Michael Kasper
Attorney at Law
Michael Kasper
Attorney at Law
Michael Kasper is one of the most prominent election lawyers in the country. He has represented three sitting Presidents of the United States: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden. He has also represented hundreds of other public officials, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and many other U.S. Senators, Congressmen and other elected officials. He was General Counsel and Treasurer of the Democratic Party of Illinois for over twenty years.
Chicago Magazine named Mr. Kasper one of the Most Powerful Chicagoans in its cover story entitled “The Power 100: Who has the Most Clout in Politics, Business and More.” Politics: Campaigns & Elections magazine called him one of Illinois’ “Top 10 Most Influential Democrats”. Crain’s Chicago Business has referred to him as a “legal force of nature”.
He represented the Chicago City Council in redrawing the City’s Ward map following the 2020 census. He also represented the Illinois Senate President and House Speaker in successfully defending the 2021, 2011 and 2001 Illinois legislative and congressional redistricting plans in federal litigation brought under the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.
In both 2014 and 2016, Mr. Kasper successfully challenged the constitutionality proposed amendments to the Illinois Constitution regarding the redistricting process, for which the Chicago Tribune called him “a highly skilled attorney who successfully argued the Supreme Court should strike down the 2016 ballot initiative.”
Mr. Kasper was the lead attorney on the successful defense to the residency challenge of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. He served as outside House Prosecutor in the Impeachment Trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
Prior to going into private practice, Mr. Kasper served as General Counsel and Parliamentarian to the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. He has also been an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University School Law, Loyola University School of Law, and the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, where he taught courses on the Voting Rights Act, Election Law and the Legislative Process.
In 2025, he was featured in the New York Times as a “Lawyer of Distinction” in the area of constitutional law, and one of Illinois’ “Leading Lawyers”, and has repeatedly qualified as one of Illinois’ “Super Lawyers.”
Mr. Kasper is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law and The University of Notre Dame. Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, he lives in Lincoln Park with his wife, Kerry, and their two daughters.
