ELECTION LAW
We have years of experience in election law, including representing and advising electoral boards and board members on hearing procedures, evidentiary issues and substantive election law. We also represent these boards in litigation. Additionally, we represent candidates and objectors in electoral board hearings and in court proceedings and advise clients on compliance with election administration and procedures.
We have extensive experience in the
following areas of government law.
As general counsel for several public government operations, we consistently advise on day-to-day functions, procedures and requirements, including issues such as municipal authority, FOIA, Open Meetings Act, meeting procedures, procurement, construction, land use, eminent domain, personnel, the scope of the governmental body’s statutory authority, ordinances and resolutions, and other issues that arise.
One of the many advantages we bring to our clients is our strong relationship with the Illinois legislature, including its staff. Given our role as counsel for the Illinois Senate, few if any firms in the state have the ability to obtain access to state government officials or provide the experience in drafting or guiding legislation that we can offer our clients. We have drafted dozens of pieces of legislation for public clients and regularly interpret state statutes related to municipal government.
As general counsel, our regular functions with municipalities include drafting and reviewing ordinances, resolutions and intergovernmental agreements. However, being conscious of costs, we encourage clients to decide whether staff or counsel should prepare first drafts of ordinances, resolutions and other typical day-to-day type items.
LUETKEHANS, BRADY, GARNER & ARMSTRONG regularly drafts and reviews contracts and agreements for its clients. While standard agreements do not always work for every vendor or in every situation, we have drafted standard contracts and purchase orders for our public entity clients to use where applicable in order to help save costs and time. We take pride in having drafted a nationally recognized Procurement Ordinance. In addition, we regularly draft comprehensive construction contracts for both public and private clients.
Since our inception, we have engaged in litigation on behalf of municipalities. Each of our attorneys has more than 20 years experience in litigation ranging from pre-suit research, investigation and evaluation of claims and defenses all the way through trial and appeal. LUETKEHANS, BRADY, GARNER & ARMSTRONG attorneys have wide-ranging experience in trying cases in both federal and state courts throughout the state and country, as well as before administrative bodies. We have litigated before almost every state and federal trial and appellate court in the northern and central portions of Illinois, as well as before the United States and Illinois Supreme Courts. We have been published on issues of municipal litigation including tort immunity.
We have tremendous experience in civil rights litigation and have defended municipalities, counties, elected officials and government employees in civil rights cases for more than 30 years. The cases frequently involve defending police officers accused of civil rights violations, but has included others, such as prosecutors and elected officials accused of wrongdoing in their public service. Most recently, our attorneys successfully defended several sheriff’s deputies accused of unlawful search and seizure and false arrest. We have also successfully defended dozens of claims filed by prisoners or detainees who claimed they were denied civil rights while in custody. Our attorneys are frequently successful in obtaining summary judgment in their clients’ favor in these cases.
This has been one of our primary areas of practice. In fact, we started as a civil rights defense firm litigating cases throughout Illinois, and our attorneys authored a chapter on civil rights litigation in a leading continuing legal education publication for several years. LUETKEHANS, BRADY, GARNER & ARMSTRONG’s attorneys have also authored a chapter on tort immunity issues involved in school cases. This experience allows us to identify potential issues early on and gives our clients a head start in defending any claims that may arise.
We have years of experience in eminent domain matters and we have continually represented both municipalities and property owners in these matters for the past 30 years. This experience includes negotiating in order to avoid litigation, guiding governmental agencies through the initial steps required to acquire property and litigating these cases through trial and appeal. We have also represented property owners in defending condemnation actions both in pre-suit negotiations and at trial. This considerable experience allows us to evaluate and advise our clients in eminent domain matters from both perspectives and to provide valuable and practical advice. Very few municipal firms can offer the experience in eminent domain matters that we can provide.
LUETKEHANS, BRADY, GARNER & ARMSTRONG represents governmental bodies related to zoning matters, including variances, text amendments, map amendments, special uses, and other zoning matters, both at the administrative level and in litigation. We also revise and draft new zoning ordinances at both the county and municipal levels. This experience gives our attorneys the ability to understand the issues from the perspectives of both the municipality and the applicant. We are well versed in the procedural requirements and standards applicable in these matters and have litigated dozens of cases in this field.
Our firm takes pride in regularly advising elected officials and government employees regarding ethics. We draft ethics ordinances for government clients and train elected officials and employees at both state and local levels on ethics issues and compliance.
