The award recognizes Chicago-area litigators and trial attorneys for significant professional achievements, community service or pro bono work, and for their leadership and mentoring.

Yingling has had significant and leading roles in recent high-profile cases related to voting rights and transgender legal rights. He collaborated with the Brennan Center for Justice to successfully challenge the constitutionality of Ohio’s gerrymandered legislative maps through 2021-2022. The Ohio Supreme Court invalidated the maps five times. In another high-profile matter from 2021, he collaborated with the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund to represent three transgender women in a successful challenge to a Pennsylvania law that prevented people with felonies from changing their names.

Yingling manages a heavy caseload in jurisdictions across the country. In the past 18 months, he has briefed or argued appeals and dispositive motions in numerous appellate courts, including the Second Circuit, Seventh Circuit, Ninth Circuit, Appellate Court of Illinois, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, Pennsylvania Superior Court, Ohio Supreme Court, and the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Highly regarded by his peers, Yingling received the Chicago Bar Association’s Exceptional Young Lawyer Award in 2022 for his dedication and commitment to representing pro bono clients who were adjudicated not guilty by reason of insanity and required to spend years in state hospitals even after they regained their mental health and stability.

In addition to his thriving appellate practice and pro bono work, Yingling devotes significant time to mentoring a diverse group of junior attorneys and provides pro bono opportunities for a number of the firm’s associates.

Yingling is also active in professional organizations, including the Chicago Bar Association, Seventh Circuit Bar Association, Third Circuit Bar Association, and American Bar Association.

The 2023 Notable Litigators and Trial Attorneys is available on the Crain’s Chicago Business website.