About the Center for Open Government
The Center for Open Government is a non-partisan organization that empowers citizens to hold their public officials accountable and improve the democratic process. The Center provides invaluable assistance to individuals who are fighting for better government practices in Illinois. The Center has received significant seed funding from Clinton A. Krislov, a noted plaintiff's class-action attorney and a member of Chicago-Kent's adjunct faculty. Mr. Krislov is the founder and name/senior partner attorney of the Chicago firm Krislov & Associates, Ltd., and serves as chairman of the Center's advisory committee. The Center staff works closely with the Better Government Association (BGA), the Citizen Advocacy Center, and other open-government advocates to support the litigation demands of various transparency initiatives. As Chicago-Kent Dean Harold J. Krent explains, "The formation of this Center responds to a wave of recognition by Attorney General Lisa Madigan and many others that the time is propitious for a sea change in how Illinois' governmental entities do business."
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Clinton A. Krislov, Founder
Clint Krislov, a graduate of Northwestern University (B.A. 1971), Phi Beta Kappa, and Cornell Law School (1974), is the founder and principal attorney of Krislov & Associates Ltd. Mr. Krislov is admitted to practice in Illinois and Michigan state courts, the United States Supreme Court, numerous Circuit Courts of Appeals, and the trial bar of the federal court for the Northern District of Illinois. Mr. Krislov is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Chicago-Kent College of Law, teaching courses in Consumer Protection Law (2001-present) and federal income tax (1976-7), and the author of several articles, including: The Illinois Consumer Fraud Act: Hey! What Happened to all the Strict Constructionists?, Judicial Add-Ons are Ruining a Perfectly Good Statute, 11 Loyola Consumer Law Review 224 (1999); "Scrutiny of the Bounty: Incentive Awards of Plaintiffs in Class Actions," 78 Illinois Bar Journal 286, June 1990; "Tax Considerations in Buying, Selling and Dissolving the Professional Practice," in Professional Practices, IICLE, 1986; "Civil and Criminal Tax Litigation," in 1981 Federal Tax Skills Course, IICLE, 1981; "Evaluating Publicly Syndicated Investments," in Basic Tax Shelters, IICLE, 1984.
Mr. Krislov has also served three terms as Chair, following two terms as vice-Chair, of the Chicago Bar Association Class Litigation Committee, and initiated programs of bench-bar communications which continue. Mr. Krislov also serves as a member of the Board of Editors of Class Action Reports (1992-present), the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (1995-96), and the Chicago Region ABA-IRS Nonfiler Initiative (joint Program to reach out nationwide to persons who had not filed income tax returns offering amnesty-type opportunity to get on the system without fear of prosecution).
As a former candidate for the United States Senate and Illinois Attorney General, Mr. Krislov has also led the fight to open the electoral system fairly for all participants. He is the 2001 recipient of Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization's "Legal Eagle" award for his work in election reform and defense against corporate overreaching. In the widely cited Krislov v. Rednour, 97 F.Supp.2d 862 (NDIll.2000), affirmed 226 F.3d 851 (7th Cir. 2001), cert. den. sub nom McGuffage v Krislov, 531 US 1147 (2001), Mr. Krislov successfully attacked Illinois' ballot petition procedures that had previously prevented non-organization candidates from getting on the ballot.
In 2009, Mr. Krislov generously provided seed money for the Center for Open Government at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. He is the lead attorney in several cases on behalf of the Center. Mr. Krislov is devoted to improving citizens' access to public records and civic participation in Illinois.
Chicago-Kent College of Law
IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, home to the Center, is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution. The Chicago-Kent Law Offices, the nation's first fee-generating law school clinic, has practice areas in employment discrimination and civil rights litigation, criminal defense litigation, family law, health and disability law, immigration law, entrepreneurial law, and mediation and alternative dispute resolution.