Areas of Practice

• Administrative Law
• Business & Commercial Law
• Business Organizations
• Construction Law
• Litigation & Appeals
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Real Estate Law
• State, Local & Municipal Law
• Tax Increment Financing
• Taxation Law

Honors and Awards

• Recipient, Distinguished Service Award for Lifetime Achievement, Illinois Institute for Local Government Law, 2007

Published Works

• Editor, Report of the Illinois Municipal League Committee of Home Rule Attorneys: 1970, Illinois Municipal League, Pub. Annually, 1987
• General Editor, Public Building Commissions and Civic Auditoriums, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (Co-Author with Clifford L. Weaver and R. Marlin Smith), Special District Government In Illinois, 1982
• Antitrust Do's and Don'ts (Co-Author with Pfeifer), Illinois Municipal Review, July, 1982
• Boulder Antitrust Suit Settled (Co-Author with Pfeifer), Illinois Municipal Review, September, 1982
• Consumer Utility Tax Declared Unconstitutional (Co-Author with Pfeifer), Illinois Municipal Review, March, 1983
• Antitrust Damages (Co-Author with Pfeifer), Illinois Municipal Review, February, 1984
• Illinois' Experiment For Tomorrow's Government (Co-Author with Banovetz), Illinois Municipal Review, March, 1985
• What Difference Does Home Rule Make?, (Co-Author with Banovetz), Illinois Municipal Review, April, 1985
• Home Rule Is Used By Small Communities Too!, (Co-Author with Banovetz), Illinois Municipal Review, June, 1985
• Home Rule Can Help Solve Problems, (Co-Author with Banovetz), Illinois Municipal Review, July, 1985
• Economic Development Advanced By Home Rule, (Co-Author with Banovetz), Illinois Municipal Review, August, 1985
• Home Rule In Illinois: Image and Reality, Illinois Issues (Co-Author with Banovetz), Sangamon State University, 1987
• Home Rule, The Aftermath of a Revolution, Illinois Issues (Co-Author with Banovetz), September, 1985
• Home Rule, Referenda and Elections, (Co-Author with Banovetz), Illinois Municipal Review, September, 1985
• Planning, Leadership, Honesty Are Keys To Successful Home Rule Referenda, (Co-Author with Banovetz), Illinois Municipal Review, October, 1985
• The Watchdogs of Home Rule, Illinois Issues (Co-Author with Banovetz), October, 1985
• Success Under Siege: The Record of Illinois Home Rule (Co-Author with Banovetz), Illinois Municipal Review, December, 1985
• Debt, Taxes, and Home Rule, Illinois Issues (Co-Author with Banovetz), December, 1985
• Home Rule: Renewing Trust In Local Government, Illinois Issues (Co-Author with Banovetz), May, 1986
• Inverse Condemnation: Another Assault Upon Municipal Regulation, Illinois Municipal Review, August, 1986
• Illinois Tort Reform: Analysis of SB 1200, Expansion of Local Government Tort Immunity, Illinois Municipal Review, October, 1986
• Utility Systems, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, Illinois Municipal Law
• Efficiency, Effectiveness and Economy: The Case For Privatization, Illinois Municipal Review, June, 1987
• Illinois Home Rule and Taxation: A New Approach To Local Government Enabling Authority (Co-Author with Banovetz), Northern Illinois University Law Review, Summer, 1988
• Special Problems of Self-Insureds, The Lawyer's Brief, March, 1988
• Illinois Public Bidding Statute: The Pitfalls, Illinois Municipal Review, April, 1991
• Municipal Utility Franchises: Fair Market Rental Required, IMLA Municipal Attorney, March/April, 1993
• The Tenth Amendment: New Federalism (Or Old Federalism Resurrected)?, Illinois Municipal League 80th Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, September, 1993
• Federalism: On The Brink of Revival, Illinois Institute for Local Government First Annual Conference, Springfield, Illinois, February, 1994
• Federalism: The Illinois Constitutional Defense Council, ISBA Local Government Law Section Council Newsletter, March, 1994
• Utility Systems, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, Illinois Municipal, Spring, 1994
• Introduction (Chapter 1), Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, Illinois Jur, Municipal Law, 1994
• General Powers (Chapter 10), Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, Illinois Jur, Municipal Law, 1994
• Municipal Utilities; Water and Sewer (Chapter 18), Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, Illinois Jur, Municipal Law, 1994
• NIMLO/ABA Federalism Committee: 10th Amendment on the Mend, Municipal Attorney, Jan/Feb., 1995
• NIMLO/ABA Federalism Committee: Politics and the 10th Amendment, Municipal Attorney, Mar/Apr., 1995
• Federalism: Lopez, a Benchmark Decision, Municipal Attorney, May/June, 1995
• U.S. Term Limits: Tenth Amendment has Life, Municipal Attorney, July/Aug., 1995
• FAA Precludes Tow Truck Regulations, Municipal Attorney, Sept/Oct., 1995
• Federalism: The Thin Edge of the Wedge, Municipal Attorney, Nov/Dec., 1995
• NIMLO Seeks Tenth Amendment Cases, ABA Section Newsletter, 1995
• Federalism: While the Stewards Slept ... New York vs. United States, The Urban Lawyer, ABA, Summer, 1997
• Municipal Liability: Is a Zoning Hearing Really a Hearing? IDC Quarterly, 2004

Classes and Seminars

• Presenter, American Bar Association, Palm Beach, Florida, 1987
• Presenter, Illinois Municipal League 80th Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, 1993
• Lecturer, IML Annual Conference, 1972 - 1990
• Lecturer, Biennial Municipal Attorneys Seminar, 1973 - 1989
• Lecturer, Emerging Tenth Amendment Federalism Issues: Preserving Basic Local Constitutional Authority, IMLA Annual Conference, San Diego, California, 1990
• Lecturer, Statewide Attorneys Seminar, Illinois Institute for Local Government for Law (Springfield), 1992
• Lecturer, Statewide Attorneys Seminar, Illinois Institute for Local Government for Law (Champaign and Skokie), 1993
• Lecturer, Federalism: On the Brink of Revival, ILGL 1st Annual Conference, Springfield, Illinois
• Lecturer, Constitutional Federalism; Sponsor: ILGL 2nd Annual Conference, Joliet, Illinois, 1995
• Lecturer, Report of the IMLA Standing Committee on Federalism, ABA Section of State and Local Government Law, Chicago, Illinois, 1995
• Lecturer, Introduction to and Current Thoughts on Federalism: Does the Tenth Amendment Still Live?, IMLA Sixth Circuit Regional Seminar, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1995
• Lecturer, Case Report, ILGL 3rd Annual Conference, Joliet, Illinois, 1996
• Lecturer, Legislative Update, ILGL 4th Annual Conference, Bloomington, Illinois, 1997
• Guest Lecturer, TIF Planning is Not Mere Words, Illinois Tax Increment Association, Spring Conference, Effingham, Illinois, 1999
• Guest Lecturer, Expulsion Procedure: How to Avoid a Constitutional Challenge, School Law Conference for Administrators, Teachers & Board Members, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois, 2000
• Lecturer, Student Expulsion: The Decatur Experience, ILGL 7th Annual Conference, Joliet, Illinois
• Guest Lecturer, Recap of the Attorney General Opinions Affecting Schools and Local Government, School Law Conference for Administrators, Teachers & Board Members, Holiday Inn, Moline, Illinois, 2001
• Lecturer, Home Rule: Survey of Popular Uses 1986-2000, ILGL 9th Annual Conference, Joliet, Illinois, 2002
• Lecturer, Zoning Hearings Post-Klaeren, ILGL 10th Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, 2003
• Guest Lecturer, Illinois Constitutional

Representative Cases

• City of Springfield v. Allphin, 384 N.E.2d 310 (S.Ct. 1979)
• City of Springfield v. Allphin, 413 N.E.2d 394 (S.Ct. 1980)
• SMEAA v. Castle, 427 N.E.2d 144 (S.Ct. 1981)
• Village of Pawnee v. Johnson, 469 N.E.2d 1365 (S.Ct. 1984)
• People ex rel Bernardi v. City of Highland Park, 520 N.E.2d 316 (S.Ct. 1988)
• Arkansas v. Oklahoma , (United States Supreme Court 1992)
• People of the State of Illinois, ex rel Paul A. Logli, State's Attorney for Winnebago County, Illinois v. The City of Loves Park, No. 93-MR-133 (1993)
• Leonard Keeven, as Trustee of Leonard Keeven Trust, et al., etc. v. City of Highland, No. 94-MR-331 (1997)
• Roosevelt Fuller, by his parents, Gretta Fuller and Roosevelt Harris, et al. v. Decatur Public School Board of Education School District 61, et al., No. 99-2277, Ctl. District in IL, Urbana Division (1999)
• Gregory Howell, by his parent, Cynthia Howell, et al. v. Decatur Public School Board of Education School District 61, et al., No. 99-CH-245 (Circuit Court of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Macon County, Illinois 1999)
• Decatur Public School District 61 v. Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, et al., No. 99-2288 (Circuit Court for the Sixth Judicial Circuit in Illinois 1999)
• Libbra v. Livingston, et al., No. 03-MR-723, 03-MR-753 (Circuit Court for the Third Judicial Circuit in Illinois 2004)

West Practice Categories

Administrative Law, Business & Commercial Law, Business Organizations, Construction Law, Litigation & Appeals, Mergers & Acquisitions, Real Estate Law, State, Local & Municipal Law, Tax Increment Financing, Taxation Law