1.

Name (State full name and any former names used)

IOANA SALAJANU

2. Age

43

3. Education (List schools, years attended, and degrees received)

Name of School Location Dates Major Degree

Huron High School Ann Arbor, MI 1989-1992 none High School

Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 1992-1993 political science none

University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 1993-1996 political science Bachelor of

Arts

Loyola School of Law Chicago, IL 1997-2000 law Juris Doctor

Michigan State University

Class Honors 1993/1994

University of Michigan

Class Honors 1993/1994

Class Honors 1995/1996

Loyola University School of Law

International Law Journal, Executive Editor

International Law Society, Director of International Affairs
Public Interest Law Reporter, Staff Writer
Research Assistant to Professor Michael Kaufman on the “Extraterritorial Application of US
Securities Law”
Dean’s List

4. Current occupation and employer?

Partner at Rock Fusco & Connelly

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5. Current hometown, and neighborhood if Chicago. If subcircuit candidate: How long have
you lived there?

7620 Kildare, Skokie, IL 60076 Resided here since 2008

6. Work history (List with years)

1. Firm:

Rock Fusco Connelly

321 N. Clark St 2200
Chicago, IL 60654
Tel. 312. 494.1000

Dates: April 2015-curent

Status: Partner

Type of Practice:

• Litigation: Handle international disputes, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act based

litigation, commercial disputes between businesses, financial and banking disputes,
shareholder disputes, trade secrets and proprietary misappropriation litigation, contract
claims, and breach of security and collateralization agreement disputes.

• Corporate: Handle international mergers, acquisitions, stock sales and purchases, sale of
assets. Establish joint ventures, strategic alliances and agency and distributor
relationships. Advise on corporate matters to corporate entities. Draft and negotiate
supply, distribution and licensing agreements, franchise agreements, acquisitions and
sales, and secured financing agreements, non-circumvention agreement, OEM
agreements, distributor /reseller agreements. Provide due diligence on purchase of
companies. Advise on trademarks and trade secrets, provide clearance opinions for
trademark filings, preparing copyright and trademark applications and prosecuting matters
in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

2. Firm:

Bryce Downey Lenkov

200 N. LaSalle St 2700
Chicago, IL 60601
Tel. 312. 377.1501

Dates: December 2012 -March 2015 / January 2005 –November 2005

Status: Partner Associate

Practice:

• Litigation: Handled commercial litigation, insurance defense, commercial disputes

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 between businesses, financial and banking disputes, shareholder and partner matters, real
estate, mechanic’s lien and construction litigation, foreclosure, failed bank liability, trade
secrets and proprietary misappropriation litigation, contract claims, and breach of security
and collateralization agreement disputes, building violation cases, municipal compliance
actions, Managed insurance defense, construction, and commercial litigation cases.

• Corporate: Handled international mergers, acquisitions, stock sales and purchases, sale of
assets. Establish joint ventures, strategic alliances and agency and distributor
relationships. Advise on corporate matters to corporate entities. Drafted and negotiated
supply, distribution and licensing agreements, franchise agreements, acquisitions and
sales, and secured financing agreements, non-circumvention agreement, OEM
agreements, distributor /reseller agreements. Provided due diligence on purchase of
companies. Advised on trademarks and trade secrets, provided clearance opinions for
trademark filings, prepared copyright and trademark applications and prosecuted matters
in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Drafted and negotiated all relevant
national and international documents for concert promoter. Drafted lending documents,
commercial leases, condominium declarations, and property reports. Negotiated
commercial foreclosure properties, including financial workouts targeting release or
diminishing of personal liabilities, loan restructuring, and or dispositions of distressed
assets.

3. Firm:

Law Offices of Ioana Salajanu

101 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 101
Chicago, IL 60606
Tel: 312.377.5750

Dates: November 2005- April 2015

Status: Owner/Partner

Practice:

• Litigation: Handled commercial litigation, insurance defense, commercial disputes

between businesses, financial and banking disputes, shareholder and partner matters, real
estate, mechanic’s lien and construction litigation, foreclosure, failed bank liability, trade
secrets and proprietary misappropriation litigation, contract claims, and breach of security
and collateralization agreement disputes, building violation cases, municipal compliance
actions, Managed insurance defense, construction, and commercial litigation cases.

• Corporate: Handled international mergers, acquisitions, stock sales and purchases, sale of
assets. Establish joint ventures, strategic alliances and agency and distributor
relationships. Advise on corporate matters to corporate entities. Drafted and negotiated
supply, distribution and licensing agreements, franchise agreements, acquisitions and
sales, and secured financing agreements, non-circumvention agreement, OEM
agreements, distributor /reseller agreements. Provided due diligence on purchase of
companies. Advised on trademarks and trade secrets, provided clearance opinions for
trademark filings, prepared copyright and trademark applications and prosecuted matters

3
 in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Drafted and negotiated all relevant
national and international documents for concert promoter. Drafted lending documents,
commercial leases, condominium declarations, and property reports. Negotiated
commercial foreclosure properties, including financial workouts targeting release or
diminishing of personal liabilities, loan restructuring, and or dispositions of distressed
assets.

4. Firm:

Childress & Zdeb

515 N. State Street, Suite 2200
Chicago, IL 60654

Dates: December 2003 –January 2005

Status: Associate

Practice:

• Litigation: Managed commercial, first-party insurance, construction defects and mold

cases. Administered court call in state court. Prepared and produced insured for
examinations under oath and witnesses for depositions. Conducted depositions of
corporate officers/directors and insurance personnel. Drafted and argued dispositive and
non-dispositive motions including motion for entry of summary judgment, motion for
directed verdict, motion for reconsideration, motion to compel and prove-ups on judgment
of default. Researched and drafted memoranda on insurance, construction defects and
banking law. Propounded and responded to written discovery including requests to admit
facts, interrogatories and requests for production. Assisted in trial preparation including
drafting of jury instructions, motions in limine, statement to the jury, evidence selection
and presentation.

5. Firm:

Central States Funds

9337 W. Higgins
Rosemont, IL

Dates: December 2003 –January 2005

Status: Associate

Practice:

• Litigation: Litigated complex business law and ERISA litigation cases in federal court.
First-chaired bench trial. Prepared and responded to pleadings, conducted discovery
including propounding interrogatories, requests to produce/admit facts. Argued non-
dispositive and dispositive motions. Prepared and engaged in settlement negotiations

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 relating to employee benefits, labor, employment, contract, FMLA, LRA, ERISA,
collective bargaining/union and trademark law.

7. In what areas of law do you have experience?

See answer number 6.

8. List your bar association memberships.

Women’s Bar Association Co Chair Book Ad

ISBA

Chicago Bar Association

9. List all professional, business, fraternal, scholarly, civic, charitable, or other organizations to which
you belong.

Children’s International, NFP

Romanian American Business Club, NFP

10. Describe your civic involvement.

Free Legal Clinics

I offer services for underprivileged constituents, including Polish, Columbia, Ecuadorian

and Romanian.

Child Education and Development

I am the co-founder of Children’s International, NFP is a not-for-profit organization

that was founded, organized and run by a Romanian group of women volunteers. It is an
entity that assumes its role in implementing the principles of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child adopted by the United Nations (“Convention”). The NFP relies on
partnerships with community members and organizations to effectuate these ideologies.
As a forum, it uses the International Children’s Day event, which is an international event
celebrated throughout the world. With this community involvement, Children’s
International has been hosting a free event for the benefit of all children annually since
2013. There is no entrance fee, no fees for any of the activities, no fees for the food or
beverages that are provided to the children, and no other hidden fees. Moreover, children
receive a free International Children’s Day T-Shirt, based on availability.

Each year, Children’s International selects an article from the Convention and develops a
theme around that article at the International Children’s Day event. It aims to establish
long-term programs on a yearly basis, incorporating that theme in various forms. The
2017 theme was education.

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Education is the basic foundation to a child’s development. It is the tool that provides
children with the skills to navigate the world. These skills include basic literacy and
numeracy, as well as the ability to communicate, complete tasks and work with others.
Our duty as educators, whether as parents or a school system, is not only to transmit
knowledge and information, but also to help our students broaden their horizons, prepare
them for life in a global world. Education goes beyond the space limitations of the
classroom or the time limitations of the school schedule. It is an ongoing process that
involves both teachers and students, inside and outside of the school premises.

In this context, Children’s International established a pen pal system and a student
exchange program with foreign schools and Chicago land public schools. Children’s
International has paired several US schools with foreign schools. Ten students
participated in a mini student exchange 2017 and a pen pal system is established between
third graders of the schools.

I was awarded a Distinction of Merit from the Vice President of the Romanian Parliament
for my work with Children’s International.

Business Development

I am a co-founder of the Romanian American Business Club, NFP (“RABC”). The

purpose of shall be engaged in the development and perpetuation of business
development and as a forum for networking, business development and to facilitate profit
and growth of Romanian businesses in collaboration with American businesses in the
Midwest and internationally. It also functions as a mentoring system whereby established
business owners can provide advice and guidance to start up company owners. RABC has
engaged in numerous education seminars providing its participants with opportunities to,
not only inform on various topics of interest, but a create a link between interested
parties. Please find attached the seminars that RABC has hosted.

RABC has hosted several forums including:

City of Chicago Panel Discussion with Commissioners from the Department of

Buildings, Department of Zoning, and Section 8. — This panel discussion was
established to connect individuals and businesses in the industry with the relevant
partners in the real estate and construction industry.
Tom Durkin –Crime and Punishment – A discussion with criminal attorney, Tom Durkin,
regarding criminal procedure and the legal system.
Michael Mounts –International tax implications and analysis of corporate and individual
involved in transatlantic businesses.
Dores Dunn of JP Morgan Chase- Discussion on investment strategies to best maximizes
profit and lessens cost.

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11. Describe your current and former political involvement.

None.

12. Have you run for judge before? When and for which seat?

None.

13. List your published writings, with dates and with links if available.

None.

14. Why do you want to be a Cook County judge?

I want to run for judge so that when my three boys, Sebastian, Andrei and Alexandru,
ask me “Mommy, can I”, I can say “Yes, you can!”. I want to offer and leave them more
than just my legal career or materialistic objects. I want them to know that anything is
possible. Through hard work and good principles, one can achieve their dreams. My
story is one of many, it is a story of working your way up from nothing, when everything
was stacked against me and I was repeatedly told that “I can’t”.

I am an immigrant from Romania. My father defected in 1981. For years, we did not
know if he was dead or alive. I was punished for being a traitor by being beaten in school
for month, until I stopped going. My mom lost her job, we were often prohibited from
leaving our house and constantly followed and interrogated by the Securitate (the
equivalent of the FBI). We eventually received a call that my father was in Detroit, MI
and we obtained political asylum.

We arrived in Detroit. My father left to do his legal studies and I was left with my Mom
and my sister. My Mom was sick and I had to take care of her. I was not going to school
and did not speak English. There was a school across the street. I knocked and asked
them if I could attend and they took me in. Honestly, I do not even know how they
understood me. I

A man at the corner store gave me food stamps and the address where we needed to go to
obtain welfare assistance. We survived on government aid and by taking back bottles for
change.

Eventually, my Dad finished his school, returned and we moved to Ann Arbor, MI. I
obtained a political science degree from the University of Michigan and was offered a
scholarship at Loyola School of Law.

I see so many people in this county- the land of opportunity- and they get...'stuck'. They
come here with all of these hopes and see this big giant system that they think that they
cannot penetrate or navigate. I am sure like me, they are told, as I have been repeatedly,
that they do not have the right name, or enough money, or that they are not from the right

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 circle, or the right economic class, that is not their place to be in certain positions. I am
tired of being told that "I can't".

I would like to be that person to represent the people who have lived my life, as I have
lived theirs. It is my life experiences, which have made me humble, open-minded and
compassionate, that give me the qualities that I believe are necessary to be a fair judge.

15. What are the most pressing issues facing the justice system and why?

One of the most pressing issues facing the judicial system is the established practice that

limits its ability to be fair. Often, there are procedures intended to create divisions of

class, whether social, economic, religious or of sexual origin, which promote and sustain

the strong and weaken the weak. Change can be achieved via an open-minded approach

of unconventional thinkers, which will challenge the constraints of the existing systems.

16. How will your experiences help you serve as a good judge?

See Answer 14.

17. What do you wish voters knew about you?

See Answer 14.