Plenty of law firms in Illinois are perfectly capable of handling cases of sexual abuse. Nevertheless, if the case also involves the clergy, the whole thing gets that much more complicated, which is why the number of lawyers you can choose from becomes much smaller.
Back in 2023, the State Attorney General found and identified 451 Catholic clerics who were in some shape or form linked to the abuse of almost 2,000 children! 1,997 to be precise. That’s horrible. It’s scary.
But while the numbers ARE scary, no one’s challenging this; for a mother, those same numbers hit differently. Mothers are biologically wired to worry about their child – who they’re around, whether they’re safe at school, online, even with friends, and whether they’re safe in church (in church, where they should be the safest).
When a mother protects her child, the protection doesn’t stop when the child is away from the immediate danger. No. It stops when the offender is held accountable, so that they can’t hurt anyone else anymore.
Keep in mind that this list is relatively strict, and it doesn’t bother with lawyers who took the time to make their websites look impressive.
We’re looking for experience and proven results, so read on.
4 Clergy Abuse Lawyers in Illinois You’ll Want to Consider
Injury Lawyer Team
The list starts off with Illinois lawyers at Injury Lawyer Team. Their office is at 225 W. Wacker Drive in Chicago, and their work involving clergy abuse covers all 6 Catholic dioceses in the state.
One important thing to mention is the amount of material that they publish.
You can find actual case results on their website, like a $14.2 million (USD) recovery for 6 young men who were abused by a priest. That’s an impressive number for sure, and you’ll find more of those on the site. There are also resources in the Archdiocese of Chicago and the dioceses of Joliet, Belleville, Peoria, Rockford, and Springfield. What’s more, you can look up the specific members of the clergy who were connected with those dioceses.
The practice is led by Jonathan Rosenfeld, who has 25 years of litigation experience in the personal injury field.
Basically, all their claims can be verified, and you can get a good deal of information before you even contact them for the first time.
The Blake Horwitz Law Firm
There’s a very significant case that has to be mentioned when talking about this law firm.
In 2019, they reached an $8 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Chicago for a man who said that John Calicott, who used to be a priest, abused him when he was a minor at Holy Angels Church on Chicago’s South Side. The Blake Horwitz Law Firm said that this was the largest settlement they reached with the Archdiocese out of court.
Blake Horwitz himself has 25+ years of litigation experience. To be fair, a lot of his wider practice has involved civil rights and other kinds of complicated cases, not just clergy abuse, but even that one single case that was mentioned can tell you a whole lot.
You’ll find more information on that particular case on their website, like the background, the name of the priest and the church, how the claim has developed, and so on.
Levin, Riback & Adelman
The person you’ll want to pay most attention to here is Richard “Rick” Levin.
On the firm’s website, you can see that his profile specifically mentions that he represents survivors who were abused by priests and other members of the clergy. Levin, Riback & Adelman also list some of their results, like a $2.6 million settlement for a person who was abused by a priest. That’s a lot more useful than simply reading a generic statement like, “Experience with clergy abuse cases.”
Levin in particular is licensed in Illinois, and he spent decades in litigation. Also, he teaches trial advocacy at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, so as you can see, the courtroom is a huge part of his background.
The firm works in downtown Chicago, and their website has a whole separate section on priest abuse and the claims connected to it.
Hurley McKenna & Mertz
Now, this is a law firm that has been involved in some serious clergy abuse litigation in Illinois.
The cases that are especially worth mentioning are the ones tied to the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Joliet.
They’ve filed dozens of lawsuits against the Chicago Archdiocese, but if you’re looking from a research standpoint, the cases related to Joliet are more interesting. Mark McKenna represented survivors in litigation, which eventually resulted in thousands of pages of internal diocesan records being released. That’s quite an accomplishment.
The reason why this is even important is that cases that involve the clergy require a lot more than just proving the abuse happened.
There’s a lot that goes into it, especially when you realize that some of the claims go back decades. Illinois no longer has a statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse, so when you factor in the sheer age of a case, you can understand why not every lawyer has what it takes to handle it.
Hurley McKenna & Mertz certainly do, though.
Conclusion
Although you now have a list of truly excellent law firms, it doesn’t mean you don’t have to do any research of your own. Clergy abuse is extremely complicated, and you want to make sure that you trust whoever you choose to represent you.
And that can’t happen unless you first do a little digging on them.