Amy M. Gardner, JD, CPC, ELI-MP Amy brings to Apochromatik a unique track record of working with law students as dean of students at a top 5 law school and a successful career practicing law, first as a Skadden litigation associate and later as an associate and then partner at a mid-size Chicago firm.  In addition to countless hours completing stand-alone coaching trainings, she is a graduate of the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching. Until March, 2016, Amy was the Dean of Students at the University of Chicago Law School.  Through her work as a dean of students, Amy developed an expertise in understanding the unique needs of law students and in tailoring professional education and development opportunities to their needs.   Her work as a dean of students was described as “transformative” and “visionary.”  In addition to counseling and advising law students on a variety of issues, she drew on her legal experience to revolutionize the way the Law School prepared students for legal practice.  These efforts took the form of programs and initiatives to prepare students for the reality of the legal practice outside the classroom that are now being mimicked at other law schools.  In one such effort, Amy partnered with the Booth School of Business to create the Kapnick Leadership Development Initiative, the first program at a top law school to introduce systematic leadership development to all 1Ls.     While serving as dean of students, she received the Class Award from the Class of 2014 for outstanding contributions to improving the quality of student life and the spirit of community at the Law School.  In 2013, she was nominated to and completed the University of Chicago's Executive Program for Emerging Leaders.  She received her B.A. from Luther College in English and political science before spending two years working in Iowa politics. Amy received her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 2002, where she served as a Topic Access Editor for the Law Review, among other activities. She earned her M.A. in Public Policy and Administration from Northwestern University in 2017.  Amy spent five years as a litigation associate at Skadden in Chicago, where her extensive pro bono work was profiled by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and resulted in her receipt of the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation 2006 Distinguished Service Award. While an associate at Skadden, she also founded and led the Chicago Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society from its first organizing meeting in 2003 to its being named the Lawyer Chapter of the Year for 2006-2007.  From Skadden, Amy was a commercial and intellectual property litigator at Ungaretti & Harris LLP in Chicago, first as an associate and later as a partner.  Amy’s extensive community service has included serving as president of the University of Chicago Alumni Club of Chicago from 2008-2010 and as a member of the University’s Alumni Board of Governors from 2010-2016.  Her service to the University was recognized by her receipt of the Young Alumni Service Citation in 2007.  In the spring of 2010, she traveled to five European cities as an American Marshall Memorial Fellow, meeting with policymakers and prominent members of the business, government, political, NGO, and media communities. In 2017, Amy was appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Character & Fitness.  She is a member of the Illinois and U.S. Supreme Court bars.