April 1, 2025

City Club event description:

Speaker
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, born in Chicago to Haitian immigrants, brings a lifetime of legal experience and advocacy to the office. Attorney General Raoul launched his legal career as a Cook County prosecutor. Thereafter, he successively opened a general law practice, served as a higher education attorney for City Colleges of Chicago, and became a partner at two national corporate law firms.

In 2019, Raoul was sworn in as Illinois’ 42nd Attorney General. He took the oath to serve a second term as the state’s chief legal officer in January 2023. His office works to prevent consumer fraud, contend with crime and corruption, safeguard children, preserve the environment, defend the rights of individuals, and ultimately protect the interests of the State of Illinois and its residents.

City Club video

Attorney General Raoul has combatted the scourge of gun violence in Illinois by prosecuting gun trafficking cases, developing a crime-gun-tracing database, defending the assault weapons ban, and successfully advancing legislation to hold accountable bad actors in the gun industry. Moreover, his office routinely trains law enforcement entities and constituents on the Illinois Firearms Restraining Order Act, conducts threat assessment trainings on targeted violence, and fights to enact and uphold legislation that promotes community safety.

Equally unceasing has been Attorney General Raoul’s advocacy of policies that protect and provide for survivors of gun violence. His office administers numerous programs on behalf of survivors, such as the Crime Victims Compensation Program and the Violent Crime Victims Assistance Grant.