GREGORY A. FRIEDMAN
gfriedman@friedmanholtz.com
Gregory A. Friedman was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1975 and to the Illinois bar in 1976. He graduated from the University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana) in 1969 (cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa). He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1973. Mr. Friedman is a member of the Trial Bar of the United States District Court Northern District of Illinois, a member of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the District of Massachusetts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the United States Tax Court and the United States Supreme Court. From 1973 to March, 1976, he worked as a management consultant with The Boston Consulting Group in Boston, Massachusetts, a firm that specializes in developing corporate strategies for Fortune 500 companies and other corporate clients located around the world.
In April, 1976, he returned to Chicago to practice law with Pope, Ballard, Shepard & Fowle. He spent two years in that firm's corporate department doing general corporate work with an emphasis in corporate organization, financing, contests for corporate control and securities fraud matters. In April, 1978, he joined Coffield Ungaretti Harris & Slavin. For the next ten years he worked exclusively in the firm's litigation department and was admitted to full partnership in October, 1982. On September 1, 1988, Mr. Friedman left Coffield, together with one of his partners, Charlene Holtz, to form the law firm of Friedman & Holtz, P.C.
Mr. Friedman specializes in general commercial litigation. He has handled a wide variety of litigation matters in state and federal courts and before various administrative venues. The scope of matters handled by Mr. Friedman includes the following: commercial litigation (breach of contract, fraud, trade secrets, unfair competition, majority/minority shareholder disputes, defamation and libel, collections, etc.), Chancery actions (for temporary and permanent injunctive relief, accountings, specific performance, constructive/resulting trusts, etc.), construction disputes, mechanics' liens, representation of customers, broker/dealer firms, registered representatives, associated persons and Futures Commission Merchants in civil claims and in disciplinary proceedings before the SEC, NASD, NFA, CFTC and other self-regulatory organizations, arbitrations, actions to enforce/defeat non-compete agreements, securities and commodities litigation, employment disputes/discrimination claims, adversary proceedings in bankruptcy, insurance (coverage, suretyship, defense), professional malpractice, real estate litigation and tax court matters.
Mr. Friedman served as the Chairman of the Chicago Bar Association's Consumer Law Committee, and co-authored the CBA’s Consumer Law Handbook, and was Speaker's Chairman for the CBA's Antitrust Committee. He is a member of the Illinois, Chicago and DuPage County Bar Associations, the American Trial Lawyers Association and the Chicago Council of Lawyers, a public interest bar association. Mr. Friedman is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He was named an “Illinois Super Lawyer,” in the area of general litigation, in the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Chicago Magazine surveys of Illinois lawyers.
Mr. Friedman is married (Paula) and has a son (Stephen). He is an avid fly fisherman, who likes to spend his free time with a fly rod in hand, standing on the front of a flats skiff poled by his son, Stephen, a fly fishing guide in the Florida Keys.
CHARLENE L. HOLTZ
choltz@friedmanholtz.com
Charlene L. Holtz was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1976. She graduated from Douglass College of Rutgers University in 1970 (With Academic Honors), attended graduate school at Columbia University under a Ford Foundation Fellowship in American-East Asian relations, and received her law degree from DePaul University in 1976 (cum laude). While in law school, Ms. Holtz served as an extern law clerk for the Honorable Alfred Y. Kirkland, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Upon graduating from law school, Ms. Holtz joined Coffield Ungaretti Harris & Slavin, (now Ungaretti & Harris), becoming a partner in 1978. While at Coffield, Ms. Holtz gained experience in most areas of the firm's practice with particular emphasis on local government law and municipal finance (serving as the Department Head of the Municipal/Municipal Finance Department), corporate (profit and non-profit), construction, real estate, and employment discrimination law. In 1988 Ms. Holtz left Coffield, together with one of her partners, Gregory A. Friedman, and formed the law firm of Friedman & Holtz, P.C.
As outside general counsel to her local government clients, Ms. Holtz provides legal assistance in all aspects of their operations including financial planning (tax levies, debt financings, appropriations, investment requirements); real estate matters (acquisitions, sales, exchanges, condemnations, annexations, boundary and zoning approvals and disputes, negotiation and preparation of site licenses for cellular communications facilities); capital project implementation (planning, design services selection and contract negotiation, front-end construction documentation, dispute resolution); legislative counseling (ordinance preparation, federal and state legislation counseling); intergovernmental cooperation and conflict (intergovernmental agreements, joint program implementation); contracts including cooperative contracts with private entities for the provision of services; personnel policies and practices, employment discrimination and dispute resolution; general contracting for supplies and services including bid documentation and bid dispute resolution; grant compliance and constitutional law issues.
Ms. Holtz has been a frequent speaker on local government law issues at the National Recreation and Park Association National Congress, the Illinois Park and Recreation Association and Illinois Association of Park Districts State Conference and the Illinois Association of Park Districts Annual Legal Symposium. She has also presented sessions at the North Shore Round Table, the American Park and Recreation Society's National Legal Institute, Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Illinois, and the Annual Municipal Practice and Litigation Institute. She authored a chapter on park district law for the handbook on Special Districts published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, and has lectured on the subject for the Institute. She was most recently a speaker at the 2007 Municipal Litigation Update program of the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education where she spoke on “Strategies for Navigating Intergovernmental Cooperation.” Together with her colleague, James Wascher, and another attorney, Ms. Holtz has also co-authored the chapter on park district law for a treatise to be published by the Illinois State Bar Association.
Having represented a governmental agency with one of the first publicized cases in Illinois of an HIV infected client, Ms. Holtz developed extensive guidelines for and counseled her governmental clients on bloodborne pathogens in the workplace and in the public setting. Her guidelines have also served as the basis for guidelines developed and recommended by county health departments and park district risk management associations.
Ms. Holtz also has extensive experience in the resolution of intergovernmental disputes including those relating to the application of municipal zoning ordinances to park district land use, and in the negotiation, drafting and implementation of intergovernmental cooperation agreements to avoid and/or ameliorate the potential adverse impacts of such disputes.
In addition to the Illinois Bar, Ms. Holtz has been admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Ms. Holtz has served as a member of the Chicago Bar Association Constitutional Law Committee and is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association (Section on Local Government Law), the DuPage County Bar Association, the Institute for Local Government Law and the National Recreation and Parks Association. She was named an “Illinois Super Lawyer” in the area of government law, in the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Chicago Magazine surveys of Illinois lawyers.
JAMES D. WASCHER
jwascher@friedmanholtz.com
James D. Wascher was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1978. He graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in communication in 1975, having served as Editor-in-Chief of The Stanford Daily, and received his law degree with honors from Northwestern University in 1978. Mr. Wascher earned a Certificate of Professional Achievement in Mediation Training from the Center for Dispute Resolution at DePaul University in September 2004.
Upon his admission to the bar, Mr. Wascher joined the law firm of James P. Chapman and Associates, Ltd., where he concentrated his practice in all aspects of civil litigation and appeals, including personal injury, commercial and business, antitrust and civil rights cases. Following his association with Chapman, Mr. Wascher, joined the law firm of Phelan Pope & John, Ltd., where he concentrated his practice in complex civil litigation, including product liability, subrogation and commercial matters.
From January, 1988 until February, 1991, Mr. Wascher was Supervising Assistant General Attorney and then Deputy General Attorney of the Chicago Park District, managing all litigation by and against the District. He personally handled cases involving serious personal injury and death, civil service examinations and policies, taxes and user charges, permits and concessions, employment discrimination and employee termination. In addition, Mr. Wascher had extensive responsibility for the District's risk management program. He was a principal author of a historic intergovernmental agreement between the Park District and the Chicago Board of Education relating to shared use of facilities.
Mr. Wascher joined the law firm of Friedman & Holtz, P.C. in February, 1991. The Illinois Supreme Court appointed Mr. Wascher as a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, where he served from June 2001 until his appointment expired in December 2002. He then rejoined Friedman & Holtz, P.C., and continues to concentrate his practice in representation of park districts and in civil litigation and appeals. He has successfully represented two park districts in cases involving aquatic injuries before the Illinois Supreme Court. Mr. Wascher also has authored two “friend of the court” briefs for the Illinois Supreme Court in support of appeals by the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Board of Education. In addition, Mr. Wascher has handled other personal injury, construction, commercial, land use, taxation, election, employment discrimination and worker's compensation cases while at Friedman & Holtz. He has drafted, negotiated and assisted in the implementation of intergovernmental agreements, prepared and reviewed contracts and employee manuals, drafted ordinances, consulted on personnel matters for park districts and other clients of the firm, and conducted independent investigations of allegations of sexual harassment and other improprieties at park districts and other clients of the firm. Together with his colleague, Charlene Holtz, and another attorney, Mr. Wascher has co-authored the chapter on park district law for a treatise to be published by the Illinois State Bar Association.
Mr. Wascher is also an adjunct lecturer in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University and a certified mediator in the court-annexed civil case mediation programs of the Circuit Courts of Cook County and for the 19th Judicial Circuit (Lake County). Mr. Wascher is a past President of both the Chicago Council of Lawyers, a 1,300-member public interest bar association, and the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, which provides free legal services to indigent persons in civil matters. He also has served as a member of the Inquiry Board of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois. In addition, Mr. Wascher was a member of the Village of Northfield citizens’ committee that developed a 20-year comprehensive plan for the Village.
Mr. Wascher has been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where he is a member of the Trial Bar. He is a member of the American Judicature Society, the Federal Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, of which he is a past Chair of the Local Government Committee, and the Chicago Council of Lawyers. Mr. Wascher is currently a member of the Boards of Directors of the Chicago Bar Foundation and the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and is the Chicago Chapter’s Treasurer and delegate to the FBA’s National Council. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the CBA Record, the magazine of the Chicago Bar Association.
PAULA K. MAGUIRE
pmaguire@friedmanholtz.com
Paula K. Maguire joined Friedman and Holtz, P.C. in October, 1991 upon her admission to the Illinois Bar. Ms. Maguire received her Bachelor of Arts from Northeastern Illinois University Board of Governors Program in 1988 (magna cum laude) with a concentration in English and Philosophy. She received her J.D. from The John Marshall Law School (cum laude) in June, 1991.
While in law school, Ms. Maguire was awarded a Herzog Scholarship and served as an Executive Editor of the John Marshall Law Review. Her case note on sovereign immunity under the Education of the Handicapped Act was published in volume 23:3 of the Law Review and her essay on attorney ethics was published in volume 23:2. Ms. Maguire also served on the school's Student Bar Association special committee for revision of the Student Honor Code. She was elected to membership in Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities for her academic achievement at John Marshall.
Since joining Friedman & Holtz, Ms. Maguire has handled civil litigation matters involving federal and state securities law, commodities law, RICO, contracts, employment discrimination, wills, trusts, bankruptcy, ERISA, insurance, banking, local government, professional malpractice, real estate, and other complex litigation with a concentration in construction and mechanic’s lien litigation. She also has experience before regulatory agencies and administrative agencies and has represented park districts on zoning and tax matters.
Ms. Maguire is a former director of the Union League Club of Chicago and is a Trustee of its Boys & Girls Clubs foundation.
Ms. Maguire is a member of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, the DuPage County Bar Association, and the Chicago Council of Lawyers.
CAROL L. GLOOR
cgloor@friedmanholtz.com
Carol L. Gloor was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1981. She graduated from Roosevelt University, with honors, with a bachelor's degree in English in 1968, and again from Roosevelt University, with honors, with a master's degree in English, in 1973. She received her law degree from Northwestern University in 1981 (magna cum laude). While in law school Ms. Gloor was on the editorial board of the Northwestern Law Review and published a comment in the Law Review.
After graduating from law school, Ms. Gloor joined the law firm of Bell, Boyd & Lloyd, specializing in litigation and corporate law. Following her association with Bell, Boyd, Ms. Gloor joined the law firm of Katten, Muchin & Zavis, where she concentrated her practice in all aspects of corporate law, including mergers and acquisitions.
From 1985 to 1991 Ms. Gloor was Associate General Counsel of Cole Taylor Bank. At the Bank she concentrated her practice in all aspects of commercial secured lending and commercial real estate, including documentation of real estate acquisition and construction loans and management of the bank's own real estate and other real estate acquired through foreclosure or otherwise. She was also involved with the merger of Cole Taylor's five separate banks into one.
From 1991 to 1994, Ms. Gloor was associated with the firm of Holstein, Mack & Klein, where she concentrated in real estate acquisitions and sales and mortgage foreclosure litigation, and from 1994 to 1995 she was associated with the firm of Strauss & Malk, where she continued her practice in commercial real estate, including acquisition and development of commercial real estate, real estate title work and commercial real estate leasing.
Ms. Gloor joined the law firm of Friedman & Holtz, P.C., in November, 1995 and continues to concentrate her practice in all aspects of real estate. Ms. Gloor is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association, and has taught legal ethics for paralegals at the Paralegal Institute of Loyola University and secured lending at the American Institute of Banking.
|