Schaktman, Elliot M.

Theodore J. (Ted) Harvatin grew up in Rochester, Illinois, a farming and bedroom community near Springfield. His mother was from Benton, Illinois, where her parents, who emigrated from Macedonia (the former Yugoslavia), started and ran a bakery for 40 years. 

Ted's father, who was an electrical engineer at Illinois Bell Telephone, grew up in Sesser, Illinois.  Ted's dad's parents emigrated from Croatia, another part of Yugoslavia, and Ted's grandfather Harvatin toiled in the Sesser coalmines.  Ted's uncle played professional baseball in the St. Louis Cardinals' baseball organization.

After graduating from Rochester High School as a member of the National Honor Society, Ted attended Knox College, a private liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, a small community near Peoria.  Ted majored in economics and business administration, and graduated Cum Laude (high honors).  The college faculty selected him for membership in Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest and most prestigious academic fraternity in the nation, whose members represent the top 10% of their graduating class.

Ted was admitted to, and graduated from, the University of Illinois College of Law, a Big Ten university located in Urbana-Champaign.  Based on his law school admission test scores, Ted was accepted as a member of the Mensa International Society, which according to its web site is a society [that] welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population. 

Ted began practicing law in Springfield in 1981.  He believes that his diverse family background and intellectual accomplishments give him unique insight into the problems that his clients face in today's world. 

Ted and his 8 year-old son Alex enjoy anything having to do with cars.  Ted is also an avid bicyclist.  Harvatin Law Offices is a sponsor of Team Mack, a local semi-professional bicycle-racing team.   Ted himself is a former Big Brother and is a sponsor of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Sangamon County.