I was born and raised on the North Shore of Chicago. I went to New Trier East High School Class of 1978. After high school, I went to college at the University of Iowa for one year and finished my undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison 1982. I worked for several years between undergrade and law school where I attended The John Marshall Law School 1989. I worked for the law firm of Karmek and Gilden for 18 years concentrating in Labor and Employment on the employee side. The firm represented the a majority of the Midwest region of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. In addition, I handled hundreds of workers compensation claims for the union members. In October 2008 I left Karmel and Gilden and started a plaintiff employment firm concentrating on individual employment rights. In addition, I kept my workers compensation practice serving both union and non union workers.