Faculty bios
Judge J. Imani Drew
On July 22, 2016, J. Imani Drew was appointed as an associate judge of the Circuit Court of Kankakee County. Judge Drew is our lead instructor in Laws of Evidence. She earned her undergraduate degree from Illinois State University in political science and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa College of Law. After graduation, she was awarded a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellowship and selected to work with Prairie State Legal Services in Kankakee.
Following the fellowship, Judge Drew worked as an attorney for the Kankakee County State’s Attorney, City of Kankakee, and Illinois Attorney General’s offices. Prior to becoming a judge, she was chief of the Aggravated Traffic Crimes division of the Kankakee County Public Defender’s Office.
As an assistant state’s attorney, Judge Drew worked in partnership with law enforcement and agencies providing victim services. She served as a past president of Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence—Harbor House, trained volunteers for the Kankakee County Center Against Sexual Assault, and developed the protocol for videotaping of child victims of sexual assault and abuse for the Children’s Advocacy Center.
She is a member of the Kankakee County Bar Association (past secretary); National Bar Association; Society of Women in Law; and the Illinois State Bar Association. She also is on the Advisory Board for KCC's Paralegal/Legal Assistant Studies Program and in 2014 was inducted into the KCC chapter of Lambda Epsilon Chi National Honor Society in Paralegal/Legal Assistant Studies for her service to the program.
Chief Judge Michael D. Kramer
The Honorable Michael D. Kramer is our lead instructor in Family Law. Judge Kramer earned a bachelor's degree, MBA, and law degrees from the University of Illinois and was a partner in the Kankakee law firm of Blanke, Norden, Barmann, Kramer & Bohlen, P.C. He was first appointed to the bench in 2002 and has been reappointed for subsequent four-year terms since that time. In 2016, he was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to complete the unexpired term of Circuit Judge Kendall Wenzelman, and he was elected to a full six-year term as Circuit Judge in November 2016. He was elected to a two-year term as Chief Judge of the Twenty-first Judicial Circuit in December 2016.
Chief Judge Kramer is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Kankakee since 1989 and treasurer from 2003 to present. His past community involvement includes the Kankakee Area Chamber of Commerce (board chair); Kankakee Valley Park District (commissioner and board president); Community Foundation of Kankakee River Valley (board chair); Kankakee YMCA volunteer; Kankakee Public Library volunteer; church Eucharistic minister; and Prairie State Legal Services (including volunteer of the year). In 2016, Chief Judge Kramer was inducted into the KCC Chapter of Lambda Epsilon Chi National Honor Society in Paralegal/Legal Assistant Studies for his service to the program.
Dana M. Meyer
Dana M. Meyer is a partner with Marek, Meyer, & Coghlan, Ltd., in Kankakee, practicing primarily in civil litigation. She currently serves as our lead instructor in Civil Litigation. Meyer received her legal education from Valparaiso University School of Law and her undergraduate education from KCC and Valparaiso University with concentrations in history, political science and geography.
Meyer is a member of the Kankakee County Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel and Defense Research Institute. In 2004, Meyer was inducted into the KCC chapter of the Lambda Epsilon Chi National Honor Society in Paralegal/Legal Assistant Studies for her service to the program.
Brian D. Scott
Brian D. Scott joined Barmann, Bohlen & Jacobi, P.C. in May of 2016, concentrating his practice on business law, commercial transactions, real estate, estate planning, and probate law. Scott serves as our lead instructor in real estate law. Prior to beginning his legal career, he was a detective in a major crimes unit at a department in Colorado. A 2007 alumnus of Colorado State University, he earned his law degree summa cum laude from Southern Illinois University College of Law in 2015. He is a member of the Illinois State and Kankakee County Bar Associations and KCC's Paralegal/Legal Assistant Studies Advisory Committee.