Burnham Lawyers

Earning his B.A. from St. Xavier College and his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School, Thomas M. Power brings extensive knowledge and experience as a partner at Power Rogers & Smith. Amidst the many large sum settlements and verdicts, he recovered the largest knee injury verdict in the history of Indiana. Outside of the courtroom, Mr. Smith serves as an adjunct professor at DePaul College of Law.

Chicago Workers Compensation attorney with over 25 years of experience. Illinois workers compensation and related work injury claims in Chicago and surrounding areas in Northern Illinois.

Plaintiff litigation firm concentrating in personal injury since 2009.

I am an Intellectual Property Attorney, who founded Drishti (“vision”) law because of my vision in protecting dreams and ideas. Drishti Law is a full-service Intellectual property law firm located in Chicago, Illinois. I am devoted to assisting clients identify and protect their competitive advantage by establishing a capitalization strategy that adapts to their needs. My expertise focuses on developing competent asset management strategies for innovators, creators, startups, and businesses.

Nathan Hakimi grew up in Skokie, Illinois, influenced by his attorney grandfather and psychologist parents, leading him to pursue a career in law. After earning his J.D. from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2017, he practiced at prominent firms like Sax Law LLC and HeplerBroom LLC, specializing in medical malpractice defense. He later worked at JPMorgan, handling complex corporate financing. In 2022, he founded a solo legal practice that eventually merged into the partnership of Kulek, Hakimi, & Katz in 2024. Nathan is known for his strategic and tactical approach in commercial litigation, business transactions, and negotiation. He is respected...

Jim Kane is a seasoned tax professional with more than 30 years of experience working with large and mid-sized companies on tax and incentive matters throughout the United States. Throughout his career, Jim has worked collaboratively with his clients to help them achieve significant financial benefits. Early in his career, Kane benefited from a long career with Arthur Andersen, gaining great training and experience, and developing a strong focus on developing and implementing processes to ensure service delivery quality and consistency. After launching Andersen’s Chicago property tax practice, Kane was instrumental in developing standards and processes for Andersen’s...

Unique to Ms. Taraska’s chosen career in personal injury law, she was the victim of a propane gas explosion, in which a commercial building collapsed on her, her mother, brother and a close family friend. The explosion left Taraska with extensive second and third degree burns early in her life. She was hospitalized for 3 months, during which she underwent skin grafting of her arms, legs, hands, and chest. Incredibly, a year prior to the explosion, Ms. Taraska’s father and a reconstructive surgeon opened the only downstate burn unit in Peoria where she was successfully treated despite the severity of...

Clarissa Rietveld was born in Iowa and raised in Rushville, Indiana. She received her Associate’s Degree in Nursing in 2009 and worked as a registered nurse in operating rooms across the Midwest and on the East Coast. While working as a nurse, Ms. Rietveld had a patient whose medical history documented that he did not have regular access to food and was starving. Ms. Rietveld spent the afternoon working with hospital social services to arrange for her patient to gain access to regular meals and was shocked to learn that he didn’t qualify for any of the available programs. She...

Ms. Kaplan graduated from Boston University in 1996 having received her bachelors degree in political science, and attended the John Marshall Law School.

Ms. Kaplan graduated from law school with a 3.5 GPA and after passing the bar in 2001, began practicing law with her father, Melvin J. Kaplan, renown bankruptcy lawyer for over 58 years and author of two books including, Chapter 13 How To Get Your Creditors Off Your Back Without Losing Your Shirt.

Ms. Kaplan has helped thousands of Chicago families save their homes, cars, and get a fresh start for over 15 years.

Ms. Kaplan is a member of...

My interest in the law began before attending law school. After attending college at the University of Illinois at Chicago (1996), Christopher worked one of the largest insurance companies in Illinois as an injury claims adjustor and later, a senior claims adjustor. After graduating from John Marshall Law School (2002), he worked as an insurance defense and divorce trial attorney. Since the start of his career as an attorney advocate, my practice focuses on divorce and other litigation matters including an active trial practice. My office handles matters in Cook County, Lake County, Will County, DuPage County...

Paul Ciesielski is dedicated to providing assistance to those that find themselves in need of help navigating the complicated area of personal injury law. Not everyone knows what to do following a Chicago car accident, truck crash, health care error, or other incident. Paul walks clients through the legal process step-by-step.

Paul received his B.S. from Indiana University. He earned his J.D. from the John Marshall Law School, where he gained valuable knowledge, as well as relevant experience outside of the classroom. While in school, he volunteered at JMLS Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic. The veterans he helped...

Carolyn Daley Scott joined Power Rogers & Smith as an associate in 2006. Obtaining a B.A. from Georgetown and a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law, Ms. Scott practices litigation in medical malpractice, automobile negligence, bicycle collision, premises liability, product liability, and defamation cases. She harnesses her knowledge and experience to secure justice for victims, and has won multiple large sum verdicts and settlements.

Athena Farmakis was born and raised in the Chicagoland area, graduated with a B.A. from Northwestern University, and received her law degree from DePaul University College of law. With over 25 years of litigation experience, Athena has tried 67 jury trials and hundreds of bench trials in complex and media-sensitive cases. Athena currently practices in all areas of personal injury including motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, product liability, construction accidents, animal attacks, negligent security, wrongful death, nursing home abuse and medical malpractice.

As a former prosecutor, Athena dedicated much of her legal career to serving the public for over 20 years...

I enjoy working with people to help bring better business ideas and technology into the world. I try to help people understand how the intellectual property legal system works and that it is a helpful tool, not an obstacle. I am committed to the long-term success of all my clients. I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science with high honors from the Illinois Institute of Technology. After working for over 5 years in software development and technology consulting, I earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Chicago-Kent College of Law in Chicago, Illinois....

Licensed attorney in Illinois since 1984 with an active civil litigation practice relating to complex injuries, premises liability, insurance coverage, construction claims, scaffold, crane and work platform matters, commercial litigation, intellectual property and other legal concerns. Past Chair of the Illinois State Bar Association's Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council. Past Chair of the Illinois State Bar Association's Standing Committee on Professional Conduct. Recipient of Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation's Distinguished Service Award. Frequent lecturer and author.

Ryan Stephan is a founding partner of Stephan Zouras, LLP. Ryan represents people from all walks of life in class and individual civil litigation. Specifically, Ryan has helped thousands of clients recover damages in cases involving unpaid overtime, employment disputes, business litigation, products liability and personal injury. Ryan has successfully tried cases to verdict including obtaining a $9,000,000 verdict on behalf of 200 employees who were misclassified and denied overtime pay. Ryan has also served as lead or co-lead counsel on numerous complex class and collective action cases involving wage and hour matters and has helped...

Kevin is the Co-Chair of the Insurance Recovery Group at Barnes & Thornburg. He is a litigator and trial lawyer, having focused his practice for more than 20 years on insurance recovery on behalf of policyholders, complex commercial litigation, and claim/dispute-related counseling. He represents policyholders and other commercial parties throughout the United States and abroad, having recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for policyholders. Kevin represents policyholders in a wide range of insurance coverage disputes, including long-tail environmental, toxic tort and asbestos claims under general liability policies; losses stemming from natural and man-made disasters under first-party and business...

Dragan is an Illinois-licensed attorney with international reach and experience. Driven to study law to help people, Dragan is licensed to practice in the state court of Illinois, as well as the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. For his trademark clients, Dragan is authorized to represent them before the USPTO Trademark Office as well as the TTAB. He also is authorized to practice before the International Criminal Court, the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, and the State Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has been authorized to appear pro hac vice...

Gregg focuses his practice in the areas of probate administration and litigation, estate planning, elder law, and real estate. In addition, Gregg is a guardian ad litem appointed by the Circuit Court of Cook County, not only in the probate area, but other divisions including domestic relations division and law division.

Gregg is an active member of the legal community, where he is serving or has served in several leadership roles within the Illinois Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association. Gregg is a past Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Probate Practice Committee, where he served two years as Chair....

Along with his years of experience, Lake County divorce attorney Van A. Schwab has a solid educational basis for his divorce and family law practice. After receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, he received his law degree from Southern Illinois University School of Law. Because of recent, up-to-date training, Mr. Schwab is a certified divorce mediator, and is prepared to handle family law issues through collaborative law methods. He has published an article on cohabitation in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. Licensed to practice family law in the states of Florida, Illinois, and New Jersey, he...

Kathleen C. Chavez, founding partner of Foote, Mielke, Chavez & O’Neil, LLC, earned her Juris Doctor degree in 1998 from Northwestern University School of Law. Chavez is a nationally recognized civil litigator with a reputation for obtaining exceptional results in challenging cases. She is a results-driven, highly focused “problem-solver” with an unmatched ability to strategically frame critical issues, develop innovative solutions and negotiate outstanding results for her clients. She is admitted to practice law in California, Illinois and Washington D.C., as well as various federal courts, the Federal Trial Bar and the United States Federal Court of Claims.

Mr. Thacker is an attorney at the law offices of GWC Injury Lawyers LLC. With more than 30 years of experience and a proven track record of success, Stephen is a valued asset to our law firm. If you require comprehensive legal counsel in Illinois, contact Mr. Thacker today at (312) 464-1234 or toll free at (800) 464-4772.

Joseph D. Parente is a Chicago personal injury attorney with extensive litigation experience. He has represented injured persons in the Chicago area for many years, including injured members of the Cook County Forest Preserve, the Fraternal Order of the Police, Electrician’s Union, Carpenter’s Union, Plumber’s Union, and Pipefitter’s Union.

Personal injury attorney Joseph Parente earned his law degree from Loyola University School of Law in Chicago, Illinois. Attorney Parente was awarded his Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from the Loyola University in Chicago.

He has represented injured persons in the Chicago area for many years, including injured members of the...

Habib Wardak is a business law attorney focusing on corporate law, commercial transactions, commercial real estate matters, and international business transactions. Habib counsels clients at all stages of business and real estate development, and helps clients develop strategy for optimizing business affairs and achieving business goals.

Attorney Damon Mathias and Attorney Ori Raphael are the Dallas personal injury lawyers at MR Civil Justice. Together, they bring extensive experience to the areas of personal injury. Damon and Ori have handled complex personal injury cases. This wide range of knowledge allows the firm to handle even the most complicated cases for clients throughout Dallas and Chicago. Damon and Ori are always determined to help clients reach the most favorable outcomes possible. Call MR Civil Justice today to begin your case.