Faculty
Louis Butler has been a practicing attorney since 1980. When beginning his career, he worked with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. In that capacity, Butler was involved in employment discrimination matters, specifically, discrimination in hiring and matters involving sexual harassment.
He has also worked for the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR). At OCR, he reviewed investigatory files involving Title VI (race discrimination), Title XI (sex equity in education and athletics), and Section 504 (handicap discrimination).
Butler later moved to the Chicago Housing Authority (“CHA”) and eventually became the Associate General Counsel for CHA’s Intergovernmental practice group. In that position, he worked with the City of Chicago and the Federal Housing and Urban Development Department to relocate residents from such high rises as Cabrini Green and the Henry Horner Homes.
Butler also was engaged in government procurement, collective bargaining and arbitration matters, and responded to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. In addition, he represented the CHA in employment and Section 1983 litigation. More recently, he served as the village attorney for the Village of Maywood where he advised the Mayor of the Village and the Board of Trustees and represented the Village in federal and State court matters.
Butler was an attorney for the Illinois Department of Insurance from 2000-2014 and served as the Deputy General Counsel from 2012 to 2014. Currently, he is the Deputy General Counsel for the Division of Financial Institutions within the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation in the Chicago office.
Butler handles regulatory/disciplinary matters and on some occasions prosecutes cases; reviews legislation and rules that go before the General Assembly and JCAR (Joint Committee on Administrative Rules); drafts legal opinions; and provides responses on behalf of the agency in FOIA and subpoena matters.
Joann Dickinson is an environmental attorney practicing in Chicago, and her law practice focuses on hazardous waste and ground water contamination. She earned a bachelor of science in Environmental Science from St. Norbert College, a master’s degree in environmental science and policy from the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, and Juris Doctorate degree from Western Michigan University, Cooley Law.
Joann has been teaching courses at Dominican in the Political Science Department since 2011, including Environmental Administration and Law, Environmental Politics, and Introduction to Legal Reasoning. Through SPCS, Joann will be going back to her roots teaching an environmental science and sustainability course, Understanding the Environment.
Having bachelor and master’s degrees in Environmental Science gives Joann a unique perspective on environmental law and policy allows her to analyze policy changes on scientific and legal levels.
Joann has volunteered as a legal aid attorney with Catholic Charities since 2009. She provides advice services to underserved community members through the Tuesday Night Supper Program. Joann also volunteers with Chicago Gateway Green, a nonprofit focused on beautifying and greening Chicago through landscape.
Monica Halloran has worked at Dominican since 2006 and has held several roles supporting adult and graduate students both in the School of Professional and Continuing Studies and in the College of Applied Social Sciences. She is currently the Assistant Dean of Student Support Services for CASS and acts as the program coordinator for its Continuing Studies Programs (MMCR, BLS, BHS).
Monica earned a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership in 2006 at Dominican University. She has taught introductory SPCS classes as well as social science courses in social justice, professional ethics, the art of leadership, and the adult human perspective. Her early years of work included not-for-profit management, health and fitness, prison ministry and for-profit education in the paralegal field. In addition, she is a mediator for Title IX, co-chairs the Employment Affairs Committee of the Staff Assembly and is involved in local sustainability initiatives. She has a husband, four grown daughters and she lives in Oak Park.
Denise Hedges, as senior mediator, directs the National Mediation Board's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) training and outreach programs, develops and maintains the training curriculum, delivers training to interested parties, and conducts facilitation and grievance mediation.
Denise earned a bachelor of arts in Anthropology from Southern Methodist University and was inducted into Alpha Kappa Delta, the National Sociology Honorary. She has post-graduate training and education in negotiation, grievance and arbitration, alternative dispute resolution, grievance mediation, facilitation and online dispute resolution. Denise is certified as a conflict coach and holds a Master of Arts degree in Conflict Resolution from Dominican, where she currently serves as an adjunct professor.
As a mediator, Denise manages ADR services and activities. As one of two designated NMB Ombudsmen, Denise addresses, as appropriate, problems presented by agency employees or contractors regarding actions of the NMB or its managers and employees. She also remains active as a mediator and facilitator in airline and railroad cases.
Denise joined the agency in September of 2000 as a mediator. In that capacity, she handled both airline and railroad mediation cases and conducted Interest Based Bargaining (IBB), Facilitative Problem Solving (FPS), Grievance Mediation and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Training and Facilitation.
Prior to joining the Board, Denise had over 30 years of experience in the airline industry with 25 years of Labor Relations experience, including eight years as president of a legacy airline union. She has negotiated collective bargaining agreements under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the Federal Labor Relations Act (FLRA).
Tom Mirabile has been practicing law for 38 years in Wheaton, Ill., and he has been a faculty member at Dominican since 1999. He currently teaches in the Master of Conflict Resolution program and for the Legal Studies program at the undergraduate level.
Tom serves on the Advisory Council for Graduate Programs at University of St. Francis and is chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee for the LL.M programs on the Advisory Board for the College of Law at DePaul University in Chicago.
He was appointed to the Law faculty of the University of Liverpool faculty of law for its global advanced law degree programme in 2009 and recently was promoted to senior lecturer.
Prior to his return to Illinois in 1996, Tom served as a professor at Oklahoma City University School of Law and the Graduate School of Business. He has also served as an adjunct professor at The College of Law at DePaul University.
Tom has taught in China and Singapore and has been recently approved as a candidate Fullbright scholar. He was named a Senior Fellow of the Western Pacific Institute in 1993 as a result of his work and publications on Asian affairs.
Robert P. Mitchell teaches in the Paralegal Studies program and has been a corporate paralegal for more than 17 years. He has worked at major law firms and corporations.
Robert earned his Certificate in Paralegal Studies with honors from Loyola University with a dual specialization in corporate/securities law and civil litigation, and he holds a bachelor of arts degree with highest honors and a master’s degree with distinction in philosophy from DePaul University.
He served as a director of the Illinois Paralegal Association for six years and, as its vice president, as a member of the paralegal program advisory boards at Loyola University and Wilbur Wright College. He also has been a program reviewer for the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Paralegals.
Robert also has had extensive college experience teaching in the humanities, philosophy and English language skills.
Jon Nall is a licensed attorney with experience practicing business, employment, criminal and tort law.
Jon currently teaches the American Legal System and Philosophical Basis of the Law courses for SPCS, where he received the 2013-2014 Excellence in Teaching award.
He also teaches an Employment Law course for Northwestern University's School of Continuing Studies and has previously taught at the University of Illinois and New York Institute of Technology.
Jon also is Director of Admissions at Capital Education, where he has advised officials from more than 20 colleges and universities on developing adult learner-friendly admissions policies, processes and degree programs.
Daniel Rainey is Chief of Staff for the National Mediation Board, which he joined from private practice in ADR and conflict management in April of 2001. Immediately prior, Daniel was owner/president of a consulting firm specializing in conflict management, conflict intervention, and training. From 1978 through 1990, he was a faculty member and administrative faculty member at George Mason University.
Daniel is currently a Fellow of the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution and an adjunct faculty member of the graduate programs in dispute resolution at Creighton University and Southern Methodist University.
His memberships and associations include: the Association for Conflict Resolution, the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution, and the Conflict Resolution Quarterly Editorial Board.
Recent publications include:
“Cross Cultural Skills in International Negotiations: Technology as a Catalyst and Barrier in the Internet Age,” in The ABA Guide to International Business Negotiations, Silkenat, Aresty, and Klosek, eds., 2009, ABA Press.
“ODR and Government in a Mobile World,” [with Ethan Katsh] in Mobile Technologies for Conflict Management, Marta Poblet, ed., 2011, Springer Press.
“Bloqueo, Ausweglose Situation, Impasse: Culture and Breaking Impasse in Dispute Resolution,” [with Julia Morelli] in Definitive Creative Impasse-Breaking Techniques in Mediation, Molly Klapper, ed., 2011, NY State Bar Association Press.
“ODR and Culture,” “ODR and Government,” [with Ethan Katsh] and “ODR and Dispute Resolution Theory,” [with Leah Wing] in ODR Theory and Practice, Katsh, Rainey, and Wahab, eds., 2011, Eleven International Press.
Recent presentations include conference presentations and guest appearances in Israel, Egypt, Poland, Australia, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, the U.K., and the U.S.