Firm History
I started my practice at the Illinois State Appellate Defender Office (June 1984) writing appeals for indigent defendants. I went into private practice in 1985; my case load included both civil and criminal matters. Many of my criminal cases over the years have had civil consequences or vice versa. I served as a hearing officer for the City of Chicago for a number of years and currently serve as an arbitration hearing officer for the Circuit Court of Cook County in its mandatory arbitration program along with my private practice.
Prior to becoming an attorney I was a social worker specializing in people in crisis. I worked with couples involved in domestic violence, drug addicts, alcoholics, homeless individuals and the wandering mentally ill. I did short and long term counseling. Additionally I was trained in, and performed as a mitigation specialist writing alternative sentencing plans in Wisconsin and Illinois. I served in Juvenile Court for a summer proposing and creating alternative sentencing plans for families in the area of abuse and neglect.