40 Under Forty 2022

2022 ILLINOIS ATTORNEYS TO WATCH

DELILAH P. JENKINS

C ompanies turn to Delilah P. Jenkins when they face challenges fulfilling in-house general counsel roles, creating strategic plans, managing general counsel overflow and seeking diverse representa- tion. They do this because Jenkins is com- mitted to her clients, boasts a deep knowl- edge of business law and the demands of an in-house legal department and works tirelessly to earn the best results for the companies she represents. Jenkins has built a niche general coun- sel practice based upon her prior in-house legal experience coupled with her current experience as a Partner. Jenkins’ practice targets companies that do not have an internal general counsel, legal depart- ments that seek interim counsel or legal departments that require assistance with managing overflow. As the head of the general counsel practice, her effort in- cludes creating and expanding an internal team through recruitment efforts and the training of junior associates to act in sim- ilar roles as in-house counsel or assistant general counsel for her clients. Dorothy Capers, Senior Vice President, General Counsel at Xylem, saw how tal- ented Jenkins is. She worked with Jenkins over 4 years. Capers said than Jenkins led 30+ Mergers and Acquisitions from start to finish. The deals ranged from small merg- ers to large international acquisitions. “She managed them all below budget and with excellent legal and advocacy engagement.” Count Kathleen Sweitzer, senior vice president and general counsel with Trust- mark Insurance Company, as another who counts Jenkins as a trusted ally. In 2013, Sweitzer was recruited to devel- op and build the legal support team for the

U.S. Health Solutions business for financial services firm Aon. “Delilah has exceptional skills as a busi- ness partner and advisor,” Sweitzer said. “As a member of my team, she demon- strated that she could assess risk in a situ- ation and assist the business in completing difficult transactions in a partnering way. She has a calm demeanor, and she can look at risk from all sides to objectively advise business leaders.” Andrew Light, senior partner with Sco- pelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary, one of the largest transportation law firms in the world, as being in this camp. His deal- ings with Jenkins have involved diverse issues specific to the passenger transpor- tation industry. Jenkins’ ability to spot po- tential trouble and quickly understand the legal needs of companies working in this industry has been impressive, he said. “In my 40-plus years of practice meet- ing the legal needs of companies in the transportation industry, it is rare to inter- act with a young attorney who so quickly grasped the issues related to passenger transportation as Delilah did,” Light said. Jenkins doesn’t hesitate to volunteer her time on behalf of her profession and community, either. She is a board mem- ber with Housing Forward where she also co-chairs the Technology Committee and is a member of the Oak Park Township Fi- nancial Advisory Committee. She has also donated her time to the UIC Law Mentor- ing Program, is the former Young Lawyers’ Creative Arts Section chair for the Chicago Bar Association, was a panelist for the Cor- porate Counsel Women of Color confer- ence and serves as the Vice President of Community Engagement for the PTO of her son’s elementary school.

“

It is rare to interact with a young attorney who so quickly grasped the issues”

AGE 38

FIRM Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres

LAW SCHOOL University of Illinois Chicago School of Law AREA OF PRACTICE General counsel, complex commercial transactions and corporate governance

40 Under Forty 2022 CHICAGO LAWYER & CHICAGO DAILY LAW BULLETIN