2025 ILLINOIS ATTORNEYS TO WATCH
LEDEIDRE TURNER
AGE 39
FIRM Commonwealth Edison Company
LAW SCHOOL University of Illinois Chicago School of Law
lifting as she climbs. “
AREA(S) OF PRACTICE Energy, utilities and administrative law
LeDeidre truly believes in
”
L eDeidre Turner has a history of making a positive difference at every stop she's made during her thriving legal career. The latest example? As assistant general counsel with ComEd. But this is far from the first time that Turner has made a pos- itive impact. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker appointed Turner to the role of commissioner on the Illinois Human Rights Commission in 2019. Here, she reviewed de novo appeals of findings issued by administrative law judges and dismissals of the Department of Human Rights. Kenya Jenkins-Wright, a Domestic Relations Division judge with the Circuit Court of Cook County, said that Turner's metic- ulous analysis of complex cases involving discrimination, harass- ment, and retaliation in Illinois has a made a positive difference in the lives of countless people. "LeDeidre truly believes in lifting as she climbs," Jenkins- Wright said. An example? Turner upheld the rights of a transgender stu- dent regarding the use of high school locker rooms, reversed the denial of medical contraceptive rights and services by Mercy Hospital, and tackled a case involving racial discrimination in the firing of an employee by a nursing home. "Her thorough and thoughtful approach to these sensitive
cases underscores her invaluable contribution to upholding human rights and promoting equality," Jenkins-Wright said. During her career, Turner also served as assistant commis- sioner with the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection and as an assistant state's attorney with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. Precious Jacobs-Perry, partner with the Chicago office of Jenner & Block, said that Turner has quickly mastered energy and regulatory law. As a key member of ComEd's litigation team, Turner played a key role in the utility's multi-year grid plan and multi-year rate plan in which the Illinois Commerce Commission approved $1.5 billion in investment and system improvements. As part of this work, Turner drafted direct, rebuttal, and surrebuttal testimony; edited responsive material; drafted the majority of the rate case section of ComEd’s briefs; and assisted with witness preparation. Turner also supported the lead attorney in the implemen- tation of ComEd's first Beneficial Electrification Plan and the planning process of the Beneficial Electrification Plan 2, which provides $200 million in investments to help unlock climate and air-pollution benefits for Illinois residents. "She is truly taking the energy field by storm," Jacobs-Perry said.
40 Under Forty 2025
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CHICAGO LAWYER & CHICAGO DAILY LAW BULLETIN
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