Evan B. Elsner

Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor of Law

Phone
(312) 503-1567

Email
evan.elsner@law.northwestern.edu

Curriculum Vitae (pdf)

Biography

Evan B. Elsner is an experienced appellate advocate who has briefed and argued cases at all levels of Illinois state court, as well as in Illinois’s federal district courts and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. A graduate of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (’12), Professor Elsner began his career handling complex civil litigation matters at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, before serving as an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Appeals Division of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General. As an AAG, Professor Elsner's practice focused on the intersection of criminal and constitutional law. He handled criminal appeals in the Illinois Supreme Court, constitutional challenges to state criminal statutes, 28 U.S.C. § 2254 federal habeas corpus proceedings, and direct appeals under Illinois's Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act.

Professor Elsner's practical familiarity with written and oral advocacy at all levels guides his approach to the Communication and Legal Reasoning course at Northwestern Law. He returned to the Northwestern Law faculty in fall 2026, after two years as a visiting assistant professor at the Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he taught courses in legal writing and statutory interpretation. He previously served as a visiting clinical assistant professor of law at Northwestern from 2021-2023.

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