Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson selected Renee Hatcher to serve as the city's corporation counsel, putting a clinical law professor and longtime community-development advocate in line to become Chicago's top attorney. The appointment, announced September 22, requires approval from the Chicago City Council.[1]
If confirmed, Hatcher will lead the Department of Law and provide legal counsel and representation to city departments, boards and the City Council. She would succeed Mary Richardson-Lowry, who is retiring after serving in the position since 2023.[1]
From a community law clinic to City Hall
Hatcher comes to the role from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, where she is a clinical professor and directs the Community Enterprise & Solidarity Economy Clinic. The clinic provides legal support to community businesses, cooperatives and other organizations working on neighborhood economic development.[1]
Her work there has not been confined to classroom exercises. Under Hatcher's leadership, the clinic has partnered with community organizations on local and state legislation, assisted social-equity cannabis applicants and provided technical support for Chicago's Community Wealth Building Initiative.[1]
The Chicago Crusader described Hatcher as a lawyer, professor and community economic-development advocate whose career has centered on civil rights and economic justice.[2] That background offers a different route to municipal legal leadership than the more familiar progression through large firms or corporate law departments.
Hatcher previously co-directed the Chicago Community Wealth Building Ecosystem Initiative at UIC's Center on Urban Economic Development. She also served on Chicago's Community Wealth Building Advisory Committee and on the mayor's transition subcommittee focused on economic vitality and equity.[1]
Earlier in her career, Hatcher worked as a staff attorney and project director at the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. Her matters included legal services for entrepreneurs and community organizations, community-benefits agreements, employment discrimination, regional equity and prisoners' rights.[1]
A lawyer shaped by public-facing work
Hatcher earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law and a bachelor's degree in political science from Indiana University Bloomington. She has taught at UIC and the University of Baltimore School of Law and has guest lectured at Harvard Law School. Her writing and presentations have covered economic justice, cooperative and community-development law, human rights and legal advocacy.[1]
Those credentials establish her as a lawyer and teacher.[1] Her record also shows sustained work with clients and organizations outside traditional centers of power.[1][2] That experience may be particularly relevant in a city law department whose advice affects public services, litigation, policy, contracts and the daily work of municipal government.
"Throughout my career, I have partnered with communities to use the law to build economic power, strengthen neighborhoods, and advance justice with working people," Hatcher said in the city's announcement. She added that she welcomed the opportunity to bring that experience into public service.[1]
The responsibility behind the title
Corporation counsel is not simply a mayoral adviser. The office leads the legal department for one of the country's largest cities and represents public institutions whose decisions affect millions of residents. The position calls for legal judgment, administrative leadership and an ability to explain risk to officials working across many subject areas.
Hatcher's nomination connects that institutional responsibility with a career built in legal education, civil-rights practice and community economic development.[1][2] Her clinic work has required lawyers and students to translate law into something useful for organizations trying to start, survive and grow.[1] City government operates at a different scale, but the need for clear, practical legal advice remains.
The transition also follows a historic tenure. Richardson-Lowry became Chicago's first Black woman corporation counsel in 2023. The city credited her with establishing a formal risk-management division, developing a mass-torts and complex-litigation practice, reorganizing federal civil-rights work and strengthening oversight of outside counsel.[1]
Richardson-Lowry said Hatcher brings "a deep commitment to Chicago communities, a wealth of legal experience, and a strong belief in the power of public service."[1]
A public-service appointment worth watching
Hatcher's appointment is still subject to City Council approval, and that qualification matters.[1] For now, the news is that Chicago has chosen a lawyer whose professional life has been unusually close to community organizations, local economic development and clinical teaching to lead its legal department.[1][2]
It is a meaningful professional step for Hatcher and a visible example of how legal careers can move between advocacy, teaching and government leadership.[1][2] Her work in each setting has treated law as a practical tool, not an abstract credential.
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Image credit
Chicago City Hall, photographed by Ken Lund and used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. No changes were made.[3]
Sources
[1] https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mayor/press_room/press_releases/2026/september/renee-hatcher-appointment.html — Mayor Announces Appointment of Renee Hatcher as Corporation Counsel [2] https://chicagocrusader.com/renee-hatcher-tapped-as-chicagos-new-top-attorney — Renee Hatcher tapped as Chicago’s new top attorney [3] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_City_Hall,_Chicago,_Illinois_%289179430367%29.jpg — Chicago City Hall image and license
