FY27 Attorneys Admin Hearings GC Approval.msg~6.pdf
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- Contract number
- 26-350SOS-SECUR-P-97659
- Issued by
- Illinois
About this file
This document is an internal email correspondence from the Illinois Secretary of State's Office dated May 21, 2026, in which General Counsel Robert Gamrath confirms that attorney contracts for fiscal year 2027 are exempt from the state procurement code in accordance with 30 ILCS 500/1-10(b)(7). The correspondence addresses inquiries from Katherine Tople, Chief Procurement Officer, regarding contract exemptions for attorneys engaged in anticipated litigation, enforcement actions, and investigations.
The document presents two categories of attorney services: Securities and Administrative Hearings. The Securities category includes three contracts: George Berbas ($15,500 for FY27, $15,000 for FY26), Kopecky Schumacher Rosenburg ($30,000 for both years), and Giffin Winning Cohen & Bodewe ($20,000 for both years). The Administrative Hearings section lists 27 individual attorneys and their contract amounts for FY27, ranging from $3,000 to $115,000, with noted changes from original FY27 requests and FY26 spending. Notable high-value contracts include Ken Johnson ($100,000), Laurie Taylor ($100,000), Camilo-Siracusa Fior Daliza ($115,000), Senechalle Robert ($95,000), and Schwartz Jeremy ($85,000). Several contracts reflect budget adjustments, rate changes, and shifts to IDOT grants, with the document updated on May 13, 2026.
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Text version
Guffey, Samantha L
From: Gamrath, Rob L Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2026 5:01 PM To: Tople, Katherine I Cc: Norris-martin, Chelsie C; Guffey, Samantha L Subject: RE: FY27 Attorneys -- Admin Hearings and Securities
Katherine:
All of the below contracts for attorneys are necessary for anticipated litigation, enforcement actions, or investigations.
Robert Gamrath General Counsel Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias 115 S. LaSalle St., Suite 300, Chicago IL 60603
312.814.1150 (o)
ILSOS.gov
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From: Tople, Katherine I <KTople@ILSOS.GOV> Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2026 3:31 PM To: Gamrath, Rob L <RGamrath@ILSOS.GOV> Cc: Norris-martin, Chelsie C <CNorris-Martin@ILSOS.GOV>; Guffey, Samantha L <SGuffey@ILSOS.GOV> Subject: FY27 Attorneys -- Admin Hearings and Securities
Good morning Rob-
Could you please confirm that the contracts for attorneys below are all exempt from the procurement code in accordance with 30 ILCS 500/1-10(b)(7)?
SECURITIES FY27 FY26
Berbas, George $15,500.00
$15,000
Kopecky Schumacher Rosenburg $30,000.00
$30,000
Giffin Winning Cohen & Bodewe $20,000.00
$20,000
ADMIN HEARINGS Updated 05/13/2026
New FY27 Original FY27 Request FY26 REQ CURRENT FY26 SPEND NOTES
FROM RACHEL
Abbott, Greg $85,000.00 $75,000.00
$50,000
$65,000.00 Increase to $85,000 due to wag w
Bertschy, Timothy $50,000.00 $40,000.00
$35,000.00 $175 h
Brunell, Alan $45,000.00 $45,000.00
$45,000
$35,000.00 No Chan
Caliendo, Emil $20,000.00 $20,000.00
$20,000
$20,000.00
Camilo-Siracusa, Fior Daliza $115,000.00 $115,000.00
$95,000
$140,000.00
Cellini, Stacey $25,000.00 $25,000.00
$25,000
$25,000.00
Fruth, Steven $65,000.00 $65,000.00
$65,000.00
Granito, Alicia $30,000.00 $30,000.00
$30,000.00
Griffin, Kathy $30,000.00 $30,000.00
$15,000.00
Hall, Adolphus $23,000.00 $23,000.00
$23,000
$23,000.00
Johnson, Ken $100,000.00 $100,000.00
$100,000
$100,000.00
Gagilardo-Kogut, Donna $70,000.00 $60,000.00
$50,000.00 Hourly Rate Ch
Kuchler, Mark $70,000.00 $70,000.00
$70,000
$70,000.00
Maragos, Dean $25,000.00 $25,000.00
$25,000
Matthews Feldman, Anika $55,000.00 $55,000.00
$55,000
$95,000.00
McGhee, David $50,000.00 $50,000.00
$50,000.00
Palmer, Laurel Atty at Law $10,000 $100,000.00
Changed amount to $10K, com
Price-Cohen, Hillary $23,400.00 $23,400.00
$23,400
$8,400.00
Rugai, Ado $55,000.00 $42,000.00
$42,000
$42,000.00 Daily Rate cha
Schmall, Steven $30,000.00 $30,000.00
$30,000.00 No Changes Needed
Senechalle, Robert $95,000.00 $70,000.00
$70,000
$49,250.00 Rounding up to
Schwartz, Jeremy $85,000.00 $58,500.00
$58,500
$83,250.00 Switch to IDOT grant – daily r
Smith, John $55,000.00 $40,000.00
$40,000
$55,000.00 Switch to IDOT grant – daily r
Taylor, Laurie $100,000.00 $100,000.00
Whitney, Raymon $3,000.00 $3,000.00
$3,000
$3,000.00
Wortham, Sandra $25,000.00 $25,000.00
Averages
Katherine Tople, NIGP-CPP, CPPB (she/her/hers) Chief Procurement Officer Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias 108 Howlett Building, Springfield IL 62756
217.782.7198 (o) 217.606.9746 (c)
ILSOS.gov
Keep Informed! Learn more about the products and services the Secretary of State’s Office provides throughout Illinois by signing up for our newsletter by clicking here.
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