Mr. Franke is of counsel to the Firm's Religious and Not-for-Profit practice, serving religious and other tax-exempt organizations, with emphasis in alternative dispute resolution proceedings.
Mr. Franke graduated from Amherst College in 1972 (magna cum laude, economics) and from the University of Wisconsin Law School (cum laude) in 1975. After several years of practice in general litigation, he became the founding executive director of the Catholic Charities Housing Development Corporation, through which the Archdiocese of Chicago developed and operated several not-for-profit senior housing and health care facilities serving nearly 1,000 persons. In 1989, he was abruptly tapped to serve as Commissioner of Aviation for the City of Chicago (the owner and operator of O'Hare and Midway airports). He left that position in 1992 to join the Transportation Center at Northwestern University, where he organized and conducted executive education programs in many areas of transportation and logistics science and practice, as well as participating in various research initiatives and other academic programs. Against this varied background, Mr. Franke became of counsel to the Firm in 2004.