women with light brown hair shoulder length, wearing glasses. She is wearing a black blazer with a white shirt underneath

LISA SCALF

team photo of womens softball team

black and white photo of Lisa with her husband and son.

Alumnus Snapshot:

Family:   Spouse: Corey Scalf 

                  Son: Brady Scalf

Education: AAS Criminal Justice '99; BA Administration of Justice; BS Accounting; JD

Current Employer: City of Macomb, IL

Community Organizations: McDonough County Bar Association, Macomb Little League

 

Her experience at Sandburg provided Lisa the confidence to pursue her career as an attorney:

Sandburg gave me a solid base to move forward with my education.  The small, close-knit campus community allowed me to excel and gain confidence.  I always knew I wanted to pursue my legal degree, and the solid education I received from Sandburg helped me achieve my goal.

 

For many Sandburg Students, athletics play an important role in their secondary education and create strong and lasting friendships. When our office asked Lisa what her favorite memory of Sandburg was, she responded with playing softball where she built friendships and camaraderie. She shares how her connection to Sandburg has continued after her departure:

I recommend to many people the financial and other advantages of junior college and encourage them to consider that path.

 

The SAA has received many different responses from alumni as to how their occupations have been effected during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Lisa's line of work specifically, she has experienced the pandemic as part of private practice as well as her in her position as city attorney during the various stages of reopening plans mandated by the state of Illinois:

Fortunately, we are considered essential so I have continued to work.  In private practice, I had a heavy court and travel load, so the pandemic certainly slowed that down and allowed me to focus more on office work and catching up on some matters.  Once I accepted the position with the City in early May, I have been addressing different matters pertaining to the City: drafting orders to allow outdoor dining, open meetings act considerations, return to work plans, reopening plan discussions.  As an attorney, we typically find our clients at their worst and are trying to help them move through a tough situation.  The pandemic has been just that except we find ourselves in that tough situation and we have to move through it making the best decisions we can.  It becomes more than just the practice; our whole lives have been affected and I think we have done a good job handling the challenges.