Jessica Arong O'Brien, a special assistant Illinois attorney general in the Department of Revenue, was installed July 24 as president of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Chicago Area.

A 1998 graduate of The John Marshall Law School, she was the first student to complete both the juris doctor and master of laws in taxation programs in three years. She also received an LL.M. in employee benefits with honors in 2002.

Co-chair of the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening, O'Brien is a member of the John Marshall Alumni Association executive committee. A native of Cebu City in the Philippines, she also serves on the board of the Filipino American Bar Association.

O'Brien is a hearing officer for the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, a real estate broker with O'Brien Realty and a mortgage broker with BMAC Mortgage.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan and L. Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, were featured speakers at the installation reception. Supreme Court Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald conducted the swearing-in ceremony.

Aurora N. Abella-Austriaco, a member of the ISBA Real Estate Law Section Council and secretary of the Chicago Bar Association, was mistress of ceremonies.