Why a Career in Law? Presented by David Chizewer, PO '88

Join David Chizewer (PO ’88), a principal at Goldberg Kohn ( http://www.goldbergkohn.com/ ) for a discussion about pursuing a career in the law, why he thinks most people go to law school, why so many lawyers wind up unfulfilled, and how to chart a positive career course.

David Chizewer chairs Goldberg Kohn’s Litigation Group. He has achieved remarkable success for clients across industries, geography, and in all stages of litigation.

David is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who was named a Litigation Trailblazer by the National Law Journal in 2023 and has been featured in the National Law Journal’s list of 10 of the Nation’s Top Litigators. He has also been named Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Public Justice Foundation and was separately a runner-up for that same award.
In addition, he has been named Lawyer of the Year by the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund (the Anti-Fraud Coalition), and has received the Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service by the Federal Court in Chicago on two separate occasions.

An experienced False Claims Act litigator, Mr. Chizewer has served as co-lead trial counsel in some of the country’s most prominent False Claims Act and health care cases.

Mr. Chizewer was co-lead trial counsel for Plaintiffs, and obtained the largest verdict and judgment in the history of the federal False Claim Act ($334 million), in United States of America ex. rel. Cleveland A. Tyson, et al. v. Amerigroup Corporation, et al., a case involving illegal discrimination against Medicaid participants because of pre-existing conditions.

Mr. Chizewer was co-lead trial counsel for a class of 600,000 children on Medicaid against the State of Illinois in the case captioned, Memisovski, et al. v. Patla, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, obtaining a judgment that secured some of the most sweeping reforms ever to a state Medicaid program.

In a civic capacity, Mr. Chizewer is at the forefront of the legal issues affecting the education reform movement. He is one of the founders and current board president of the Chicago International Charter School, the nation’s largest charter school. He also co-founded the Illinois Network of Charter Schools.

Mr. Chizewer received his law degree from the University of Chicago in 1991 and his B.A. in economics, magna cum laude, from Pomona College in 1988.

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