Amir Azaran is an attorney at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP in Chicago, IL where he focuses on structuring, drafting and negotiating information technology and outsourcing related contracts.  After getting an undergraduate degree in engineering from the University of Illinois, Amir received his M.S. from the University of Colorado, Boulder and then worked for several years as an engineer in the aerospace and IT industries. After engineering, he choose to obtain his J.D. degree and graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 2006.  While in law school, he served as executive editor of the Chicago Journal of International Law.  

Outside of his normal practice, Amir serves on the Board of Trustees for the Chicago Persian School, where his daughter is currently learning Persian.  He also teaches junior high kids in a lower-income neighborhood about legal topics as part of the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago's “Lawyers in the Classroom” program.  Amir also undertakes important pro bono matters, including an asylum case for an Afghan man who the Taliban pursued due to his affiliation with the US military.  His client five months in jail while the U.S. Department of Homeland Security contested his asylum application.  Amir believes that the day of his client’s hearing and the judge’s granting of asylum will “probably remain as the most memorable day of my legal career.”

In his own words, Amir believes, “we should remember that our strength as a community is amplified when we trust each other, organize, and get involved with issues that are important to us.  It doesn't have to be grandiose... It can be as simple as sending a letter to your congress-person regarding an issue, or conducting a workshop to teach the elders of our community about legal issues.  In short: organize, work together, and get involved!”