Staff

John came out of retirement to be Legal Action Chicago’s first Director. He had retired in 2020 as the president of the Shriver Center on Poverty Law. In a long career as a poverty-fighting lawyer, he was a leader in the design and implementation of positive aspects of Illinois’ new welfare law in 1997, and he spearheaded the statewide efforts in Illinois to create both the FamilyCare program, which provides health care insurance for up to up to 400,000 working poor parents of minor children, and All Kids, the first state plan to extend health coverage to every child.

He has consulted and co-counseled with advocates in many states; helped draft numerous pieces of legislation; given hundreds of presentations; published extensively; and served as lead or co-lead counsel in numerous federal and state cases, including Memisovski v. Maram, which established substantial reforms in children’s health care in Illinois. He led litigation that compelled ongoing payments for health care during the Illinois budget impasse in 2015-17. He was chair of the Responsible Budget Coalition for many years, including for the effort to win a constitutional amendment to establish a progressive income tax.

John’s role with Legal Action Chicago is a return to roots for him. Before joining the Shriver Center in 1996, he worked for two decades at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago (then the name of Legal Aid Chicago), where he supervised public benefits advocacy. Among his honors, he has received the Sargent Shriver Equal Justice Award from the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, the Kutak-Dodds Prize from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award from the American Bar Association’s Litigation Section, Child Health Advocate Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service Award from the United States District Court and Federal Bar Association. A 1975 graduate of Valparaiso University School of Law and former board member of the Chicago Transit Authority, John currently serves on the boards of Illinois Partners for Human Service, the Center for Law and Social Policy (Washington DC), and RRF Foundation for Aging.

John can be reached at jbouman@legalactionchicago.org

Lawrence has been a civil legal services provider for more than thirty years. He came to Legal Aid Chicago in 1990, and was a staff attorney, senior attorney, neighborhood office supervisor, and practice group director before becoming the supervising attorney in Legal Action Chicago.

For more than twenty years he has also been a Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School, where he teaches a seminar on housing and poverty law. In a speech to the Chicago chapter of The Federalist Society, Justice Antonin Scalia dismissed this seminar as a “waste of time.”

Lawrence has won The New Yorker’s Cartoon Caption Contest a record-setting seven times.

Lawrence can be reached at lwood@legalactionchicago.org

Dan Schneider is a nationally- recognized attorney, policy advocate, and campaign strategist. He has successfully led high-impact litigation and policy initiatives to improve the lives of people living in poverty.

Dan served as class counsel in Oliver v. Chicago Housing Authority, a landmark federal class action challenging the Authority's overcharging its residents for rent. He was also instrumental in securing the establishment of major discount rate programs for every major gas, electric, and water utility in Illinois between 2023-2025, and has led efforts to pass state laws to protect consumers, domestic violence survivors, and children facing eviction.

Beyond the courtroom, Dan has played key roles in a number of campaigns, leveraging his legal and policy acumen to drive successful electoral and legislative outcomes. He collaborates closely with community groups, civil legal service providers, and government stakeholders to identify and address pressing issues that harm people and communities.

Dan can be reached at dschneider@legalactionchicago.org.

Lindsay graduated from New York University School of Law in 2013, and spent her first six years of practice as an attorney at the Roger Baldwin Foundation of the ACLU. She then joined the Children and Family Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago before moving to Legal Action Chicago in October of 2024.

Lindsay can be reached at lsmiller@legalactionchicago.org

Periwinkle is a current MPH student studying Health Policy and Administration at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a 2025 graduate from the University of Michigan, where they majored in Women's and Gender Studies. During their time at the University of Michigan, Peri conducted research on higher education LGBTQ+ health services and higher education DEI policies and worked as a peer educator and First-Year Prevention Programming Coordinator at the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center. Throughout their studies and work, Peri has been dedicated to improving the health and wellness of marginalized communities through health policy, in particular for LGBTQ+ communities.
        Periwinkle's guiding motto in life is "do no harm," which extends from the interpersonal to the community. In their free time, Peri loves to read, make art, cook, be active, and frolic in nature. They value human connection and play, and love laughing with those around them.