D.A.W.L. Board Members
Andrea L. Collins, 40th President
Andrea is a Partner at SpyratosDavis LLC. She represents individuals and companies, concentrating her practice in many aspects of civil litigation including bodily injury and wrongful death disputes, commercial litigation, catastrophic injury claims, insurance coverage, probate estates, and more. She has extensive trial and litigation experience, and serves as an arbitrator in injury cases and a GAL in probate matters. Andrea has authored many legal articles and has presented for both local and national legal organizations. She volunteers her time with local bar organizations, and is especially honored to begin her tenure as President of the DuPage Association of Women Lawyers.
Outside of work, Andrea enjoys giving back to the community and staying active. She volunteers with Little Friends, Inc., where she and certified therapy dog, Piper, visit and socialize with adults with special needs. Andrea loves spending time outdoors exploring national parks with her family, and competing in agility and sheepherding with her border collies.
“…people will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou
Natalie Lamphier, First Vice President
Natalie Lamphier is an associate attorney at Dussias Wittenberg Koenigsberger, LLP, which she joined in 2019. Natalie represents clients in a wide variety of family law matters with a focus on handling issues in contentious divorces. Natalie and her firm practice exclusively in the area of family law, including high-net worth litigation, and business valuations. Natalie earned her J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law in the state of Minnesota in 2015. Outside of her work, Natalie has a deep love of history, donuts, and classical music.
Maria "Gabby" Antoniolli, Second Vice President
Maria G. Antoniolli, or ‘Gabby’, began her legal career as an Assistant State’s Attorney with the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office where she spent her time there years in various units throughout the office, gaining significant trial experience in a wide variety of cases. As a prosecutor, Gabby handled traffic and misdemeanor cases, including: DUIs, domestic batteries, and orders of protections. From there, she was promoted to the Felony Juvenile Division where she managed hundreds of juvenile cases from intake to disposition. During her time in this division, she worked closely with DCFS and became well-versed in the various aspects of cases involving abused, neglected, and dependent minors. Gabby also worked in the Felony Trial Division where she handled serious felony cases ranging from aggravated DUIs, burglaries, serious drug offenses, aggravated batteries, and gun charges.
Since entering private practice, Gabby has concentrated her legal practice in both criminal defense and family law matters, including child custody and visitation, child support, alimony and spousal support, relocation, orders of protection, and prenuptial/postnuptial agreements. Gabby is also a certified Guardian ad Litem and has served in this capacity in family law cases as well as in the juvenile court system, assisting the court in cases involving abused, neglected, and dependent minors.
Gabby’s extensive courtroom and trial experience has shaped her into an innovative and zealous advocate who is highly effective at developing case strategies in order to achieve the best possible outcome for her clients. From engaging in negotiations to litigating a case at trial, Gabby tackles each and every case with tenacity and an analytical mindset, while keeping the client fully informed every step of the way.
Stephanie Kopalski, Third Vice President
Stephanie is a partner at Lyons Law Group, LLC in Downers Grove. Stephanie was awarded her Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law in 2016. She is fluent in Polish, conversant in Spanish, and wishes she remembered more of her French. As a litigator, Stephanie represents clients involved in commercial and business litigation, including breach of contract, shareholder and partner disputes, breach of fiduciary duty, trade secrets, business torts, and fraud, as well as estate and trust disputes, among others.
On the transactional side, Stephanie has taken companies from start to finish, i.e. formation, operation, growth, and exit through merger or acquisition
Anel Bautista, Secretary
Anel Bautista is a Litigation Associate at McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLC and was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 2018. Since then, she has focused her legal career on serving large financial institutions in foreclosure and title related matters. She briefly transitioned to assisting individual clients with their family law, planning, real estate, and business law needs but eventually returned to foreclosure.
Anel grew up in St. Charles, Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2006 with a Bachelor’s in Journalism. Anel has served as a Director on the Board of D.A.W.L as a Director for the last three years and will be transitioning to Secretary for the upcoming 2024-2025 year. In her spare time she volunteers with The Geneva Women’s Club, reads many, many books and spends time with her family, friends and fur baby Philippe.
Nisha B. Parikh, Treasurer
Nisha B. Parikh practices in the areas of mortgage foreclosure, bankruptcy, and creditors’ rights. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University (2001) and a graduate of Thomas M. Cooley Law School (2009). Prior to attending law school, Nisha worked as a Case Worker for Children Services and as an Investigator for Juvenile and Domestic Court. She is licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois and in the United States District Court for the Northern, Central, and Southern Districts of Illinois; United States District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan; United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana; and the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
Prior to joining Diaz Anselmo & Associates, P.A., Nisha worked for various consumer bankruptcy firms in the Chicagoland area. She is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, Phi Alpha Delta, the Chicago Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees and the Bankruptcy Association of Southern Illinois. Additionally, she is fluent in Gujarati.
Sharon L. Genalen, Director
Sharon Genalen has committed herself to advocacy in family law since the inception of her professional career. Sharon received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and her Juris Doctor degree at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, earning a Certificate in Child and Family Law. As a practicing attorney, she also serves as guardian ad litem in probate and domestic relations proceedings and is a certified family law mediator. In her free time, Sharon loves time outdoors with her family, reading a good book, and trying new recipes.
Lindsay Saylors, Director
Lindsay A. Saylors is an attorney with Kollias, P.C., where she joined as an Associate in 2023, after previously practicing with another family law firm in both Cook and DuPage counties. She a 2018 graduate of The John Marshall Law School n/k/a UIC Law, where she served on the Executive Board of both the Children and Family Law Society, as well as the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. She was also actively involved with the school’s Family Law and Domestic Violence Legal Clinic as a licensed student attorney. Since graduating law school and being admitted to the Illinois Bar in 2019, Lindsay has focused her practice on all matters of family law in DuPage, Cook, Will, and Kane counties
Lindsay resides in the near-western suburbs with her husband, daughter, and three rescue pets, and at any given time a rotating foster dog may be taking up (temporary) residence in their home. Outside of work/law, Lindsay enjoys traveling with her family, spontaneous weekend adventures, and anything Taylor Swift. To the extent possible with a toddler and 3 pets, Lindsay and her husband also regularly foster for Chi-town Pitties, Inc., a bully breed rescue organization based out of DuPage County.
Brittany Earl-Jackson, Director
Brittany Earl-Jackson graduated from Marquette Law School in 2011. After seeing the dramatic effects of the foreclosure crisis, she went on to work for a small foreclosure defense law firm in Chicago for over a year. Now, Brittany is a senior assistant at the DuPage County Public Defender’s Office. She has been defending the indigent in DuPage County since 2014. As a senior assistant, she represents indigent people who face potential prison sentences. Brittany fights for her clients’ rights and strives to ensure they are treated equally. She is always looking for programs to help her clients avoid incarceration.
Aggie Baumert, Director
Aggie Agnieszka Baumert is a founding partner of Baumert, LLC, a boutique law firm specializing in family law, business & IP law, and real estate law in Hinsdale, Illinois. Aggie is well-versed in all areas of family law, including divorce, childrelated matters, domestic violence, parentage, and property division. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from DePaul University and a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Illinois Chicago Law School. Aggie is currently married and lives in Western Suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, who is also an attorney, and their daughter.
Prior to opening her own practice, Aggie worked at a family law firm where she gained invaluable experience in domestic relations. Additionally, she served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Thomas L. Kilbride of the Illinois Supreme Court, as well as two federal judges, the Honorable John W. Darrah and the Honorable Charles P. Kocoras of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Aggie has also interned in various divisions at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, defending the county in both state and federal courts
Megan Gieseler, Immediate Past President
With more than a decade of experience across multiple areas of practice, Megan Gieseler brings a well-rounded perspective to helping her clients navigate complex and nuanced issues. Megan is a zealous advocate and a skilled negotiator. She focuses her practice on complicated dissolution matters, including contested parental responsibility (formerly known as custody) cases, orders of protection/DCFS, guardianship, business evaluations and complex financial issues. An accomplished trial lawyer and litigator, Megan is always careful to consider the best interests of her clients and tailors her legal strategy to produce effective results based on their needs and priorities, either through negotiation, or judicial intervention, when necessary.