Professional Details

Professional Details

Mary M. Rowland

Mary Rowland is a partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. She concentrates her practice in the areas of civil rights, constitutional law, class actions, criminal defense, and labor and employment. Ms. Rowland joined the firm in 2000.

She has litigated employment discrimination cases for employees and employers, and has challenged strip-search policies and housing discrimination in class actions.

Prior to joining HSPRD, Ms. Rowland was a staff attorney and then the Chief Appellate Attorney for the Federal Defender Program for the Northern District of Illinois from 1990-2000. During that time, she represented over 275 indigent defendants in every aspect of a federal criminal case, including trying several federal criminal jury trials, arguing many cases before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and filing petitions for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. Ms. Rowland has litigated several multi-count, multi-defendant cases involving narcotics, conspiracies, weapons violations and fraud.

Professional Recognition

  • Included on the Illinois Super Lawyers® list -General Litigation (2012)

Memberships / Associations

Legal
  • Member, Board of Directors, Federal Bar Association
  • Member, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Bar Association
  • Member, Illinois State Bar Association
  • Member, American Constitution Society
  • Member, Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago
  • Co-Chair of the Education Committee, Seventh Circuit Electronic Discovery Pilot Program 
  • Former Member of the Board of Directors, Uptown People's Law Center

Publications

  • General Offense Level: Base Offense Level and Specific Offense Characteristics, in Practice Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (Phylis Skloot Bamberger, David J. Gottlieb eds., Aspen Pub. 1998).
  • Pretrial Discovery in Federal Court, in Federal Criminal Practice (IICLE 1997).

Speeches and Presentations

  • The Future of Class Actions in The Seventh Circuit After Walmart and Concepcion, Panelist, a presentation sponsored by the Federal Bar Association, Chicago, Illinois (Mar. 21, 2012).
  • Psychology Testimony on Competency to Waive Miranda Rights, Address presented as part of "Psychology and Other Expert Testimony in Civil and Criminal Litigation," a presentation at the Joint National Institute of the American Bar and American Psychological Associations (2002).
  • Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Address at "Federal Criminal Appellate Practice for Court-Appointed Attorneys," a conference sponsored by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (held in Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin) (1998).
  • Pretrial Discovery, Address at "Winning Strategies for Defending Federal Criminal Cases," a conference sponsored by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (1997, 1998).
  • Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Address at "Winning Strategies for Defending Federal Criminal Cases," a conference sponsored by the Administrative Offices of the U.S. Courts (1996) (held twice).

Related News

  • HSPRD partner Mary M. Rowland served as a panelist for a presentation entitled, "The Future of Class Actions in The Seventh Circuit After Walmart and Concepcion," an event sponsored by the Federal Bar Association in Chicago, Illinois.
  • HSPRD partners Mark Dym, Terry Yale Feiertag, John Hughes, Matthew Piers, Kalman Resnick, Mary Rowland, and Eric Vander Arend are included in the Illinois Super Lawyers® 2012 list. Read more.
  • HSPRD attorneys Christopher Wilmes and Mary Rowland, along with the Chicago Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights Under Law, filed a class action complaint against background check company Infotrack Information Services, Inc. Read more.
  • HSPRD partners Mary Rowland and Joshua Karsh serve on the 7th Circuit Electronic Discovery Pilot Program Committee, a program featured in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. Read more.