MCJESSY - Key Persons
Ms. Ching is an honors graduate of the Phillips Exeter Academy, and a high honors graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
In 1988, Ms. Ching earned a Pacific Rim Scholarship for study abroad at the Taiwan University of Political Science. In 1991, she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from U.C. Berkeley. She received her Master's Degree from Harvard University in 1993. In 1995, she received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School.
Ms. Ching has lived and studied extensively in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. As part of her graduate research at Harvard, Ms. Ching traveled to China to examine joint venture projects including ventures in the manufacturing sector. She incorporated these findings into her Master's Thesis which analyzed the regulation and implementation of joint venture operations.
At the University of Michigan Law School, Ms. Ching was an associate editor of the Michigan Journal of International Law. While still a law student, she worked with the Hong Kong office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Following her degree, Angela's work has focused on general counsel matters for a select group of corporate clients.
Angela Ching was a founding member of the commercial litigation firm Ching & Thompson where she acted as corporate and litigation counsel for the firm's commercial clients. Her insight and problem solving ability has been a behind the scene force in Ching & Thompson's civil litigation successes. In one notable civil trial, her work was instrumental in obtaining a jury defense verdict in which $22 million dollars were at stake over an alleged breach of a global distribution agreement.
Mr. Sopata is a graduate of Duke University and the Chicago-Kent College of Law. Mr. Sopata has been licensed to practice before the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois as well as Illinois State Courts since 1999.
Mr. Sopata's litigation practice includes commercial debt collection, ERISA enforcement, perfecting and defending claims on behalf of contractors and subcontractors pursuant to the Illinois' Mechanic Lien Act, including liens against public funds, lien foreclosures and post-judgment enforcement. Mr. Sopata has represented clients as diverse as the surviving spouse of the E2 Night Club tragedy, debtors charging creditors with Fair Debt Collection Practices Act violations, a not-for-profit halfway house, construction contractors, an analytical laboratory, and a pet owner asserting a veterinary malpractice claim. Mr. Sopata has tried cases before judges and juries throughout northeastern Illinois.
Mr. Sopata is also a well-known local amateur goaltender at "Johnny's Ice House" and other area rinks.
For the past 22 years, Mr. Borders' practice has been roughly equally divided between defense of professionals against negligence lawsuits and insurance coverage counseling and litigation. Joe has defended lawyers, architects, engineers, accountants and insurance brokers in jurisdictions throughout the United States. In his representation of insurers, Joe's practice has run the gammit from drafting insurance policies to managing insurance programs to litigating bad faith and other insurance coverage lawsuits.
In addition to his trial work, Joe has extensive appellate experience. He has briefed and argued cases before multiple state appellate courts, the Seventh and Tenth U.S. Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Courts of Indiana and Texas.
Prior and during law school, Joe worked for ten years as a licensed stationary engineer. He carried over to his law practice the practical approach that served him in his prior profession. Before joining McJessy, Ching & Thompson, Joe was a partner of Walker Wilcox Matousek LLP for ten years. Joe began his legal career at Lord, Bissell & Brook, now known as Locke Lord.
Joe graduated summa cum laude from DePaul University's College of Law in 1993. While in law school Joe worked as an extern law clerk for the Honorable William T. Hart in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and then for the Honorable Kenneth F. Ripple in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Joe recieved his B.S. in Finance from DePaul University in 1987.
A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Kim Thompson is a trial lawyer who excels in fast paced litigation and arbitration.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Thompson was a principal in the commercial litigation firm of Ching & Thompson. Among his many accomplishments, Mr. Thompson was successful in winning a hotly contested aviation disaster case which involved ground breaking issues of insurance law. An experienced negotiator and litigator, he has successfully handled numerous high-stakes business disputes. An award winning forensic speaker, Captain and Team Leader of his college debate team, Mr. Thompson thrives on persuasive advocacy. Among his notable achievements was winning, and collecting in full with interest and penalties, what the firm believes to have been the largest award of lost profits in a California commercial arbitration up to that time.
Mr. Thompson also brings a wealth of experience to the firm in business management and consultation. While still a college student, he managed a national wholesale company based in Northern California. Following the completion of his degree, Mr. Thompson became a Vice-President of California Craftsman, Inc.
In 1989, Mr. Thompson joined the firm of Shearson, Lehman, Hutton as a financial consultant. He specialized in equity trades and research of companies with less than $60MM in gross sales. Mr. Thompson received the highest Series Seven score for all Shearson brokers in his class nationwide.
Mr. Thompson is also active in the field of technology. He is a bio-technology entrepreneur and the founder of a successful company which develops protein expression platforms.
As a former business executive and advisor, Mr. Thompson brings a unique perspective to the practice of law. The firm believes his extensive business background enables him to create practical solutions to business difficulties, see through the chaff, and seize opportunities to win cases. He works almost exclusively for corporate clients, both as defense and plaintiff's counsel in civil litigation and private arbitration.
In 1994, Mr. Thompson received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan. He received his B.A. in applied economics from James Madison College at Michigan State University.
Kim Thompson's work focuses on advocacy in complex commercial litigation and arbitration. His successes include multi-million dollar awards and verdicts for both corporate claimants and corporate defendants.
Job Titles:
- Paralegal and Office Administrator
Ms. Keating has been with McJessy, Ching & Thompson since its inception in 2004 and has over 23 years of experience. Ms. Keating assists MC&T's attorneys and clients in all areas of the firm's practice including drafting correspondence, pleadings, discovery, e-filing, trial preparation and organization, maintenance of client files and the firm's litigation docket. Ms. Keating ensures that MC&T's clients' cases are handled efficiently and economically and that MC&T achieves the best possible outcomes for our clients.
Ms. Keating received her Paralegal Certificate from Roosevelt University in 1987 and her Bachelor of Science degree from Eastern Illinois University in 1982.