Michael Forde

Michael Forde joins Cornerstone with 13 years of experience at Mayer Brown LLP, where he represented clients before state and local governments and in the courts, and served as co-chair of the firm's Commercial Litigation practice. Prior to joining Mayer Brown, Michael served as General Counsel to the Illinois Office of the Comptroller where he was the chief legal officerto then-Comptroller Daniel W. Hynes. He has also served as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Charles P. Kocoras and to Illinois Supreme Court Justice Mary Ann McMorrow. Michael has represented a variety of clients over the years. Most recently, he acted as trial counsel for then-candidate Rahm Emanuel in the residency litigation challenging his qualifications to run for Mayor of Chicago. Michael also played a broader advisory role with the Emanuel campaign on legal and policy issues, a role he continued with Mayor-elect Emanuel's transition teamon a broad range of other issues. Michael currently serves as Chairman of the Illinois International Port District Board, which owns and operates the Port of Chicago. He was appointed to that position by Mayor Emanuel with the consent of Governor Pat Quinn. Previously, he has advised many successful campaigns, including races for the Supreme Court of Illinois and legislative races at every level. Michael has a B.A. from Georgetown University (1993), a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center (1996), and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business (1998). Since 2008, he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago. He is also a member of the Development Committee at St. Ignatius College Prep, and previously served as a member of the Board of Trustees at St. Xavier University.