As General Counsel, Nadine Lacombe is the chief legal counsel for Argonne National Laboratory. Nadine joined Argonne in 2023.

With over 25 years of experience as an attorney, Nadine has a depth of experience working with government agencies across legal disciplines and representing a range of private and public sector clients.

Before joining Argonne, Nadine was the General Counsel for the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) of northeastern Illinois for 10 years, where she was the chief legal counsel for the Board of Directors, executives, and staff. There she managed and supervised the Legal & Compliance department which included Procurement, Facilities and Audit in addition to the core legal and regulatory functions. She provided counsel on matters including defense and prosecution of litigation, transactional and corporate matters and municipal finance, and trained the Board of Directors and staff. Nadine worked with the RTA’s fellow transit agencies: the CTA, Metra, and PACE systems, on a variety of system-wide legal matters. While at the RTA she founded the Truth Initiative intended to put antiracism and equity into practice within the RTA and in the RTA’s work with the community.

Previously, Nadine was the General Counsel for the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, providing legal support on a variety of statewide transactional and litigation issues.

Nadine was also the Director of Diversity for all offices of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, LLP, and later for SidleyAustin, LLP, where she managed staff, worked on policy for retention, recruitment and inclusion, budget oversight, and mentoring and training for the executive committee, partners and associates on diversity, equity, and inclusion matters. Prior to that, she was the Illinois Department of Transportation Deputy Director for the Office of Business and Workforce Diversity, where she carried out the supervision of the Civil Rights and Small Business Enterprise Bureaus.

Nadine Lacombe is a member of the Bar of the State of Illinois, the American Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Haitian American Lawyers Association, and the Railroad Insurance Management Association. Nadine earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School.