About Jennifer Bunker
Jennifer Bunker Skerston earned her law degree from Michigan State University in 2009, completing a concentration in environmental and natural resources law. She arrived at law school after finishing a Bachelor of Arts at DePaul University in 2006, where she studied American literature and history and added a minor in professional writing. The combination of humanities and technical legal training shaped her early interests and approach to practice.
Her first position after law school was at Zukowski Law Offices in 2010. That role gave her hands-on experience on a variety of matters and introduced her to litigation and client counseling in Illinois courts. In 2016 she served as a law clerk to Justice Robert Carter at the Third District Appellate Court. The clerkship exposed her to appellate procedure, opinion drafting and legal research at the state appellate level.
Skerston later joined the Law Offices of Reilly & Skerston. She practices there as a lawyer, bringing the practical courtroom experience from her early career together with the appellate perspective she gained on the bench. Her trajectory through a small firm, a clerkship and private practice has given her familiarity with both trial-level and appellate work.
Her involvement in the legal community runs parallel to her practice. She has served as secretary of the LaSalle County Bar Association since 2018. She also holds an editorial role with the Illinois State Bar Association beginning in 2012 and continuing to the present. Those positions keep her engaged with local and statewide bar activities and with the profession’s resources for practitioners.
Colleagues describe her work style as methodical and plainspoken. She approaches legal writing with an eye toward clarity, a trait traceable to her undergraduate minor in professional writing. The appellate clerkship sharpened that skill, particularly in preparing legal analyses and drafting memoranda that respond to higher court standards.
Skerston’s educational background in environmental and natural resources law informs the types of questions she addresses in her practice and in client counseling. She combines that grounding with experience from private practice and appellate work. She currently practices at the Law Offices of Reilly & Skerston, LLC, where her work includes environmental and natural resources law.
