Crell, Steven M.

Grace Winkler Cranley is a 1993 graduate of the IIT-Chicago Kent College of Law with over 12 years of litigation experience. She received her Bachelor of Arts in French and Economics from the University of Illinois at Champaign, Urbana, Illinois in 1987. As a law student, Ms. Cranley actively worked with the law offices of Chicago Kent College of Law fighting against employment discrimination under the supervision of Professor Richard Gonzalez, during which time she was involved in a evidentiary hearing before the State of Illinois Human Rights Commission.

Following law school, Ms. Cranley joined the law firm of Pretzel & Stouffer, where she worked as an associate concentrating in employment discrimination matters, commercial litigation, and surety and fidelity law.

Grace Cranley joined Leo & Weber, P.C. in 1999 and has become a shareholder in the firm she has helped to build. She focuses her legal practice in the areas of surety bond litigation, fidelity bond litigation, construction litigation, and commercial litigation. Ms. Cranley's experience includes representation of three sureties in the Enron-related litigation in JPMorgan Chase Bank v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., et al., which was pending in the Southern District of New York and involved over one billion dollars in losses claimed against eleven sureties on various surety bonds issued on behalf of  Enron-related entities. She has participated as a speaker on several surety claims programs and is the author of several articles.

In addition to belonging to the State Bar of Illinois, Ms. Cranley is also licensed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the Central District of Illinois and the Eastern Districts of Wisconsin. Ms. Cranley is also a member of several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, the Tort and Insurance Practice Section, and the Illinois State Bar Association.