How A Financially Savvy Lawyer Can Substantially Increase Their Value to Clients (2025 Edition)

Chaka Patterson | Alston & Bird LLP

Chaka Patterson has over three decades of experience in corporate government and private practice. He served as senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary at a global education corporation where he led a team of 30 and guided the business development, M&A transactions, investor relations, corporate governance, risk and compliance, and litigation functions. He was the chief of the Civil Actions Bureau for Cook County’s State’s Attorney in Illinois where he managed a team of 100 lawyers defending the county and its officeholders and employees in civil suits. Chaka also served as an assistant attorney general and chief of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office Special Litigation Bureau, where he prosecuted civil and criminal fraud cases, including health care fraud, securities fraud, complex consumer fraud, charitable trust fraud, and False Claims Act cases.

Chaka’s private practice experience as a partner in two Am Law 100 law firms includes representing clients in complex business and commercial litigation, white-collar criminal defense involving state attorneys general investigations, and internal investigations.

Chaka’s background includes:

• Partner at Alston & Bird
• Former General Counsel of a Fortune 1000 Global Education Company
• Former Treasurer & VP for Investor Relations of a Fortune 100 Energy Company
• JD from Harvard Law School and MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business

I. Importance of Accounting & Finance in Legal Contexts | 1:00pm – 1:20pm

• How financial statements influence legal decisions and negotiations

II. Understanding the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow Statement | 1:20pm – 1:40pm

• How financial statements influence legal decisions and negotiations

III. Other Major Financial Statements| 1:40pm – 2:00pm

• Annual Report/10-K and the Proxy Statement

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

IV. Deep Dive into Accounting Basics | 2:10pm – 2:40pm

• Basics of accounting
• Advanced topics such as accrual vs. cash accounting and GAAP v. Non GAAP

V. Practical Navigation of Financial Statements | 2:40pm – 3:10pm

• Step-by-step analysis of a sample financial statement