Brianna Serrano is an Associate at Baker Law Group LLC, where she focuses on construction and design law. Before entering the legal profession, she worked in architecture and project management. That experience gives her firsthand knowledge of how design and construction projects move from planning through completion and helps her address the legal and business issues clients encounter along the way.
Brianna earned her J.D. from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law and her Bachelor of Architecture from the Syracuse University School of Architecture. Her architectural training informs her understanding of construction documents, design coordination, technical requirements, and the responsibilities of the professionals involved in a project.
Before entering the legal profession, Brianna spent five years at HDR, a global architecture and engineering firm, in architectural design and project management roles. As an Assistant Project Manager, she coordinated teams across more than a dozen architecture and engineering disciplines, as well as outside consultants. She worked on project scope, budgets, schedules, contract administration, change orders, requests for information, and closeout. Her projects included healthcare, science and technology, correctional, federal, and mission-critical facilities.
At Baker Law Group, Brianna draws on that experience to understand how contract terms and risk allocation affect design responsibilities, coordination, schedules, budgets, and changes during a project.
Brianna became interested in law while studying architecture. At the Illinois Capital Development Board, she worked on the design of a state facility required by court order. At MJM+A Architects in New York City, she reviewed construction documents for a managing principal serving as an expert witness, analyzed code and design issues, and communicated technical findings to litigation teams. She also worked at the Law Offices of Manuel Rivera, Esq. & Associates, assisting Spanish-speaking clients and preparing motions, briefs, and other legal filings.
While working at HDR, Brianna relocated to Chicago to attend Chicago-Kent’s part-time evening J.D. program. She earned a Certificate in Environmental and Energy Law and spent four semesters at the Greater Chicago Legal Clinic, working on industrial facility compliance, remediation, permitting, and utility regulation. She served as an Associate Editor of the Chicago-Kent Journal of Environmental and Energy Law and as Student Liaison to the Chicago Bar Association’s Construction Law and Mechanics Lien Subcommittee, where she presented case law updates and helped coordinate programming. Her writing on Illinois construction law has appeared in the Illinois State Bar Association Construction Law Newsletter.
Brianna is fluent in Spanish and continues to pursue architectural licensure, having completed NCARB’s Architectural Experience Program requirements and two divisions of the Architect Registration Examination.
