Chestnut Lawyers

Scott W. Brammer grew up in Crystal Lake, Illinois. He attended Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. After graduating from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1992, where he earned his Juris Doctor degree, Mr. Brammer was admitted to practice law in the State of Illinois. That same year, he was also admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Scott has spent over 30 years as an attorney in McHenry concentrating on Family Law, Residential and...

Henry B. Samuels is a member of Samuels & Bernstein in Highland Park, Illinois. He has a wide ranging practice and represents clients in a wide variety of litigation matters before Federal and State Courts as well as administrative agencies. With over 30 years of experience, Mr. Samuels has achieved tremendous results both at trial and through settlement. Mr. Samuels criminal practice includes representation of clients charged with Felonies, DUI’s, Misdemeanors, Traffic and Ordinance Violations. His areas of concentration include but are not limited to representing individuals in civil litigation matters, residential and commercial real estate transactions, and small businesses...

Upon his graduation from Drake Law School in 1977, Vernon E. Morgan began his professional career as legal counsel to the Director of the Iowa Department of Revenue from 1977 to 1979, litigating tax cases. He served as in-house counsel for American Hospital Supply Corporation working on a broad range of general corporate transactional and litigation matters from 1979 to 1985 and Bristol Meyers Corporation as associate general counsel for Zimmer Corporation from 1986 to 1988.

Since 1988, Vernon Morgan has been in private practice in Lake County, providing a wide range of general legal services. He has successfully litigated commercial...

Craig D. Pierson has been practicing law in Illinois for 20 years. Craig focuses on estate planning, real estate, and business law. As an estate planning attorney, Craig has advised clients on sophisticated estate tax planning techniques, including GRATs, QPRTs, family limited partnerships, generation-skipping tax, charitable remainder trusts, and insurance trusts. In his practice as a real estate lawyer, Craig has advised clients on condominium conversion, environmental concerns, tax challenges, and has created appropriate corporate and other companies with which to hold real estate. His real estate practice includes the representation of general contractors, construction managers, real estate...

Matthew L. Williams was named the Managing Partner of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard’s Lake County office in 2015. Mr. Williams concentrates his practice of law in the areas of automobile accidents, medical malpractice, construction negligence, premises liability and product liability. He joined Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard in 2003 and was named partner in 2009.

Jay Mitchell is a litigator focusing in complex patent litigation within Arnold & Porter's Intellectual Property & Technology practice group. Leveraging his background in engineering, Jay has represented clients across a range of technical sectors, including telecommunications, secure messaging, VPN technology, computer software, sporting equipment and infrastructure, and materials sciences. Jay’s practice encompasses all phases of patent litigation, including district court infringement and invalidity lawsuits, post-grant proceedings before the USPTO, and appeals to the Federal Circuit. His practice also extends to advising and representing clients in other matters relating to intellectual property, including trademark infringement, unfair competition, false advertising, and licensing...

Attorney Hannah C. Blackwell established Blackwell Law, LLC in 2023 in an effort to better serve the immigrant communities to which she has dedicated her career. Hannah has had a passion for immigration law ever since she witnessed an ICE raid of a work place in her hometown when she was a teenager. Hannah saw first-hand the massive, devastating impact this raid had on her community, and it sparked a fire in her to fight for the rights of the undocumented and their families. Hannah graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing with cum laude honors and a President’s...

Robert Good Lohman III has over 23 years of legal experience. Based in his hometown of Des Plaines, Illinois, Lohman Law Group, LLC is a multi-specialty legal practice designed to support and facilitate real estate, business, and other legal solutions throughout the Chicagoland area. Robert Lohman is licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois. To date, Robert Lohman has personally tried over 30 jury cases as a solo or a first-chair trial attorney across the Chicagoland area, including the Law Division and most of the Municipal Districts of Cook County Circuit Court the Lake County Circuit Court and the...

Mildred ("Millie") V. Palmer graduated Cum Laude from University of Flordia's College of Law in 1990 with a concentration in taxation and estate planning. After graduation she went to work for Ernst and Young as a tax attorney in the Special Services Group while taking LLM classes at Chicago Kent. In 1992 she moved from Ernst and Young to Gardner Carton and Douglas where she practiced tax law. As a tax attorney attached to a large firm, Millie saw a wide variety of work in the area of taxation, charitable giving, corporate work and estate planning. During this time, she...

Attorney Robert (Bob) Canfield was born and raised in Rockford, IL. He graduated from Guilford High School in 1965. After joining the Army in February of 1968, he went on to Army flight school and graduated 2nd in his flight class. He spent a year in Vietnam flying CH-47 Chinook helicopters for the 101st Airborne Division and then returned to Fort Rucker, Alabama, as an Instrument Flight Instructor.

Following active Duty, he attended the University of Minnesota where he received his BA in psychology in 1976 and his Law degree in 1978. After taking and passing both the...

Midwest Legal Care serves clients all across northern Illinois, including Winnebago, Boone, Stephenson, DeKalb, McHenry, and Kane counties.

At Midwest Legal Care, we believe the first role of attorney is that of counselor. Midwest Legal Care is dedicated to understanding what results you want and will help you understand what actions we can take on your behalf to obtain the best outcome. We will work with you every step of the way to make sure that you understand the choices you are making and feel empowered to make them.

Unlike most other attorneys, as a former immigrant student of law, I have keen understanding about common needs of people of immigrant communities. I specialize in family/employment immigration, deportation defenses, all issues regarding visas, and asylum. You can have an assurance that I will resolve your immigration problem in timely, efficient, and more importantly, creative manner.

Adam Marquardt is an attorney representing investors in securities litigation claims against financial professionals including brokers, investment advisors, and their firms. Unsuitable investments, negligence, and fraud are just a few of the possible claims. Adam has a history of protecting investors and individuals. Adam spent time as a regulator at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA), the primary securities regulator of broker-dealers and over 630,000 brokers. At FINRA, Adam helped protect investors by ensuring broker-dealers and their registered representatives complied with federal securities laws and stock exchange and FINRA rules. Before regulating brokers, Adam represented individuals in civil...

I am a partner in a small suburban firm for over 35 years that provides excellent legal services to thousands of satisfied clients. I regularly lectures on various legal topics and am appointed by the court to mediate Family Law issues. I also love playing tennis and am on the Board of several charitable organizations

My practice concentrates on Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. I have done hundreds of bankruptcies in 35 years of practice. I have lots of practical ideas to save you money and then help you rebuild your credit rating.

Christina develops and executes immigration strategies for a wide range of corporate clients in a variety of industries, including U.S. companies seeking to hire foreign workers and multinational companies transferring foreign employees and executives to the U.S. She also represents foreign investors, and serves as immigration counsel to a corporate services law firm with particular emphasis in assisting European interests in the United States. In addition, Christina helps individuals achieve their immigration goals including obtaining work visas, family-based visas, and citizenship. Previously, she practiced as a litigator at Sidley Austin, where she defended companies in complex federal and state litigation,...

Brent Glenn graduated from The University of Chicago Law School in 2000. He began his career at top law firms in Chicago and Washington, D.C. including Winston & Strawn and Sheppard Mullin. At that time, he concentrated his legal career on commercial real estate matters including real estate finance of both borrowers and lenders, commercial real estate sales, purchases and leases. In addition, he provided real estate support in corporate transactions valued at more than a billion dollars.

In 2017, Brent opened his own practice in Barrington, Illinois. In addition to commercial real estate, his practice now includes a...

Sarah has been practicing immigration law since 2006. She specializes in family-based immigration, hardship waivers, naturalization and removal proceedings. Her family immigration cases include clients who are adjusting status (having their immigration interview in the US) as well as those who are consular processing (having their immigration interview in their home country).

Thomas has over 22 years of experience serving clients with respect and compassion in family law and real estate purchases and sales. Thomas has the experience and skill to handle both complex and more routine matters. He comes from a divorced family, which inspired him to become a family law attorney, Guardian ad Litem and mediator so he can help other families who are facing these similar difficult experiences. Thomas is also divorced with two children from his previous marriage and is remarried with a step-daughter, and these experiences help him understand and advocate for his clients in matters including...

Effective Legal Counsel for Business and Individuals Navigating Labor and Employment Disputes. Nicholas Crawford offers comprehensive employment and labor law advice and counsel to business's and individuals as an attorney with the Law Office Andrew Szocka, P.C. If you have a legal matter, labor dispute, or a employment law issue, I am uniquely positioned to advocate for your interests. With over 10 years experience leading Human Resource teams for both venture capital start-ups and large multi-national corporations, I have a built a reputation for creative litigation and problem solving approaches to resolve employment and labor disputes. If faced...

Brian LaCien, a founding partner at Smith LaCien LLP with Todd A. Smith, leads a Chicago-based personal injury law firm dedicated to serving clients throughout the metropolitan area. Brian specializes in cases involving aviation negligence, class actions and mass torts, medical malpractice, wrongful death, premises and product liability, professional negligence, and trucking litigation. With over 25 years of experience, Brian has a proven track record of resolving complex injury cases through both negotiation and litigation, working tirelessly to secure fair compensation for Illinois residents impacted by catastrophic injuries due to negligence. His commitment to exceptional representation and aggressive advocacy consistently yields...

Attorney David Bryant is a partner of the firm and has been named as a rising star in the areas of Employee Benefits and ERISA by Super Lawyers magazine. He is also proud to have been recognized by his peers with the coveted AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated SM by Martindale-Hubbell.

Attorney Robert M. Kaplan has been practicing law for more than 20 years. He is dedicated to assisting clients with family law, real estate law, bankruptcy law, estate planning and probate matters. After receiving a degree in law from The University of Florida College of Law in Gainesville, and working as a Public Defender in Miami, FL, Attorney Kaplan made the move to Illinois to start his own practice in 1991.

Kent graduated from Carthage College in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He obtained his law degree from Nova Southeastern University of Law in 1977.

Kent has practiced bankruptcy law for over 35 years. He represents clients in Chapters 7, 11, and 13 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and in non-bankruptcy workouts and reorganizations. His clients include both consumers and businesses, for debtors and well as creditors. Kent is experienced in all facets of bankruptcy litigation, having represented both plaintiffs and defendants in lawsuits arising out of the bankruptcy process. Several cases in which he has represented litigants have...

Margaret Galka joined the Collins Law Firm in 2018 as an associate attorney. She focuses her practice in environmental litigation and personal injury.

Margaret graduated Magna Cum Laude from Vermont Law School, where she concentrated on environmental and energy law. While attending law school, Margaret worked as a clinician in the Environment and Natural Resources Law Clinic and clerked for a prominent law firm in Burlington, Vermont. Margaret also served as a Co-Chair of the Women's Law Group and as an editor of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law.

Prior to law school, Margaret graduated from the University of Vermont with a...

James A. Podgorny is a sole practicing attorney, which means he will be the only attorney you will deal with at the firm. You will not be shuffled amongst many associates who will not necessarily know the current status of your case, as is commonly found in large law firms. Mr. Podgorny will always know the status of your file, and you can always address your concerns directly with him. Mr. Podgorny will return your telephone calls in a timely manner, leaving you free from the stress and anxiety of worrying if you have an attorney focused on your matter...

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.

Ms. Pirtle uses her extensive knowledge in helping each and every client find a solution that is tailored to his or her circumstances while also exhibiting strong advocacy in the courtroom. She understands that not every case is a trial case nor can every case be kept out of the courtroom. Whether your needs are getting through a tough situation now or planning to avoid tough situations in the future, Ms. Pirtle can help you achieve your goals. Practice Areas • Divorce • High Asset Divorce • Maintenance & Alimony • Child Custody & Child Support • Prenuptial Agreements • Family Law • Residential Real Estate Bar Admissions Education...

Richard Doerr is married and has two children and three teenage grandchildren. In his 40+ years' experience, Mr. Doerr has tried cases on matters ranging from speeding to murder. In 1972, he was selected out of 200 applicants as one of ten participants in the St. Louis County Prosecutor's intern program. During his 31 years in bankruptcy practice, he has seen two major revisions in bankruptcy laws, the first in 1978 and the second in 2005. Mr. Doerr's leisure activities include cross-country skiing, car shows, and driving his classic 1973 Corvette convertible.

I am Toma Makedonski, and I have been practicing law in Chicago, Illinois, for over 22 years. Since I opened my private practice in September 2000, I have committed myself to assisting clients with a variety of legal issues, including criminal and traffic defense, real estate transactions, family law, and immigration law. I am passionate about offering personalized, results-driven representation that is tailored to the unique circumstances of each client. My extensive experience in these areas ensures that my clients receive high-quality legal support when it is most crucial. One common concern for clients seeking legal representation is the uncertainty surrounding...

Raleigh is the Past President of the DuPage County Association of Women Lawyers, the Past President and a current Board Member of the DuPage County Bar Foundation, a Past-Editor-In-Chief and current Editor for the DCBA Brief Magazine and a member of the following organizations: DuPage County Bar Association including the Family Law Committee, and Illinois State Bar Association. Raleigh received her Bachelor of Science from Purdue University in 1993 and graduated from Quinnipiac University School of Law in 2001. Raleigh is a solo practitioner in Wheaton, IL. The firm handles matters in Wheaton, Kendall, Kane, Will, DeKalb, and...