The Board of Directors of Johnson & Bell, Ltd. is pleased to announce the election of new shareholders for 2025, along with some changes to firm leadership. The firm’s shareholders met last week and voted to elevate Valandis Vrakas as a Tier I Shareholder and elect associate Samuel D. Branum and counsel Michael A. Sarafin as Tier II Shareholders.
Valandis Vrakas joined Johnson & Bell as an associate in 2013 and was elected as a Tier II Shareholder in 2019. He concentrates his practice in retail and general negligence, representing retailers and restaurants, public transit providers and trucking companies, landlords and property management groups. Mr. Vrakas began his career as an attorney with West Bend Mutual Insurance after earning a J.D. from UIC John Marshall School of Law and degrees in Political Science and Philosophy from Illinois State University. He is based in our Chicago office.
Samuel D. Branum joined Johnson & Bell in 2019 as an associate after serving as a law clerk for Hon. Harold A. Baker of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. Mr. Branum graduated magna cum laude from University of Illinois College of Law and earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Florida. His practice is focused on municipal liability, and he has represented several local governments and their law enforcement departments. He also handles various types of business litigation involving professional liability and trade secrets. Mr. Branum is based in our Chicago office.
Michael A. Sarafin joined Johnson & Bell in 2017 as counsel after serving as a magistrate judge with the Lake County, Indiana Circuit Court for more than five years. He graduated magna cum laude from Valparaiso University School of Law and earned an undergraduate degree from Purdue University. Mr. Sarafin’s practice is concentrated on health care law. He defends medical malpractice claims against hospitals, physicians and other health care providers, and handles professional liability cases, including legal malpractice disputes. Mr. Sarafin is based in our Northern Indiana office.
In addition to these elections, Johnson & Bell announced that shareholder Joseph B. Carini, III will take on the duties of firm president in 2025, succeeding Robert M. Burke, who becomes the firm’s chairman. Mr. Carini has been with Johnson & Bell since 1995 and has practiced law for more than 35 years. Mr. Burke has been with the firm since 1988 and has practiced law for nearly 40 years.
Johnson & Bell, Ltd. is a litigation firm based in Chicago, with offices in Northern Indiana and DuPage County Illinois. Founded in 1975, the firm provides clients with one of the Midwest’s premier team of trial lawyers. Its attorneys are consistently ranked as some of the most effective litigators in the U.S., serving clients in nine different industry sectors through 13 different practice areas.
