Karyn Bass Ehler is senior counsel at Grant & Eisenhofer, where she leads the Civil Rights Practice Group. Prior to joining G&E, Ms. Bass Ehler was the Chief of the Civil Rights Bureau for the Illinois Attorney General where she oversaw the department that investigates and litigates cases under both state and federal law involving patterns and practices of discrimination in Illinois. While working for the Illinois Attorney General, Ms. Bass Ehler served as one of the lead counsel in the State of Illinois v. City of Chicago (N.D. Ill.) litigation and negotiation, which resulted in a historic consent decree addressing comprehensive and systemic reform of the Chicago Police Department. In addition, Ms. Bass Ehler successfully led the legislative initiatives on campus sexual assault in 2015 and the effort to expand Illinois’ hate crimes law in 2017. Ms. Bass Ehler also was previously a partner at a Chicago-area law firm focusing her practice on civil rights litigation.
Ms. Bass Ehler clerked for Judge William J. Bauer on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Judge Matthew F. Kennelly on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Ms. Bass Ehler is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, Co-Founder and Board Member for the Center on Public Interest Law for the DePaul University College of Law, and the Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. She also serves on the Quality Jobs Council for Women Employed.
Ms. Bass Ehler earned her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law, where she was the Editor-in-Chief for the DePaul Law Review and a Dean’s Merit Scholar and earned her B.A., with honors, from Northwestern University.