MEET BRYAN ENDRES

When Bryan Endres graduated from high school, he knew he wanted to "break the mold" of going to a traditional four-year school. So he enrolled at West Point , graduated with a B.S. in economics, and then served as an Army officer for five years.

While he was stationed in Heidelberg , Germany , he attended Bowie State University (part of the University of Maryland system "with much better scenery") and obtained a master's degree in administrative management. Although he considered a career on Wall Street, he realized law appealed to him more, so upon his discharge from the Army, he returned to his home state and attended the University Of Illinois College of Law.

After graduation, he clerked for a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington . A year later, he joined the international law firm of Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Phoenix , Arizona , and spent two years in corporate litigation.

Although Endres found litigation interesting, biotechnology in agriculture had piqued his interest early in law school.

"Biotechnology was just starting to be a big thing," he said. "It caught my attention. Learning about biotech in agriculture was my inroad into the realm of agricultural law. I needed the experience of practicing law before I could fully talk about it in an academic setting, but I always knew I wanted to work in a position like this."

Today, Endres is an assistant professor of agricultural law in the department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics. He created a course on the law and regulation of biotechnology for budding geneticists, "to help them understand the implications of what they're doing." His research focuses on biotechnology and intellectual property rights, and eventually finds its way into law review articles. It also allows him to identify issues with the law and regulations that regulators need to address. Finally, Endres presents his research to farmers, farm organizations, commodity groups and other attorneys who represent farmers. He wants to help them, if possible, avoid legal problems altogether. “It is almost always better to identify a potential issue and negotiate a resolution than take a dispute to court.”

Endres joined farmdoc in 2003, and although his expertise is in biotechnology, he finds most of his contributions to farmdoc have been in the area of general law as it relates to land use issues.

"There have been a lot of current events that come out of Illinois that require more immediate attention, and I write law-based articles on those. For instance, an article on the Recreational Use Act and landowner liability is of more immediate importance to farmers and landowners than biotech regulations."

Endres has been married for sixteen years, and his wife, Jody, is also an attorney. "She enjoys agricultural law issues as well, so we talk about that a lot."

Outside of work, Bryan enjoys backpacking and admits to being a big fan of baseball.

"The backpacking probably grew out of my time in the Army. I just enjoy being able to get out and walk, see great sights, do some thinking. Even though our backpacks are always way too heavy and uncomfortable, I think I've convinced my wife it's a good idea. It can be a lot of fun."

As for baseball, Endres would love to see a minor league team in Champaign "in my lifetime, but that's probably not going to happen."  Endres grew up in Homewood-Flossmoor, a southern suburb of Chicago , and confesses to being a White Sox fan, "a minority in this department," he says. And with the typical optimism of a true fan, he adds, "I think this will be a good year." 

To learn more about Bryan Endres, visit his homepage here.