Dakota Lawyers

I am an experienced litigator, having devoted my practice to family law for the last thirty-five years. Earlier in my career I focused on criminal defense, including organized crime cases. I am licensed in three states, Illinois, New York and Virginia, although I now practice mainly in the greater Chicago area, Cook and Collar counties.

I was raised on the Northwest side of Chicago by hard working blue-collar parents that both worked to support our family. I have seen firsthand the difficulties people face living paycheck to paycheck trying to support a family. I have also seen the burden placed on a family when one of the bread winners is injured and cannot work. When I was a child, my father was injured by an improperly maintained step right outside our apartment. His injury required that he wear a cast on his leg. As a delivery driver, this meant he could not work...

If you’re facing criminal charges, we encourage you to contact our Chicago criminal attorneys. We truly care about you, and your family. We are a family oriented law firm – and treat every client with passion, and a desire to truly help them. Sometimes innocent people get accused of a crime with no evidence. Prosecutors want to look good – and will do everything possible to make you admit you did something wrong. Prosecutors will push trumped up charges in order to get you to plea guilty. Our Chicago Criminal Defense Lawyer understands the pressure you are facing – and...

At the Wheaton, Illinois Law Firm of Cynthia Hayes Hutchins, we have spent the last 10 years helping people throughout DuPage County and beyond plan not just for their own future, but for what happens afterward. Contact us today, we can help if you or a loved one has any estate planning or elder law needs. You can feel welcome with our firm. We will listen to your needs and will carefully study the options to meet those needs. We will also treat you the way we would expect to be treated: with the respect you deserve. At the Law Office of...

John A. Mennie was named an associate at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., in 2016 after working at the firm as a staff attorney since 2014. He concentrates his legal practice on catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death and mass tort cases. In his first trial with the firm, Mr. Mennie obtained a $1.6 million verdict in a wrongful death case, the highest recorded verdict in Stephenson County. In recognition for his outstanding work on the trial, Mr. Mennie was honored with a Trial Lawyer Excellence Award presented by the Jury Verdict Reporter, a division of Law Bulletin Media. Mr. Mennie...

Jennifer L. Ashley joined Salvi, Schostok & Prichard P.C., in 2012 and was named partner in 2014. She focuses her practice on the areas of personal injury and wrongful death law including cases that involve car accidents, premises liability and products liability. Ms. Ashley has been selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer every year since 2016, has been listed among the Top 100 Super Lawyers every year since 2021, and has been listed in the Top 50 Female Super Lawyers in the state of Illinois every year since 2019. She has also been recognized by Best Lawyers in America in the...

Michele is an accomplished litigation and litigation management attorney with a proven track record of winning results at trial, arbitration and administrative hearings. She is known for her creative litigation strategies and communication skills. Result-oriented.

Mikal Stole a prominent family law attorney in the Cook, Will, and Grundy Counties. He has successfully represented clients with complex cases involving high net worth estates, child custody disputes (allocation of parental responsibilities), and divorces involving business interests, while also efficiently handling routine matters. Mikal's also writes appellate court briefs on family law matters and is frequently appointed as Guardian ad Litem. Mikal serves as the Co-Chairperson of the Will County Bar Association's Family Law Committee and has been responsible for organizing the annual Family Law Seminar for several years. Mikal presents topics to the Bar Association including...

At The Law Offices of Carlos H. Davalos we concentrate in providing clients with aggressive representation in Felony, Criminal, DUI, and Major Traffic cases. Mr. Davalos's work is recognized nationally and locally as exceptional in the area of Criminal and DUI defense. Attorney Davalos has been recognized by the lawyer ratings organization "Super Lawyers" as being one of the top tier criminal defenders in the State. Similarly the "Top 100 National Trial Lawyers" organization has selected Mr. Davalos as being one of the top trial lawyers in the state of Illinois. Mr. Davalos retains membership in the "National College of...

I, Alexander Blum, want to be your Attorney. I cherish my Clients, and hope to impart some of my skills and knowledge so that my Clients are able to live a better and more productive life. I have appeared in many of the Courhouses in Illinois and I have a great working relationship with many Prosecutors and State Attorneys. I am very persuasive without being agressive, and I will give it my all to get the best possible result for my Client. Give me a call 773-999-2586 (BLUM)

Mr. DeBlasio is the founder and managing member of DeBlasio & Gower LLC. Tony has over 22 years of experience as a trial lawyer and advisor. He has counseled individuals, business executives, for profit and not-for-profit companies and government bodies in complex litigation matters, internal investigations and dispute resolution strategies. Tony has been selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer in Business Litigation on many occasions. Only 5% of attorneys receive this distinction. Tony has represented clients from a multitude of industry sectors, including, health care, technology, communications, financial, education, real estate, manufacturing, construction, management...

Alexander Sendlak is a family law / divorce attorney at the Law Offices of Dolci & Weiland, located in Oakbrook Terrace, DuPage County, IL and Chicago, IL. Mr. Sendlak accepts cases regarding: - Divorce - Family Law - Alimony / Divorce Maintenance - Post Decree Issues - Child Custody & Visitation - Child Support - Adoption

Former President of the McDonough County Bar Association, and named as one of the top 40 lawyers under the age of 40 by the American Society of Legal Advocates and the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 under 40. CALI award for excellence winner for trial advocacy. Former First Assistant State's Attorney of the McDonough County Bar Association. Managing Attorney at the Law Office of Ken Wang. Admitted to the Federal Bar of the Northern District of Illinois and the Federal Trial Bar.

Frank DiFranco- Selected to 2023 Illinois Super Lawyers Primary Practice Areas: Criminal Defense & Plaintiff Personal Injury Over 30 Years of Experience Mr. DiFranco has earned a lifetime position in the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum based on awards he has won for clients. Some of those cases include: -$11.2 Million Jury Verdict Prado v. City of Evanston -$5.2 Million Jury Verdict Abruzzo v. City of Park Ridge -$1.5 Million Jury Verdict Bojalad v. Parliament Enterprise -$1.17 Million Jury Verdict Meadors v. Borg Warner, Protective Services, Corp. Contact Our Firm: 617 Devon Avenue, Park Ridge, IL 60068 (847) 825-7744 difrancolaw@aol.com

Sharon R. Mulyk is a partner with Mulyk, Laho & Mack, LLC, where her practice is concentrated in family law and collections. Sharon is an active member of the DuPage County Bar Association, where she served as the President from 2012-2013. Sharon has also served, by appointment, as the DCBA Associate Counsel, Chairman of the Family Law Committee Chairman for the Membership Committee, Judiciary Committee, Planning Committee, CLE Committee and has volunteered her time to act as a Judicial Intervention Leader. She is the Past President of the DuPage Association of Women Lawyers and Past President of the DuPage...

Randy has represented technology clients large and small for nearly a decade, and has been licensed to practice before the US Patent & Trademark Office since 2003. He is passionate about startups, and works tirelessly to build IP portfolios that form core assets for young and growing companies.

An avid trumpet player, Randy regularly performs with various musical groups around the Chicago area in his spare time.

About Attorney J. Witherspoon A native of Chicago's south side, J. Witherspoon witnessed both sides of the justice system and its ability to impact lives. This inspired her to pursue a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice and later obtain her Juris Doctorate from John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Over the last 25 years, she has held an array of positions and sat on numerous boards all centering around assisting others and improving their quality of life through the utilization of her knowledge of the judicial system. ? J. Witherspoon regularly attends trainings and seminars to ensure that she remains current on knowledge and...

Attorney Michelle Bugajsky focuses her practice on probate, estate planning, and family law. Whether assisting clients in planning for their futures or helping clients through problems in the here and now, Michelle provides caring and thoughtful legal services. Michelle takes great pride in combining her keen legal expertise of probate and estate planning law with a plan uniquely crafted for each specific client or family.

Michelle attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree, double majoring in Political Science and Criminal Justice. Thereafter, Michelle accepted an academic scholarship to attend the Illinois Institute of...

Dan is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communications and minors in Mathematics and Political Science.

Dan is a 1979 graduate of IIT/Chicago Kent College of Law earning a Juris Doctor degree and a Bar and Gavel Award. Dan was admitted to the bar in 1979 and has been a practicing attorney in Naperville ever since.

Dan is a member of the Illinois and Dupage County Bar associations. He is a current member of the DuPage County Real Estate Law Committee and the Trusts and Estate Planning Committee. His practice...

James J. Laraia is an energetic, well-rounded attorney with knowledge and experience in family law, civil, and criminal matters. He routinely practices in DuPage, Kane, Will, DeKalb, and Kendall counties. After obtaining his B.A. from Illinois Benedictine College in 1997, Mr. Laraia went on to earn his Juris Doctor Degree from Northern Illinois University in 2001. He served as an Assistant State's Attorney and then went into private practice in 2003.

Mr. Laraia focuses his practice in family law and civil litigation and has experience handling matrimonial law, child custody and child support issues, post-decree petitions, adoptions, and parentage cases. He...

Olivia N. Schwartz has worked at Kralovec, Jambois & Schwartz since 2015, first as a law clerk, and currently as an associate attorney. She represents victims for injuries arising from medical malpractice, premises liability, motor vehicle negligence, products liability, and other personal injury claims.

Olivia received her J. D., cum laude, from Chicago-Kent College of Law. During law school, Olivia interned at the Cook County Public Defender’s Office and for the Honorable Justice T. Lavin at the Illinois Appellate Court, First District. She also competed on Chicago-Kent’s nationally ranked Trial Team. Olivia was honored as a three-time CALI award recipient for...

Admitted to practice law in Illinois in 2005, Joseph graduated from Ambassador University, Big Sandy, TX, where he was on the Dean's List and received his B.A., and then graduated from Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI, where he earned an M.A. in Counseling and was awarded the Nichol Memorial Award for Integrity. Joseph is a graduate of DePaul University College of Law, where he served as a student representative on the Law School's curriculum committee. With several years of experience as a counselor prior to attending law school, Joseph brings unique and valuable experience to the field of domestic relations...

Admitted to practice law in 1998, Sean M. McCumber graduated magna cum laude with a J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1998 and graduated magna cum laude in 1995 with a B.A. in Criminal Justice from Illinois State University. Prior to joining the firm, Sean served in the McLean County State's Attorney Office in the juvenile division and then practiced commercial litigation, intellectual property, and advertising law in a large Chicago law firm. Sean concentrates his current practice in family law matters. Sean is a member of the DuPage County Bar Association, which named him 2010...

A native of Illinois, Mr. Sotelo is the proud son of a working class family. Mr. Sotelo graduated third in his law school class, summa cum laude, at Northern Illinois University College of Law. Practicing law since 2012, Stephen prides himself in providing legal services in the areas of real estate, probate, and civil matters. A s a former real estate agent, he provides a unique perspective to the legal side of real estate transactions.

A Chicago native, Mr. Ferris graduated from the Northern Illinois College of Law, earning his J.D. in 1985. He has served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) as a prosecutor.

With over 30 years experience in personal injury law, Mr. Ferris is not afraid to take a case to trial and fight for his client's rights. He thrives on helping clients who have been treated unfairly by the insurance companies with unreasonable settlement offers.

Mr. Ferris successfully argued before the Illinois Supreme Court Estate of De Boer v. Voykin, which changed 40 years of personal injury law in the...

Melanie K. Fairman is an experienced trial attorney who has represented plaintiffs in personal injury and wrongful death actions since 1994. Over the years, she has obtained millions for clients through settlement and trial. A large percentage of her practice involves cases arising from medical malpractice and nursing home negligence, but over the years she has litigated quite a few significant vehicular collision and premises liability cases, including a $3.8 million verdict in a case tried by Melanie and her partner, Steve Seidman, against JW Marriott based on exposing a guest who was an attorney to Legionella bacteria, causing him...

Ryan A. Margulis is an experienced personal injury attorney and partner at Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP. Since 2003, Ryan has concentrated on representing injury victims in serious and complex bodily injury cases throughout Illinois. Ryan takes great pride in meticulously handling every aspect of each client’s case, from initial client contact through final resolution.

I look for ways to win your case! My practice is for people who want the best chance to win. I began practicing as a student lawyer when the Illinois Supreme Court gave me a special license when I started my last year of law school.

Jonathan David Herpy, Sr. has been named one of the top private equity and corporate attorneys in Illinois under the age of 40 by Chicago Magazine in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Jonathan has represented investors, sponsors, and managers of public and private pension plans, broker-dealers, investment advisers, custodians, and other financial industry service providers throughout the entire range of the investment spectrum and routinely provides market-leading advice on public/private offerings of equity and debt along with capital raising strategy.
In addition to the above, Jonathan has been touted as an industry leader for his sophisticated and efficient approach to structuring...

David O’Toole joined Bragança Law after spending 24 years as a senior staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission’s Midwest Region in Chicago. A three-time graduate of the University of Chicago, where he received a B.A. in History (1984), an M.B.A. (1988) and a J.D. (1992, with honors), David began his legal career spending almost six years in private practice in Chicago and Washington, D.C., working on antitrust, white collar defense, and general commercial litigation. for twenty-four years. While at the FTC, David led teams that challenged companies for deceptive marketing involving dietary supplements and health products, operating as pyramid...

Anthony obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree in 1979 and thereafter his Law Degree in 1982 from the DePaul University, College of Law in Chicago. He was admitted to the Illinois State Bar and the United States District Court Bar in 1982.

Since that time he has maintained active memberships in the Will County Bar Association, the DuPage County Bar Association and has served on its Matrimonial Law Committee, the Illinois State Bar Association and in 2006-2007 was a member of the Illinois State Bar Association Section Counsel on Judicial Evaluations. In 2014-2015 he served as a Member of the Illinois...

A Chicago native, Juneitha Shambee has shown passion and dedication to law since a young age. Working vigorously to make strides in her education, she uses that same tenaciousness to achieve results in every case she touches. She has taken on challenges beyond what many attorneys her age would face, personally and professionally, such as battling large firms in copyright issues and achieving excellent settlements for her clients, and even taking on challenging criminal cases and getting them dismissed in the preliminary stages. Although Juneitha is the first college graduate and professional in her family, she did not let...

Ian M. Barney is a founding partner of Barney & Hourihane, LLP and is licensed to practice law by the Supreme Court of Illinois. He has successfully represented clients both at trial and on appeal and has extensive experience representing individuals in a variety of cases. He focuses his practice on criminal appeals and civil rights lawsuits.

He has participated in many cases of note and has argued before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Illinois Appellate Court. Ian was named a "Rising Star" by Super Lawyers Magazine for the years 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. No...

Mr. Reeb is a partner at Reich, Jumbeck, Stole & Reeb, LLP. As a partner at Reich, Jumbeck, Stole & Reeb, LLP, Mr. Reeb focuses his practice exclusively on family law, representing business owners, executives, professionals, and their spouses. Mr. Reeb concentrates in all areas of family law, including issues of child custody and visitation, child support, maintenance, property division, complex financial matters, tax consequences, pre and post nuptial agreements, restraining orders, orders of protection, as well as family law appeals. Judges also frequently appoint Mr. Reeb to serve as Guardian ad Litem and as Mediator...

Marilyn Johnson is a partner at Johnson & Johnson, Ltd. She has been practicing law for over 30 years, concentrating in the areas of divorce, custody, support, and visitation. She has conducted numerous trials and hearings involving large marital estates and complex child custody issues. Prior to practicing law, Marilyn Johnson was a special education teacher who worked with children with learning disabilities and emotional and behavioral problems. Her vast experience as a lawyer, teacher, and mother has enabled her to acquire a deep, compassionate understanding of the family unit, which has enabled her to counsel clients through the most...

Mary Beth Szudarek has been a licensed Illinois attorney since 2008 and has practiced exclusively in Family Law. Prior to joining The Law Offices of Janusonis & Szudarek, P.C., Mary worked for Prairie State Legal Services/Will County Legal Assistance Program assisting the less fortunate with their family law issues. Her experience allowed her to counsel hundreds of Family Law clients with legal problems that impacted all areas of their lives. Family law cases so often involve bankruptcy, tax, foreclosure, credit, social security, insurance, and pension issues; Mary's skills and confidence with financial matters brings a unique and aggressive...

I am Social Security disability attorney Timothy White, and for over 20 years, I have dedicated my area of practice solely to helping people pursue Social Security disability benefits. I understand the ins and outs of the Social Security Administration, and I can help you present your case in the most effective manner possible. If your claim was denied, I can also help you appeal the decision. While my Chicago law firm regularly handles a wide range of Social Security benefits issues, I am also one of few Chicago Social Security Disability attorneys with strong experience and interest in...

Tom Nathan has been practicing law since 1978. His focus on catastrophic injury, medical malpractice and product liability cases have taken him to courthouses around the country on behalf of his injured clients. Tom graduated from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1972. While teaching history and other subjects, at the Francis W. Parker school in Chicago , Tom finished his Masters degree in History at Northwestern in 1974, and his J.D. at John Marshall Law School in 1978.

After two years in general practice, Tom joined the law firm of Lane and Munday in 1980 and began his work representing...

Mariam is an experienced trial attorney who has spent her entire legal career fighting for plaintiffs and their families in personal injury and wrongful death matters. Her philosophy is that the clients come first and justice must prevail to the fullest extent possible for every client. Communication is paramount between the clients and the law firm team. Vigorous representation is necessary in all parts of a case, but it must be done right and with integrity. If those are at the forefront of the representation, the results will come. In her early years, she practiced at a firm that only focused on...