Walnut Lawyers

Ray recieved his J.D. at Northwestern University in 1974 and M.B.A. at Northwestern University in 1972 with a B.A. at California State, L.A. in 1968. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and Rock Island County Bar Association.

Former Public Administrator of Rock Island County

Former Public Guardian of Rock Island County

HUD Foreclosure Commissioner

Mr. Arnquist is an experienced courtroom litigator who understands what it takes to win your case. Whether you need representation for an issue related to child support, a complicated divorce case, or a contested custody dispute, Mr. Arnquist will aggressively advocate on your behalf. Mr. Arnquist practices in Ogle, Lee, Whiteside, DeKalb and Stephenson Counties. Please call for a free consultation.

Jennifer Bunker Skerston has worked in the Illinois Valley legal community for the past seven years handling many litigation related matters including will contests, property tax appeals, breach of contract, and personal injury claims.

Jennifer Bunker Skerston is actively involved in the Illinois State Bar Association Trusts and Estates Section Council. She is the Editor of the Council’s monthly publication distributed to members throughout Illinois. She also assists the Council in providing continuing legal education to attorneys, determining the need for new legislation, and reviewing and suggesting changes to current legislative proposals affecting wills, trusts and estates....

James T. Reilly has been practicing since 1979. He is an experienced trial lawyer with over fifty jury cases tried to verdict. He concentrates his practice in both civil and criminal litigation. Jury awards include medical malpractice, wrongful death, fraud prosecution and various types of personal injuries. He has defended cases in criminal courts ranging from fitness trials in murder cases to DUI’s. In addition to these, he has successfully defended persons charged with arson, aggravated battery, drug offenses and other felonies and misdemeanors.

Reilly has served as a LaSalle County Assistant Public Defender since 2000. He represents clients before the...

C. Eric Bodo grew up in Mundelein, Illinois, and attended Carmel High School in the northern suburbs. Eric graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts. He went on to receive his Juris Doctorate from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago in 1996 and was admitted to the Illinois Bar.

Before coming to VanDerGinst Law, Eric was a partner in his own firm with offices in Chicago and Northbrook, Illinois where he represented seriously injured individuals and their families. Before starting his firm in 2014, Eric worked for a large, high-volume personal injury firm...

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...

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 provide caring and compassionate representation for people who have been injured and the families of those who have been killed. After starting practice on the defense side of civil law, I have been a plaintiff's lawyer since 2006 and have obtained millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts. We handle all types of injury, workers compensation, nursing home and medical malpractice cases in Iowa and Illinois.

Michael Roe has over 25 years of experience practicing exclusively in the area of complex divorce and child custody litigation. He has successfully managed important cases in Kane County, DuPage County, and in all of the counties of northern Illinois, and his family law expertise was sought out by clients for cases in downstate Illinois and a few complex child custody cases out-of-state. With a strong legal education in both law and graduate-level business school, he is skilled in both the child custody/parenting side as well as the business and financial side of divorce litigation. Michael is one of the...

Defending client for 26 years in State and Federal Courts. Member of National College for DUI Defense and Graduate of DUI Harvard Session. Certified Field Sobriety Expert. Certified Breath Machine Operator for Datamaster and Intoxillyzer. Advanced Blood and Urine seminar graduate. Suppression of more than 3000 lbs of contraband as Henry County Drug Trafficing Defense Attorney. Success defense of hundreds of DUI and OWI cases in Rock Island, Mercer, Henry, Whiteside, Scott, Muscatine, Johnson, and Clinton Counties in Iowa and Illinois. Successful defense in Federal Court where possession and trafficking of...

Mr. Wilson began his legal career in 1996 practicing in Peoria County before relocating to LaSalle County in 2003. In his career, he has successfully tried numerous cases involving motor vehicle accidents, construction accidents, employment disputes, and premises liability. Additionally, he has extensive Appellate Court experience having successfully handled numerous appeals particularly in the area of workers’ compensation. In 2004, he obtained the second largest personal injury jury verdict in Marshall County history at the time. In 2017, he negotiated the largest settlement ever obtained for a workers’ compensation claim with the Chicago Public School District. ...

Christina Willman earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law in 2018. She received a degree in Agribusiness, Cum Laude, upon graduating from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo in 2015. While in law school, Christina was a member of the Jessup International Moot Court team. In addition, Christina was a student attorney in the Clinical Law program, focusing on estate planning and general litigation. She also has completed legal internships at Vermeer Corporation, a manufacturer of industrial and agricultural equipment in Pella, Iowa, and the Michigan Farm Bureau.

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Estate Planning: James has conducted estate planning matters including creation of wills (last will and testament), trusts, special needs trusts, irrevocable creditor protection trusts, powers of attorney, living wills, beneficiary planning and beneficiary designation, corporate succession planning, tax planning, and transfer on death instruments. Litigation: James has litigated matters including probate disputes, elder abuse claims, debt collection issues, contract disputes, and conducted other litigation as required by his clients. James has practiced across Iowa and Illinois.

Justin is a partner and chief executive officer of the firm working primarily out of our Kewanee office. Justin graduated from Southern Illinois University School of Law in 2007 and was hired on with Barash and Everett as an associate thereafter. He is a veteran of the United States navy where he served as a Sonar Technician on the Submarine, USS Nevada SSBN 733. BORN: Decatur, Illinois. ADMITTED TO BAR: 2007, Illinois. EDUCATION: Southern Illinois University (B.A., 2004); Southern Illinois University School of Law (J.D., 2007). MEMBER: American Bar Association; Illinois State Bar Association; Henry County...

Jacob J. Frost practices in the areas of estate/trust administration, residential and commercial real estate purchases and sales, business organizations, governmental law, and wills and trusts. Attorney Frost has served and represented clients in the Illinois Valley area for several years. Frost earned his law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law, with high honors in Legal Research and Writing. He received his Associate of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from Illinois Valley Community College and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was admitted to both Phi Beta Kappa...

Stephany L. Impson received her law degree from the University of Illinois. In addition, she has an MBA with emphases in Marketing and Finance from Northwestern University, is a certified Illinois Administrative Adjudicator, and has certification as a Family Law Mediator.

For over three decades, Stephany worked in the title insurance industry. For much of that time, she was a national underwriting counsel. In that capacity, she underwrote and closed transactions for commercial and industrial properties located in the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Canada. In the four years...

Paul is an experienced civil litigation attorney. With a strong background in the insurance defense field for 30+ years, he is a knowledgeable and experienced trial and defense attorney. As well as being a litigator in trial courts, Paul has also argued cases before the Third District Appellate Court and the Supreme Court of Illinois.
He is currently a member of the LaSalle County, Illinois State Bar Assocation and the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel. Paul served on the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Professional Responsibility from 2006 to 2015; and served as a special assistant Attorney General from...

Ralph Elliott has been engaged in the practice of law in Freeport, Illinois since 1981. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with a Bachelor of Science Degree, Summa Cum Laude, earning Phi Beta Kappa recognition in 1978.He graduated from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1981. Ralph is admitted to the practice of law in the state of Illinois, the federal courts for the Northern District of Illinois (including the Trial Bar), the Central District of Illinois, and the Federal Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Abigayle (Abby) Endress grew up in Pearl City, Illinois. She graduated from Highland Community College in 2018. In 2020, she received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She earned her Juris Doctor from Drake University Law School in 2023, with a certificate in Food and Agricultural Law. While in law school, Abby was selected as a teaching assistant for an introductory legal research course and worked as a student attorney in the Drake Legal Clinic. She was also a member of Drake Law Women, Drake Agriculture and Environmental Association,...

Peter Wachowski is a well-rounded lawyer who takes great pride in his work and has a passion for helping people in need. He is constantly looking for ways to improve, and won’t stand for complacency. Peter is well educated and versed in his field, and as a result, he is able to help a wide array of clients with varying needs. He is very hard working, and is always going the extra mile to get the absolute best result for the client, even if that means investing more time and money into a case. He works to have satisfied clients,...

Services We Provide Include: • Probate & Estate Planning: Estate Administration, Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, Living Wills; • Business Formation & Transactional Matters: Creation of Business Entities (i.e. LLC, Corp., Partnerships) & Other Business Agreements including Mergers & Acquisitions; • Income Tax Returns: Planning & Preparation (Individuals, Partnerships, Corp., Trusts, Gift & Estate Tax, Tax-Exempt Org., Payroll & Others); and • Audits & Appeals: Representation in Problematic Tax & Regulatory Matters.

Brandon K. Davis is a defense attorney at The Davis Law Group, P.C. where he primarily represents clients charged with DUI, criminal and traffic-related offenses. He has been recognized for his accomplishments by a variety of organizations including SuperLawyers in the fields of DUI and Criminal Defense. Brandon also regularly represents those facing the suspension, revocation or cancellation of their driving privileges. Brandon received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a major in Political Science and a minor in Business. He received his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law. Brandon is a member of the...

Josh Rohrscheib is the Managing Attorney of Onward Injury Law and is also Of Counsel to the firm Bolen Robinson & Ellis, LLP. He is passionate about helping injured people and their families get through tough times.

Miranda became a partner at Spiros Law, P.C in 2010. Since then, she has established herself as a fierce and caring advocate for her clients wellbeing, showing empathy to their unique situations. Miranda's legal focus includes a variety of personal injury cases including automobile, birth and workplace injuries. She is licensed to practice in both Illinois and Florida. Miranda earned her J.D. at the University of Illinois College of Law. When she is awarded free time, Miranda prefers to spend it volunteering internationally with Meet Malawi, perfecting her many hobbies, or with her husband, Chris, and their three pets.

Ms. Sarantakis is the Founding Attorney of Sarantakis Law Group, Ltd. in Oak Brook, IL. She concentrates her legal practice in domestic relations. In addition to her work in the courtroom, she is versed in alternative methods of dispute resolution as a mediator, Guardian ad Litem, and Fellow of the Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois. She was recently recognized by the Illinois State Bar Association as 2023 Young Lawter of the Year, the American Bar Association as one of the 2023 Top 40 Lawyers in the United States with an On the Rise Award, Super Lawyers as a Rising Star,...

Donald J. Ramsell, author of several DUI articles and books, is the one of the few DUI defense attorneys to appear and argue on a DUI case before the United States Supreme Court in its entire 213 years of existence. In his 33 year career his firms have defended 15,000 clients.

I am passionate about helping people in Central Illinois with their legal needs for many reasons. I grew up in Bloomington-Normal and care deeply about the people in my hometown. I also feel called to fight for justice. The lawyers and paralegals in my office are great to work with and share my vision for helping people. We have a very experienced team at Koth Gregory & Nieminski (KGN) and pride ourselves on being able to help the people in Central Illinois with nearly any legal issue they may face. Our hope is that people come see us first for...

Robert Motta II is the Managing Partner at Motta & Motta LLC. He concentrates his law practice in criminal defense, DUI, divorce & family law. Robert was named 2014 Top 100 National Trial Lawyer and is known in the legal community for his unparalleled pre-trial and trial strategies.