Irene B. Vander Els is counsel at Wilson Morton & Downs. She is an experienced civil litigator and represents local government entities and officials, as well as individual and business clients. Prior to joining the Law Department, Ms. Vander Els served as Senior Assistant County Attorney in the Infrastructure Group of DeKalb County Law Department, providing legal counsel to several county agencies and officials, including the DeKalb County Board of Registrations and Elections.

Irene earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from The Ohio State University, where she graduated with honors in the liberal arts and distinction in Anthropology, and earned her Juris Doctorate from Florida State University College of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude.  Following law school, Irene served as a law clerk to the Honorable Orinda D. Evans, Judge of the United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia. Irene then practiced securities litigation at an AMLAW top 100 law firm, as well as business litigation with an emphasis in real estate matters at a leading commercial real estate firm. Irene is an active member of both the Georgia and Florida Bar and is admitted to practice law in the federal, state and appellate courts of Georgia.