About
For thirty years, Alenna Bolin has advocated for employees from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds, in workplace civil rights, FMLA, sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation and retaliatory discharge, and related employment matters. Her creative litigation strategies and advanced writing abilities combine to make her a skilled advocate for her clients. She treats clients with respect and compassion while guiding them through the legal process.
She has served as Of Counsel to the firm (formerly Potter Bolaños LLC and Robin Potter & Associates) since 2010.
Alenna previously practiced in the areas of civil rights, contracts, securities, commodities, and fraud, in addition to employment law. She was part of the two-lawyer trial team that won a $500,000 jury verdict on workplace intentional infliction of emotional distress, a verdict that was later upheld on appeal in Naeem v. McKesson Drug Co., 444 F.3d 593 (7th Cir. 2006). She was extensively involved in researching and drafting the winning briefs in Walters v. Metropolitan Educational Enterprises, Inc., 519 S.Ct. 202 (1997), in which the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision favorable to employees. More recently, she participated in case development and discovery on the legal team that achieved a $14 million settlement in a class action sexual harassment case in Brown v. Cook County, et al., No. 17-cv-8085 (N.D. Ill. 2020). She has served as a contributing author for the Midwinter Report of FMLA Cases, published by the FMLA subcommittee of the Section of Labor and Employment Law of the American Bar Association.
Alenna received her J.D. from the University of California, Davis, School of Law, and her B.A., cum laude, from Northern Illinois University. During law school, she authored an article that won awards for excellence in writing and was published in the Pace Environmental Law Review. Along with her J.D., she received a Public Interest Law Program Certificate. Alenna is an active member of the National Employment Lawyers Association
Alenna enjoys teaching and practicing Pilates and serving as a host family for foreign exchange students.
Bar Admissions
- Illinois
- California (currently inactive)
- U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
- U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (including Trial Bar)