Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella Elects Nicholas Gowen and Karen Kavanagh Mack as Shareholders of the Firm and Brian Hingston as Director

Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella is delighted to announce that Nicholas Gowen and Karen Kavanagh Mack have been elected as shareholders of the Firm and Brian Hingston has been elected as a director of the Firm.

The promotions are effective on January 1, 2025.

“Congratulations to Nick, Karen, and Brian on their well-deserved promotions to shareholder and director roles at Burke Warren,” said Jeff Warren. “They have each proven to be integral team members and leaders on some of our most important matters, and they will undoubtedly contribute to the firm’s growth and future success in their expanded capacities."

Nick is an experienced trial attorney who represents global companies, middle-market businesses, entrepreneurs, and government entities in commercial disputes including shareholder disputes, post-closing disputes, real estate litigation, trade secret misappropriation, and employment matters in courts and arbitration forums in the U.S. and internationally. Nick is an arbitrator for complex commercial and consumer matters on the American Arbitration Association’s National Roster of Arbitrators. He has been appointed to serve more than 50 arbitrations as the sole arbitrator or as a member of a panel in both evidentiary and appellate matters. In recognition of his client work and pro bono advocacy, Nick has been honored by Crain's Chicago Business as one of “Chicago’s Notable Litigators and Trial Attorneys,” and was twice selected as one of “Chicago's Notable Minority Lawyers.”

Karen focuses her practice in the areas of environmental law, land use, eminent domain, and commercial real estate, helping clients both in transactional and litigation settings. Karen is a longtime member of the Illinois State Bar Association’s (ISBA) Environmental Law Section Council and has spoken and moderated at its Annual Environmental Law Conference. In 2021-2022, she served on the Executive Board of the Environmental Law Section Council as its Chair, having previously served as its Vice-Chair (2020-2021) and Secretary (2019-2020). She is also the past Co-Chair of the Standing Committee for the Judicial Evaluation in Cook County, now serving on the appellate panel of the Standing Committee. Karen was also recently recognized by Law Bulletin Media as a 2024 Women in the Law: Leaders Leaning In honoree.

Brian is an esteemed member of the Firm’s Litigation and Religious Organizations practice groups. He is well-versed in representing religious organizations in a wide range of disputes and successfully litigating complex cases in Illinois and throughout the country. With a keen knowledge of the unique legal needs of religious organizations, Brian has advised numerous entities on a variety of matters including the creation and implementation of safe environment policies, internal investigations, crisis management, and risk management. He is especially skilled at creating strategies to advance his client’s legal interests in difficult or factually challenging cases, particularly with investigating and defending decades-old claims with fragmented or incomplete information.