Hon. Elizabeth A. Karkula joined the law firm of Gardiner Koch Weisberg & Wrona in January 2025. She is licensed in both Wisconsin and Illinois, including the Federal Bar and the Federal Tax Court. She presently handles civil and criminal matters, as well as transactional matters, in Wisconsin and in Illinois. In addition, Elizabeth Karkula handles governmental negotiations with various agencies and branches of government, federal and state.

Prior to joining GKWW, Elizabeth Karkula was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court as a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County in January 2016. During that time, she handled a variety of matters, including both criminal and civil proceedings.

Elizabeth Karkula was an attorney in private practice before her appointment to serve as Judge. She has represented clients in complex and delicate antitrust, governmental and dispute resolution matters, both domestically and internationally. She has handled complex multistate negotiations with the US Department of Justice involving historical CERCLA liability claims. As an attorney, retired Judge Karkula represented corporations in litigation, regulatory and transactional matters with the US, Great Britain, Europe, China, India, Russia/Estonia, South America and Australia. In addition, she has represented pro se litigants in a variety of matters, including both civil and domestic violence issues. She has done this on a pro bono basis.

Elizabeth Karkula also was the General Counsel for IBEW Local 134 in Chicago, Illinois, representing the Union in a wide range of issues, including collective bargaining negotiations, dispute resolution, arbitrations, and complex labor transactions and contracts with local, county and state governmental entities and other organized labor affiliates and organizations.

Retired Judge Karkula is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and DePaul University College of Law. She has also done advanced coursework at Oxford University, England, in Comparative Tort Litigation.