For over 35 years, the experienced legal team at Mitchell S. Sexner & Associates LLC has helped our clients achieve successful conclusions during difficult times. Our compassionate and knowledgeable attorneys are ready to assist you 24 hours a day. Call us know to discuss your situation free of charge.

As owner and Managing Director, Julie Aponte has successfully built and managed our business immigration firm for more than 20 years. Her successful practice includes representing employers of varying sizes, including a multinational employer with 145,000 employees. Julie provides strategic legal counsel for complex immigration matters for global multi-billion-dollar corporations and their professional and executive-level employees. Her extensive experience includes managing the high pace, high volume environment for business immigration services for multinational corporations with hundreds of immigration matters. Julie has had the honor of representing one multinational corporation with 70,000 employees for more than 26 years. Julie has mainly built her immigration law practice through networking and referrals. Julie leads hundreds of clients in successfully securing nonimmigrant work visas, including H-1B, E-1/E-2, L-1, TN visa classifications and navigating the complexities of employment-sponsored permanent residence processes. Julie also directs clients in ensuring compliance with U.S. regulations pertaining to business immigration laws, including prevailing wage requirements, Public Access File compliance, Audit File compliance as well as assisting clients in establishing corporate-wide processes and policies. In addition, Julie’s experience includes creating a firm-wide process for conducting an unprecedented audit project for the firm thousands of Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification documents to ensure corporate compliance and mitigate possible government sanctions. Her proactive strategies assist clients in achieving their goals of operational efficiencies and economic growth. Specifically, she prides herself in representing entrepreneurs in investing in U.S. start-ups through the E-2 Treaty Investor visa program. She has represented numerous business investors in obtaining E-2 Treaty Investor visas to develop their business ventures and start-ups in the U.S. As business immigration law touches a variety of industries, Julie has experience representing clients involved in the engineering, financial services, retail, telecommunications, manufacturing, IT consulting, and health care industries. Julie also represents hospitals with their employment-based sponsorship petitions for foreign graduate physicians and nurses. She assists them in achieving work authorization and permanent residence in the U.S. thereby directly benefiting industry shortage needs. Early in her career, she gained experience with Fragomen Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP; Paul Hastings LLP (previously Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP); and Squire Patton Boggs (previously, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP).

Chris is a Senior Attorney at J. Aponte & Associates, LLC and has been working in the area of business immigration law since 2013. Since 2013 and from the time he joined our firm in June 2021, Chris has gained extensive experience representing multinational corporations with hundreds of immigration matters. He creates detailed corporate policies and develops strategies for high volume immigration projects, including L-1 Blanket, H-1B, E-1/E-2, EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 petition processes, and PERM applications. He advises corporate clients on developing compliance policies and processes for maintenance of Public Access Files and for PERM Audit files, completion of Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification), and creates proactive employment-based immigration strategies for their employees. He has written complex immigration petitions and audit responses for filing with US Citizenship and Immigration Services, US Department of Labor, and US Department of State resulting in a high rate of successful applications. Chris provides clients with detailed, hands-on guidance in navigating the complexities of immigration law.

Carol A. Nolan has been a frequent speaker on Elder Law, estate planning, probate and trust administration for the Illinois State Bar Association, National Business Institute, and the DuPage County Bar Association.Carol also has expertise in preparing revocable living trusts, wills, and other estate planning tools. This includes plans for special needs children, disabled adults, clients with minor children, second marriages, and non citizen spouses.Call us at 630-668-6600, or submit a form online for a consultation.

Josh's civil litigation practice spans a broad range of areas, with a particular focus on insurance coverage and defense involving residential and commercial properties, automobile incidents, construction, trucking, and business losses, including bad faith claims. Additionally, he handles disputes related to contracts, property, businesses, and estates. Josh is committed to delivering positive and efficient outcomes for his clients. He exercises diligence in reviewing each case, identifying available options, and adapting to evolving circumstances to best serve his clients' interests. The practice areas that Josh works in involves: insurance coverage, bad faith, insurance defense, uninsured motorist, underinsured motorist, civil litigation, and arbitration. Josh met his wife, Jessica, during law school. They now live in Geneva, Illinois.

Attorney Kendall D. Hartsfield is a graduate of Western Illinois University, Governors State University, and Thomas M. Cooley Law School, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, Master of Arts in Political and Justice Studies, and Juris Doctorate, respectively. Mr. Hartsfield’s diverse background ranges from experience representing indigent defendants for the Will County Public Defenders Office to experience as an educator for the City Colleges of Chicago, for which he taught courses to pre-trial detainees at the Cook County Department of Corrections. Attorney Kendall D. Hartsfield is admitted to practice throughout the State of Illinois, and he is also admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Mr. Hartsfield is also a member of the Trial Bar of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. To schedule a free consultation with Attorney Hartsfield, visit his website, or call 312-345-1700.

Joseph Seligmann is a practicing lawyer in the state of Illinois. Attorney Seligmann received his J.D. from John Marshall Law School in 1991.

Mark M. Berardi is an attorney licensed in Illinois, Indiana, and Florida. He advises business owners, investors, and property owners on asset-focused legal strategy, including estate and wealth planning, real estate acquisitions and dispositions, and entity and ownership structuring. His work is also informed by experience in securities regulation, including an internship with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement. Mark’s practice is built around protecting ownership, value, and privacy. He helps clients lawfully reduce public visibility into asset ownership, protect identity, and safeguard reputation through discreet planning and transaction design, including for high-net-worth and public individuals. He also represents Florida property owners in major-loss insurance recovery matters, including claims arising from Hurricane Ian, and he works with co-counsel on automotive defect and warranty litigation against major manufacturers, including actions involving FCA-branded vehicles. In Illinois, Mark and his firm regularly represent condominium and homeowners associations on governance, enforcement, and property-related matters, offering practical, full-spectrum counsel for owners and operators of residential, commercial, and investment assets. Under Mark’s leadership, his firm has developed one of Illinois’s most prominent real estate practices, providing comprehensive counsel that blends precision, discretion, and practical judgment.

Wendy R. Morgan is the founder and owner of The Law Firm of Wendy R. Morgan. Wendy has been practicing law since 1981 and has been concentrating in Family Law since 1986. Judges and attorneys have praised Wendy for her ardent advocacy and her ability to "find the angle" in even the most difficult and complex cases and when all other lawyers fail. Wendy is an expert and experienced litigation attorney Wendy is also an extremely skilled negotiator; successfully negotiating extremely favorable settlements for untold numbers of clients over the years. Wendy is also known for her understanding and compassion for her clients and the ability to know what they need and how to successfully strategize to accomplish their goals. Unlike many attorneys who do family law and divorce by "chance" Wendy's passion for divorce and family law has always been "chosen". Wendy received her law degree in 1981 from Chicago-Kent College of Law. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Loyola University in 1977 with a double major in political science and philosophy. Even before graduating from law school, Wendy second chaired several felony criminal trials with esteemed criminal attorney, Sam Adler. While still in Law School, Wendy gained significant insight into the domestic relations division and family law when she was chosen by the late Honorable Judge Willard Lasser in the Circuit Court of Cook County to act as his legal intern. Wendy's passion for divorce and family law arose from this internship. While Wendy has been concentrating in the field of family law since 1986, in Wendy's earlier years she also gained a broad background in other fields of law which has enhanced her overall legal spectrum of knowledge and skills and provides her s special edge over other attorneys in her field. She gained extensive experience as a general practitioner with an emphasis in both Family law and Bankruptcy law. In addition to extensive trial work in the Circuit Courts, Wendy has also successfully practiced in Federal Court and has gained experience and skills as an appellate attorney. Wendy has also successfully appeared for oral argument before the Appellate Court on several occasions. She was qualified and admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court in 2003. Wendy has served as a lecturer for both legal and non-legal organizations in the State of Illinois, Nationally and Internationally. Wendy has written several articles on custody, paternity and other areas of family law. She has frequently has appeared on both cable television and radio on panels and discussions on family law topics. Many of her trials have been published in Divorce Digest. Wendy is one of few attorneys in this area who has extensive experience in the area of interstate and international child custody disputes. Wendy has been admitted to numerous states to practice "pro hac vice" with respect to interstate custody disputes and has successfully prevailed. Wendy also has gained extensive experience handling international custody disputes. She has recently worked with state police, the FBI and international law enforcement entities and has successfully recovered children who have been kidnapped and removed from the United States to Mexico. Wendy has received awards for service to the community. She has also been recognized for her work as a facilitator in the Circuit Court of Cook County and for pro-bono work in DuPage County. OTHER ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERSHIPS: Wendy just recently returned from a Rotarian Humanitarian Project in Guatemala where she worked with Mayan Children teaching English as a Second language and self-defense. In Guatemala she also had the opportunity to work with the Madre Whistle world organization, which fights against gender violence and murder of women, a serious problem in Guatemala and third world countries. Wendy is an active member of numerous professional and legal organizations, some of which are listed below. Wendy has been elected President of the Rotary Club of Mount Prospect/ Prospect Heights for the 2013-14 Rotary years and has been previously secretary of her Rotary club. Wendy has been both President and Secretary of the Rand/Olive Condominium Association and President of the Northwest Symphony Serenade Association. Wendy holds a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Wendy received extensive training in voice and performs both as a soloist and in various local and religious choir groups and with the Rotary World Choir. Wendy's additional hobbies include skiing, snowmobiling, scuba diving and snorkeling. Wendy is a member and supporter of the following Legal Professional Organizations: Illinois Trial Lawyers Association Trial Lawyers Association of America Illinois Bar Association Northwest Suburban Bar Association Chicago Bar Association American Bar Association DuPage County Bar Association Lake County Bar Association

Joseph H. Sparacino is a practicing lawyer in the state of Illinois.