Meet The Team

Aleks is a partner at Husch Blackwell representing colleges, universities, and schools all across the country on investigations, litigation, and compliance matters that stem from a broad spectrum of harassment, discrimination, and safety issues. These include advising on matters in response to internal and/or external complaints, as well as litigation claims following alleged student or employee misconduct involving criminal activity; minors on campus; and sex, race, disability, age, and national origin discrimination.

Aleks earned her J.D. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, summa cum laude and Order of the Coif and her B.S. in Elementary Education, summa cum laude, also from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Aleks is proud to be the eighth Serbian attorney in her family with four more members following her. She hopes one day that at least one of her sons can join the family industry.

Aleksandra is an associate at Husch Blackwell, focusing her practice on complex commercial litigation and toxic tort matters. A small portion of her practice involves patent and other intellectual property litigation, where she has worked most frequently on cases concerning generic prescriptive drug litigation. Aleksandra is also extensively involved with pro bono matters, which provide her with the opportunity to gain trial experience early in her career.

Aleksandra earned her J.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago, cum laude and her B.A. in Human Biology and Spanish from Indiana University Bloomington.

Aleksandra is proud to be the first attorney in her family.

Nikola is a photographer based in St. Louis, MO. From a very young age he was actively involved in the photography and videography business his father started decades ago. Working in the family business helped him develop a variety of professional skills and understand the intricacies of business ownership. What started as a mere hobby turned into passion. Nikola earned his first law degree from University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Law. He graduated from Saint Louis University School of Law as the first student ever to attend its 2-Year J.D. program. Nikola loves to dance salsa and tango. He considers himself to be patient and organized.

Ilijana is based in New Orleans, LA where she practices high-stakes personal-injury litigation in the maritime, offshore, and trucking industries. In the course of her career, Ilijana has represented a Fortune 500 company and has worked on complex pharmaceutical and products liability matters. Ilijana is also a seasoned appellate advocate, having authored numerous winning appeals at all levels, including at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Before joining private practice, Ilijana worked as a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Judge Ellen M. Hazeur at the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans. She has also authored several peer-reviewed papers and articles.

Ilijana is a licensed attorney in Louisiana, Texas, New York, and Washington D.C., and is admitted to multiple federal courts. In 2019, the National Jurist Magazine named Ilijana among Top 15 Foreign Attorneys and most successful LL.M. graduates in the United States. She is also a notary public and a mediator.

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Originally from Banja Luka (Republika Srpska), Ilijana came to the United States to pursue her post-graduate LL.M. studies and her passion for basketball. She earned her first LL.M. in U.S. Law from Saint Louis University School of Law while playing basketball for the SLU Billikens in the NCAA Division 1. She graduated magna cum laude and earned the Best LL.M. Student award. Thereafter, Ilijana graduated from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law with her second LL.M. in International Legal Studies and the third LL.M. in Civil Law—both summa cum laude.

Ilijana is fluent in Serbian, English, and Spanish, and has working proficiency in German. Before becoming an attorney, Ilijana played professional basketball in Europe.

Gabrielle serves as an Associate Director of Career Services and Academic Advising at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. She counsels students and alumni on all aspects of career planning, including job search strategies, resume and cover letter drafting and editing, interviewing skills, and provides individualized career and academic guidance. Gabrielle oversees and coordinates programming and communication for the Career Services Office. She previously worked as the Assistant Director of Admissions at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, and worked on recruiting initiatives and student matriculation efforts for the law school community.

Gabrielle received her Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Carthage College and her Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School.