Brian M. Funk

Brian Funk is a partner at OKGC Law, LLC and the managing partner of OKGC’s Southern Illinois office located in the St. Louis Metro East. Brian has been with the firm since 2010. During that time, Brian has successfully represented OKGC’s clients in a wide range of legal matters in both state and federal courts throughout Illinois. Brian has also argued numerous appeals in the Illinois appellate courts, including the Illinois Supreme Court. Brian is a member of the Illinois Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association.

Areas of Focus

• Appellate Practice
• General Tort and Civil Litigation
• Insurance Defense
• Governmental Entities Law and Liability Defense
• Employment Law
• Land Use Law
• Election Law

Education

• John Marshall Law School, LL.M. in Real Estate, 2009 (with Honors)
• St. Louis University School of Law, J.D., 2002
• University of Illinois, B.S., 1999 (Dean’s List, Member of Illinois Baseball team)

Representative Cases

• Bruns v. City of Centralia, 2014 IL 116998—Obtained summary judgment on behalf of the City of Centralia based on the “open and obvious” doctrine and then obtained unanimous decision from the Illinois Supreme Court in which the Court limited the “distraction” exception to the “open and obvious” doctrine by excluding self-created distractions.
• Wisnasky-Bettorf v. Pierce, 2012 IL 111253—Obtained unanimous decision from the Illinois Supreme Court related to the statutory interpretation of Section 7-61 of the Illinois Election Code, which governs the filling of vacancies in nomination by political parties.

Publications

• Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education Election Law Handbook, Chapter 4 - Judicial Review of Electoral Board Decisions (2012).

Admissions

• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
• Illinois
• Missouri