A career built on one conviction —
everyone deserves a real defense
I grew up on Chicago's South Side, and I watched firsthand what happened when people couldn't afford competent legal representation. Cases got plea-bargained away before anyone took the time to look at the facts. Lives got derailed — not because the government proved its case, but because no one pushed back hard enough. That experience is what sent me to law school, and it's what keeps me at this desk twenty years later.
I earned my J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, graduating in the top 10% of my class and serving as an editor on the Loyola Law Journal. After a clerkship with the Honorable Robert T. Dawson of the Northern District of Illinois, I spent four years in the Cook County Public Defender's Office — where I tried over 60 jury trials — before opening my own practice in 2009.
Since then I have represented clients in state and federal courts across Illinois and the broader Midwest: from DUI cases that threatened someone's livelihood, to multi-count federal indictments carrying decades of potential prison time. My practice is small by design. Every client gets direct access to me — not a paralegal, not an associate. My phone number. My direct line.
"The moment a government charges someone with a crime, the power imbalance is enormous. My job is to level that field — with preparation, with skill, and with the willingness to fight as hard as necessary."
My approach hasn't changed since day one. I read every document. I visit every scene. I challenge every assumption. Prosecutors and police make mistakes — procedural errors, unconstitutional searches, faulty forensic evidence — and it is my job to find them and use them to protect you. When a negotiated outcome is in your best interest, I pursue it aggressively. When it isn't, I try cases — and I win them.
Outside the courtroom, I teach a seminar on Criminal Procedure at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and serve on the board of the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. I believe that a strong defense bar makes the entire justice system more honest, and I take that responsibility seriously.
