Before choosing a lawyer, I believe it is appropriate for prospective clients to know a little bit more about the counsel they select.  I am very proud of my reputation in the legal community, as evidenced by the professional awards and recognitions I have received over my 42 years in practice.  But there is more about me, of which I am also very proud.

My inspiration to become a lawyer began when I was a little boy, and it arose from my relationships with both of my grandfathers.  Neither of them had the opportunity for educations beyond eighth grade, yet I learned much from them in the way they respected scholastic achievement, their integrity, and the way they treated other people.  Grandpa Blomquist was a night watchman/custodian at the University of Michigan’s Law School.  I spent my summers in Ann Arbor with my grandparents, and often joined him in his nighttime duties around the Law School complex.  One night, he took me to the Law Library, and there I saw a sea of green lights at the tables in the library, which were filled with young people reading.  It was after midnight, and I asked my grandfather what they were doing up so late.  He indicated that they were studying for their Exams that were about to begin.  The study habits and perseverance of these soon-to-be lawyers impressed me very much.  I learned later that the library was open through the entire night, and closed only for an hour at 8:00 a.m., when the exams began.  Later, I, too, learned the value of time management and the pressure of law school exams, which often took me deep into the early morning hours as well.

My other grandfather, Grandpa Nemcek was an immigrant from Slovakia.  During the depression he lost his first home, but through hard work delivering milk and coal to feed his wife and five kids, earned enough money for a new one.

In the early 1950’s that home became a part of the right-of-way for the construction of a new expressway system in Chicago.  His house sat virtually at the intersection where the Edens meets the Kennedy today.  He fought his own case for fair compensation because he couldn’t afford a lawyer.  I went with the family to watch him argue for relief before a Judge, and against trained lawyers.  I watched how the system worked, and the deference the Judge gave to him, as my grandfather did the best he could with his limited education and his accent.  He did win a greater award.  So, the family’s experience taught me much about the effect of legal proceedings upon ordinary people.

I grew up in Mount Prospect and attended Prospect High School.  There, I participated in many activities, including sports, and am honored to be the inaugural member of the Prospect High School Hall of Fame.  This award has nothing to do with my achievements as an athlete, but is devoted solely to the things I accomplished beyond the four corners of the basketball court.  From there, I attended Western Illinois University, again achieving success through hard work, which I owe to my two grandfathers who continued to inspire me.  Law School was next on my agenda, but finances pressed upon me.  So I taught in the Mount Prospect school system as a teacher at Lincoln Junior High School for four years.  Those experiences and memories carry with me in everything I do.  I attended night school at Chicago-Kent College of Law, receiving my degree in 3 ½ years, and thereupon embarked upon the first part of my legal career as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Criminal Division of the State’s Attorney’s Office of Cook County.

From that great experience learning how to try cases against excellent lawyers, I opened a private practice and have been serving since 1978 as the Prosecutor and one of the Village Attorneys for Arlington Heights.  I remain very proud of that reputation, to which I again attribute to the early learning process from those who supported me in my dream to become a lawyer.  In all of my experiences as a trial attorney in criminal courts, I have defended cases ranging from simple traffic matters, to DUI’s, to murder and other crimes.  I have been a part of appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court and the Illinois Supreme and Appellate Courts.

Each case I have defended reminds me of the great anxiety my own family experienced when they faced off against the government in court.

I never forget that all legal cases are really people involvements, in which lawyers are called upon to address events and circumstances which press very hard upon accused people.  I am well aware that I never get to meet people at a good time in their lives.  They are struggling within their fear, something new and something inconvenient, fighting their cases in a place where they are not comfortable.  The thing that drives me the most, and the hardest, is that I each day take on the privilege of representing those in need of my skills as an advocate.