Champaign County Business Directory

Denise Knipp Bates became an associate at Thomas, Mamer & Haughey, LLP in 2007. She concentrates her practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning, estate administration, business law, elder law, Medicaid planning, and tax appeals.

Denise graduated a James Scholar from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2000, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and speech communications with a minor in Spanish. She received her juris doctorate from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2003, with a concentration in trial advocacy. In 2003, she was admitted to the Illinois Bar and was admitted to practice law in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. During law school, she served as captain of the Niagara International Moot Court Team, competed in the Intraschool Moot Court Competition, and was on the National Moot Court Team, where she advanced to the National Competition.

She is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Champaign County Bar Association, and the East Central Illinois Women Attorneys Association, where she served as the President for two years. She is also a member of the Champaign County Association of Realtors and the Executive Club of Champaign County.  In 2006, she won the ECIWAA Service Award.  In 2008, she was a winner of the Central Illinois Business Magazine\'s \"40 Under 40.\"  She is currently the President-Elect of the Junior League of Champaign-Urbana and the Vice President of the Eastern Illinois Estate Planning Council.