Mr. Guttman is AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®, the highest recognition possible in the legal industry, for his professionalism and ethics. Consistent with the concentration of the firm, Mr. Guttman continues to focus his law practice in the areas of real estate assessments, property tax incentives and tax exemptions. He has extensive experience with representing a variety of property owners including multi-unit residential, commercial and industrial properties, as well as downtown Chicago office buildings. Mr. Guttman has considerable experience with litigation including acting as associate counsel before the Circuit Court of Cook County on a number of cases that challenged the constitutionality of the assessment methodology applied by taxing officials. His trial experience includes one of the first tax objection cases to be heard in the Circuit Court under the amended 1995 Revenue Act, which abolished the antiquated constructive fraud standard. Mr. Guttman co-authored two chapters, “Tax Objection Complaints” in the book, “Real Estate Taxation” and “Real Estate Tax Considerations” in the book “Residential Real Estate Transactions” for the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education. He also co-authored the article “Five Things Every Attorney Should Know About Appealing Their Client’s Real Estate Taxes” appearing in the January, 2004 edition of the “CBA Record.” He was the former Chairman of the main committee, Legislative Liaison, and Chairman of the Assessment and Appeals Sub-committee of the Chicago Bar Association’s Real Estate Taxation Committee. He currently acts as Treasurer of the Illinois Property Tax Lawyer’s Association – an advocacy and lobbying group established to inform, educate and promote tax policies and legislative efforts affecting tax payers throughout the State of Illinois. Mr. Guttman lectured before the Chicago Bar Association’s continuing legal education seminar entitled, “Real Estate Taxation: An Overview for the Non-Specialist” in 2005 and acted as Special Assistant State’s Attorney on behalf of Maria Pappas, Cook County Treasurer, as Trustee of the Indemnity Fund in the defense of a claim against the Indemnity Fund. He also served on the Cook County Treasurer, Maria Pappas’ Joint Committee for the automation of the Illinois Transfer Tax Form.

I received my Juris Doctor and Master of Social Work degrees from Loyola University Chicago with a certificate in child law and a concentration in non-profit program management and development. There, I also received a public interest recognition award and a leadership and service award. Before forming Hunsinger Law Group, LLC, I worked with multiple disenfranchised populations in various parts of the world. For example, I worked with refugees in southern Mexico at the United Nations, conducted field research about child domestic servitude in Tanzania, and assisted with representing high-risk youth in South Africa at the University of Pretoria's Child Law Centre. In fact, a case wherein I drafted a brief about triple jeopardy for students, received a favorable opinion from the Constitutional Court of South Africa (USA's Supreme Court equivalent). In the United States, I also gained valuable experience at Loyola University's Civitas ChildLaw Center and Northwestern's Bluhm Legal Clinic's Child and Family Justice Center as a student attorney appointed by the court to represent children in custody disputes and protection proceedings. Within that capacity, I conducted home visits investigating the child's safety within the environment. I also met with incarcerated youth and adult clients, writing reports for the legal team about the clients' well-being and institutional adjustment. In addition, I represented juveniles, parolee candidates, and people with disabilities in hearings. My past non-profit experiences include helping one non-profit program increase revenue by 25% in 6-months, drafting mission statements, creating and implementing a mental health screening process for a volunteer program, writing a training component for behavioral health practitioners, specifically a curriculum about military sexual assault, organizing summits that connect service providers to families who lost loved ones, analyzing legislation pertaining to a non-profit's interests and writing fact sheets and briefs to inform staff.

Michael Shinsky’s serious approach coupled with his extensive trial experience has provided him with the necessary tools to represent his clients with excellent results. After obtaining his law degree with honors in 2001, Michael served as a prosecutor with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office where he rapidly ascended the ranks, prosecuting cases on behalf of children who were abused and neglected. In 2004, Michael joined the law firm of Kralovec, Jambois & Schwartz where he utilizes those trial skills in pursuit of justice for injured individuals and their families in the civil arena. Currently, Michael focuses his practice on representing and protecting the legal right so those who have suffered serious, life-altering persona injuries caused by the negligence of others, and seeking justice for the families of those victims who have lost their lives due to negligence. Michael’s practice focuses on automobile accidents, premise liability, sexual assaults, medical malpractice, wrongful death and nursing home litigation. To schedule a free consultation with Attorney Shinsky, visit his website, or call 708-888-2160.

Paul D. Richter is an experienced trial attorney who has spent over 20 years in the practice of personal injury and wrongful death litigation. His career has been dedicated to representing individuals who have suffered serious, life-altering personal injuries caused by the negligence of others, and seeking justice for the families of those victims who have lost their lives due to negligence. Paul has successfully resolved multiple personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits in a host of complex cases, including cases of nursing home abuse and neglect; medical malpractice; commercial and private aviation crashes; accidents involving semi tractor-trailer trucks, watercraft, and other motor vehicles; construction accidents, and negligently manufactured and/or designed products. Throughout his career, Paul's commitment to fighting for and protecting the rights of his clients has resulted in numerous multi-million dollar results. To schedule a free consultation with Attorney Richter, visit his website, or call 708-888-2160.

Covid-19 IF YOU HAVE BEEN UNLAWFULLY TERMINATED OR DEMOTED DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, YOU MAY HAVE A VALID AND VALUABLE CASE. PLEASE CALL US FOR A FREE AND CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION. ARE YOU THE VICTIM OF SEXUAL ASSAULT OR RAPE? IF YOU ARE A SURVIVOR OF SEXUAL ASSAULT OR RAPE PLEASE CALL US FOR A FREE AND CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION. WE HAVE RECOVERED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE TAKEN A STAND AGAINST SEXUAL VIOLENCE. WE ARE ON YOUR SIDE.

Alan H. Bender is the co-owner of Goldstein Bender & Romanoff. As the senior and managing partner of the litigation department, Alan works tirelessly to ensure his clients receive the compensation they deserve. Alan was born in Chicago but moved to Brooklyn, New York, when he was 11 years old. He graduated Brooklyn College, which is part of the City University of New York, with a Bachelors Degree in Political Science and went on to graduate Law School from the University of Illinois, School of Law.

Eric W. Cracken joined TorHoerman Law in 2019, to work in our Chicago office. At TorHoerman Law, Eric works in our Chicago office as a member of our trial team that focuses in nationwide, complex litigations representing clients who have been injured by the actions of large corporations and organizations.

Judd is a graduate of Rutgers University where he received a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and was a member of the Psychology Honors Society. After returning home to Chicago, Judd earned his J.D. at The John Marshall Law School. Upon graduating, he worked as a staff attorney and law clerk for the Presiding Judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County in Skokie. He wrote countless legal briefs for many of the Judges in the courthouse and assisted in trials ranging from contract issues to attempted murder. At his next position, he found himself in legal consulting, analyzing contracts for the merger of two of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Attention to detail was the name of the game. This helped prepare him for his next step as a Legal Advisor to the Secretary of State for Administrative Hearings. Judd represented the Secretary of State as a Legal Advisor and prosecutor every day for close to two years, totaling more than two thousand hearings. He was soon promoted to a special prosecutor position, one of only two in the entire state, conducting the more complex hearings on behalf of the State. It was at this point that Mike knew he needed Judd on his team (despite Judd's lifelong loyalty as a White Sox fan) and persuaded him to leave the Secretary of State. This is how Johnson & Goldrich, PC was formed.

Since joining TorHoerman Law in 2009, Jacob Plattenberger has taken hundreds of depositions, argued in countless hearings, and tried over thirty-five (35) cases to a jury. His experience in and out of the courtroom has made him a passionate advocate for those injured due to the negligence of others. Jake started his career trying cases at one of the busiest civil courthouses in the country – the Richard J. Daley Center in downtown Chicago. He started out doing insurance defense because he knew that afforded him the best opportunity to get courtroom experience. This type of real trial experience is exceedingly rare in complex civil litigation and having seen it from the defense side gives Jake an added advantage.

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