Jillisa Brittan
Jillisa Brittan ’86GSAS is a Mediator in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, where she has conducted over 2,000 mediations in civil cases. The types of cases she mediates include civil rights, discrimination, corporate and securities, antitrust, environmental, bankruptcy, copyright, and trademark. Before her appointment at the Seventh Circuit, Brittan was a Partner in the Trial Group at McDermott Will & Emery. She received her JD from the University of Chicago Law School, where she was a member of the Law Review, and President of the Law Women’s Caucus. Before law school, Brittan received a Master’s degree in English Literature from Columbia’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and was a President’s Fellow in the PhD program for two years following her Master’s degree. She received her BA with honors in English from Northwestern University. Brittan is currently a Director on the board of Columbia’s Alumni Association (CAA), and a former Chair of the Alumni Board of Directors of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She was Chair of CAA’s 2021 Alumni Leaders’ Weekend, and co-Chair of the 2020 Alumni Leaders’ Experience. She is one of the founding donors to the CAA Scholarship created in 2021, and she and her family endowed the GSAS Brittan Family Fellowship for graduate students whose work involves interdisciplinary study. Brittan is the 2017 recipient of Columbia’s Richard E. Witten Award for Volunteer Leadership. She is also a Senior Trustee at the Latin School of Chicago, and a member of the Steering Committee of University of Chicago Women’s Board.