attorney/Pro Bono Liaison, overseeing the investigation of more than 100 torture claims for the Commission.
Before her work as a human rights attorney, Aryn practiced litigation as an Associate at Sidley Austin LLP for six years. Aryn earned a J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan. She is also a certified yoga and mindfulness teacher, artist, and the host of Love Space Podcast.
Isaac Pflaum - Senior Director of Software Litigation, Quandry Peak Research
Isaac Pflaum leads teams of technical experts in high-stakes legal disputes. He provides expert analysis and testimony on a wide range of software technologies, translating complex technical issues into clear, strategic insights that support litigation objectives. With experience in over 50 major cases across federal, state, and international jurisdictions, Isaac has contributed expert reports and delivered testimony in matters involving patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, copyright disputes, and failed software implementations.
Isaac’s technical expertise spans the full landscape of modern software systems—from enterprise software and cloud-based SaaS platforms to embedded systems and cutting-edge FinTech applications. He is known for his ability to rapidly master new and emerging technologies, whether analyzing legacy COBOL systems, evaluating machine learning models, or reverse-engineering proprietary embedded firmware. His adaptability and fluency across technical domains have proven invaluable in complex litigation involving fast-evolving technology.
His investigative approach combines meticulous source code analysis with a broader evaluation of software architecture, development practices, and industry standards. Isaac has led reviews involving millions of lines of code across languages such as C/C++, Java, Python, JavaScript, and specialized languages like TEAL and VHDL. His findings uncover critical issues—such as design defects, evidence of infringement, or compliance failures—and are consistently prepared to withstand the rigors of deposition and trial.
Isaac brings a rare dual perspective as both a licensed attorney and a registered patent agent, enabling him to bridge technical expertise with legal strategy. With over 20 years of daily hands-on programming experience, he connects technical analysis with broader legal outcomes, helping clients—ranging from global technology firms to financial institutions and government agencies—advance strong, defensible positions in complex software disputes.
Kenneth Suh - Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Attorney
Ken Suh has extensive experience advising clients on intellectual property and privacy strategy, compliance, and litigation issues relating to emerging technologies including cellular, radiation oncology, hybrid and electric vehicle, and artificial intelligence technologies.
Ken has significant trial, administrative hearing, and regulatory enforcement experience before Federal District Courts, state courts, and federal and state agencies throughout the country, and has served as lead counsel on hundreds of matters.
Ken has earned the trust of clients with his effective, practical, and business focused advice, and his ability to assist clients navigate legal and business risks associated with emerging technologies and unsettled areas of law, and is often interviewed by media outlets such as Law360 and Bloomberg Law for his insights on these topics.
In addition to his legal practice, Ken is an adjunct professor at the UIC Law School and the University of Illinois College of Law, where he teaches Artificial Intelligence: Law and Policy. He is also an Affiliate Faculty with the Science and Technology Working Group with the Institute for Government and Public Affairs.
Nicolette Sonntag - Senior Managing Legal Editor at Practical Law, a Thomson Reuters Entity
Nicolette L. Sonntag is an attorney with over 27 years of experience in commercial real estate law. She is an Adjunct Law Professor at UIC Law teaching Real Estate Transactions. Her goal for her students is to provide them with a solid foundation in commercial and residential real estate so they know not only the law but the fundamental documents and procedures needed to close real estate transactions.
Nicolette is a Senior Managing Legal Editor at Practical Law, a Thomson Reuters entity, where she manages a team of commercial real estate attorneys across the country. She is responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing Illinois and national real estate content, including practice notes, standard documents, and current legal developments across various real estate practice areas such as commercial acquisitions, commercial finance, due diligence, commercial and residential leasing and compliance, and foreclosures. She was recently recognized as an Outstanding Legal Pro Bono Champion by Thomson Reuters in 2025 for her significant pro bono work.
Prior to her work at Practical Law, Nicolette was a Partner in the Commercial Real Estate Department at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP in Chicago, specializing in negotiating, documenting, and closing complex commercial transactions for the acquisition, construction, purchase, sale, and financing of commercial facilities for a diverse client base. She also served as Senior In-House Counsel and Ethics Officer at the Illinois Housing Development Authority, leading complex affordable housing real estate transactions and advising on corporate and regulatory compliance.
Her earlier career involved positions as an Associate at Goldberg, Kohn, Bell, Black, Rosenbloom & Mortiz, Ltd. and at Warner, Norcross & Judd LLP, where she honed her skills in real estate loan transactions and due diligence. She also started working in law as a commercial real estate paralegal at Kirkland & Ellis and at Warner, Norcross & Judd LLP before becoming an attorney.
Nicolette earned her Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law, receiving the CALI Award in Real Estate Transactions, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in English, summa cum laude, from DePaul University. She is admitted to the Illinois Bar and is actively involved in the Illinois State Bar Association as an appointed member of the Real Estate Law Section Council, as co-editor of the monthly newsletter for the Real Estate Law Section Council, and as the current Chair of the Cannabis Law Council.
Jessica Inouye - Federal Administrative Law Judge
Judge Jessica Inouye started her career with the Colorado Public Defender’s Office where she defended those accused of homicides and other serious felonies. She first chaired jury and bench trials and appealed matters to the Colorado Supreme Court and the Colorado Court of Appeals. Drawing on her expertise and experience as a trial attorney, Judge Inouye wrote and published an article titled: An Uphill Battle: C.R.E. 404(b) Evidence and Nearly Unlimited Admissibility.
She then joined the legal team of Colorado’s largest labor union, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union – Local 7. In addition to her role in contract negotiations, she represented union members in arbitration proceedings and the local in labor, employment, and other administrative hearings.
After just one year with the Social Security Administration, she was appointed to become one of the youngest SSA Administrative Law Judges ever. In this role, Judge Inouye has presided over thousands of evidentiary hearings involving social security benefit appeals. Since her appointment, Judge Inouye trained new administrative law judges as well as conducted specialized training programs for her experienced colleagues.
She is also an executive board member for the Federal Administrative Law Judges Conference (FALJC), where she is on the planning committee for their 2025 education conference in Chicago.
Judge Inouye received her law degree from the University of Denver, and her undergraduate degrees in History and English from the University of Buffalo. She is a licensed attorney in both Colorado and Illinois.
Regina Mescall - Cook County Circuit Court Judge
Judge Regina Mescall began her legal career in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as an Assistant District Attorney, specializing in prosecuting sex crimes against children. After passing the Illinoi bar in 2007, she became an Assistant State’s Attorney, achieving the rank of 1st Chair Felony Trial Litigator, and as a prosecutor has tried 87 criminal jury trials and 15 misdemeanor jury trials
Elected as a Circuit Court Judge in 2020, she received highly qualified ratings from the Chicago Bar Association and Illinois State Bar Association. For the past five years, she has served in the First Municipal District, with over four years assigned to a Civil Jury Room. She frequently substitutes in misdemeanor and felony courts and has presided over approximately 50 jury trials. As of July 2025, they have been transferred to the Domestic Relations Division in the Bridgeview Court house
As an Adjunct Professor Judge at UIC Law School, she teaches trial advocacy, and runs the 8th-grade mock trial program at Christ the King School in Chicago.
She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Miami, where she was a Division I scholarship athlete and co-captain of the women’s track team, competing in the Heptathlon and Pole Vault. She later earned her law degree from The John Marshall Law School. She is a proud graduate of the SCALES program (1999), which was formerly called “The Conditional Program.”
Tirrell J. Paxton - Independent Inspector General
Tirrell J. Paxton was appointed to serve as the Independent Inspector General for the Office of the Independent Inspector General of Cook County in June 2024.
Prior to his confirmation as Inspector General, Paxton served as Deputy Inspector General of the Compliance & Program Review Division of the OIIG from January 2010 until June 2024. Paxton’s duties involved planning and conducting government investigations, program reviews, surveys, and regulatory compliance projects.
Before joining the OIIG, Paxton held positions as an auditor and senior fraud investigator at Ernst & Young LLP where he performed audits, compliance reviews, internal investigations and financial and economic loss assessments for private industry. Paxton also held positions at DLA Piper Rudnick as an associate attorney concentrating in bankruptcy law.
Prior to joining DLA, Paxton served as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Judge Ronald Barliant of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Paxton graduated from Jackson State University with an accounting degree and received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. Paxton is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).