I have practiced law since 1976 after graduating with honors from New York University School of Law, where I was the Managing Editor of the N.Y.U. Law Review. Thereafter I served for two years as a law clerk to Judge William J. Bauer of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, Illinois. Following my tenure with Judge Bauer, I had the rare privilege of serving as a law clerk to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger of the Supreme Court of the United States. When my clerkship with the Chief Justice ended, I joined the Chicago law firm of Rothschild, Barry & Myers, where I remained until starting my own practice in August of 2003.
Since finishing my clerkships I have been primarily engaged in complex civil litigation matters, including commercial insurance coverage and other contractual disputes, constitutional challenges to various state and federal statutes, securities and commodities litigation, as well as consumer fraud and other class actions. However, I also have served for many years as co-counsel to a Teamsters pension fund, which I continue to represent, and as General Counsel to NORTRAN, a North Suburban mass transit agency, until the assumption of its bus operations by PACE. From time to time, I have been retained as a consultant to other attorneys with business before the Supreme Court of the United States and have been a Special Assistant Attorney General who represented the People of the State of Illinois in litigation over the pollution of Lake Michigan.
One reason for leaving my prior firm was a desire to diversify my practice. In recent years I have developed an interest in representing homeowners and businesses in property tax assessment appeals, and I am hopeful that this will become a significant, though not exclusive, part of my practice. I believe that my professional background and experience provides me with a very solid foundation on which to provide clients with excellent representation in this field, and I look forward to helping them reduce the burden of their real property taxes. To better serve them, I have an office in Chicago located right across the street from the Cook County Assessor and the Board of Review, as well as a satellite office in Oak Park to serve the western suburbs.
On a more personal note, I am 54 and have been married to my wife, Therese, for 30 years. God has blessed us with two sons and two daughters. We live in Oak Park, Illinois and have resided there since the late 1970s. I grew up in a large family in the upstate New York community of Binghamton, graduated from a high school seminary in Monroe, Virginia near Lynchburg, and received my undergraduate degree from Loyola University of Chicago. Before entering law school, I served on the legislative staff of the President of the Illinois State Senate for three years and obtained a graduate degree from the University of Illinois at Springfield.
I am proud to advise that Martindale, Hubbell--a highly regarded directory and rating service for lawyers-- has awarded me its highest ratings for both legal ability and professional ethics. My AV rating reflects that I offer my clients "the highest levels of skill and integrity." You may verify this at
www.martindale.com .