Allyson Christine Cox

Allyson Cox is a plaintiff-side civil litigation attorney in Chicago, driven by a desire to help real people in some of their most difficult times. Her practice focuses primarily on personal injury, medical negligence, and civil rights. Prior to joining the Smith LaCien team as an associate attorney, Allyson clerked for the firm, assisting on cases ranging from prisoner rights to business interruption. Before that, Allyson clerked for another Chicago litigation firm, assisting with their plaintiff-side caseload while studying for the October 2020 Illinois Bar Exam.

Allyson obtained her law degree cum laude in 2020 from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. As a law student, Allyson served as the External President of the Hastings Association of Youth Advocates, and a staff editor on Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. She also worked as a research assistant to Professor Lois A. Weithorn. Allyson spent her final semester of law school in Chicago, serving as an extern for the Honorable Justice Carl A. Walker at the Illinois First District Appellate Court.

Allyson grew up in Mundelein in the Northern Chicago suburbs with her parents and four siblings. Prior to attending law school, she received an undergraduate degree in Secondary English Education from the University of Kansas in 2017. While there, Allyson volunteered at several local schools and worked as an at-home teacher for a young woman with autism. Allyson is passionate about educational access and equity for all students and volunteers with Equip for Equality to provide pro bono legal services for students who have special needs in their Special Education Clinic, including providing representation at students' annual Individual Education Plan meetings, mediations related to educational accommodations, and administrative due process hearings.