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Attorneys - Firearm Defense

Molly B.

By Molly B.
in Illinois Right to Keep and Carry

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Lou Member

Lou

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https://www.dui-criminal-lawyers.com/weapons-charges

 

Id like to add Glenn Sowa to the list.

He is in Geneva and practices in DuPage, Will and Kane counties.

 

He also does expungements.

 

Law Office of Glenn M. Sowa, LLC in Geneva, Illinoisis dedicated to defending the rights of people throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, including the cities of Geneva, DeKalb, Wheaton, Joliet, Downers Grove, Elgin, Aurora, St. Charles, Naperville, Batavia, Bolingbrook, Darien, Hinsdale, Oak Brook, Woodridge, West Chicago, Warrenville, Winfield, Carol Stream and Lombard as well as Cook County, Will County, DeKalb County, DuPage County, Kane County, Kendall County and McHenry County.

 

© 2019 Law Office of Glenn M. Sowa, LLC | 524 W. State Street, Unit 2, Geneva, IL 60134 | 630-232-1780

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Mr. Fife Member

Mr. Fife

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Joel A. BrodskyAttorney at Law8 S. Michigan Ave.Suite 3200Chicago IL 60603V(312) 541-7000F(312)541-7311jbrodsky@joelbrodskylaw.comwww.joelbrodskylaw.com
Attorney Joel Brodsky suspended from federal court in Chicago for a year for bizarre antics https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-attorney-joel-brodsky-barred-federal-court-20190418-story.html
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FarmHand357 Member

FarmHand357

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Any attorneys in the Naperville-Wheaton-Warrenville or Dupage County. I just want to have some names in my phonebook - just in case.

 

Sign up for CCWSafe; not only will you get the names of attorneys and locations in Illinois (as well as other states), their services if, God forbid, you ever need them, are paid for...

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FredNickl Member

FredNickl

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I want to introduce myself, and will post this here and in a new thread (if allowed). My firm Williams & Nickl is mentioned on this site a couple of times, but because 2-3 clients have referenced this forum in the past week, I wanted to register and make sure my contact info is available.

 

Because my partner and I handle professional licensure cases (we have only a literal handful of competitors in the state), we have always handled FOID cases because some licensed professionals require a FOID as part of their license. We have also handled Administrative Review cases for decades, as that is the only option for appeal when a formal hearing on professional licensure cases goes south.

 

When the CCL statute passed, we geared up in late 2013 for the eventual onslaught of appeals, and as expected had filed our first Admin. Review within a week of the first CCL denial being issued around 4-1-14. That summer, as everyone remembers, was nuts. We had dozens of Admin. Reviews pending and every Asst. Attorney General that had a pulse and a pen was assigned to cover the huge influx of Admin. Reviews across the state.

 

Since then, I have given presentations to both the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association on how to handle CCL and FOID cases, including both informal and formal appeals of FOID denials/revocations and Admin. Reviews of CCL denials and Responses to Notices of Law Enforcement Objections.

 

We have had hundreds and hundreds of folks call us for help with their CCL since 4-1-14.

 

All that being said, I wanted to let this forum know that my partner and I operate under a simple rule: anyone can call us and ask a question or learn if we can help them for no charge. We never charge for phone consultations. Now that I am aware of this forum, I joined as a paying member and will try to monitor discussions to see if I can offer a helpful bit of advice here and there. Nothing I post should be considered legal advice, but you are all welcome to call or email me with a question and I try to respond within 24 hours (usually within 1 hour). Just use the email on my website and mention that you're an IllinoisCarry forum member.

 

Finally, just because my office is in Chicago does not mean that we cannot help downstate applicants. Responses to Notices of Law Enforcement Objections get emailed directly to the CCLRB's legal counsel, so I can do that from home. Informal appeals of FOID denial/revocations get FedEx'ed to Springfield, so again, location is irrelevant. Formal appeals require an in-court appearance, but we handle these via Zoom now, and in the past had atty contacts in the various counties just to step up on the first status hearing while we handled the actual evidentiary hearing.

 

Fred Nickl

312-335-9470

fred@williamsnickl.com

 

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FredNickl Member

FredNickl

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If anyone knows a way to restore firearm civil rights in Illinois for a non-resident, feel free to speak up. There are two other attorneys handle a lot of FOID work (and that I actually respect), and our collective answer is a unique plan that is not cookie-cutter in any way.

My partner and I have considered fronting half of the fees for such a petition, as we will end up in the Appellate Court without a doubt. We estimate a full appeal from start (circuit court) to end (??) would be at least $50k and we may be willing to front half our fees ($25k). It would be great to make new law.

Note that anyone who has called me with this query ends up getting a 15 minute review of the law and possible ways to do this, including establishing residency in Illinois for the purpose of the petition. If you emailed me after hours, I may have just emailed you back.

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Molly B. Member

Molly B.

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Fred,

 

This is posted on the Illinois State Police FAQ:

 

I was convicted of a felony in Illinois but no longer live in Illinois . . . what can I do to appeal this prohibitor?

You may file an appeal in Illinois. Please contact the Office of Firearms Safety at ISP.FOID.Appeals@illinois.gov to request additional information.

 

As an attorney, maybe they would provide this additional information to you? I would be very interested in this as well.

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FredNickl Member

FredNickl

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Fred,

 

This is posted on the Illinois State Police FAQ:

 

I was convicted of a felony in Illinois but no longer live in Illinois . . . what can I do to appeal this prohibitor?

You may file an appeal in Illinois. Please contact the Office of Firearms Safety at ISP.FOID.Appeals@illinois.gov to request additional information.

 

As an attorney, maybe they would provide this additional information to you? I would be very interested in this as well.

Because they've refused in the past, my best guess is that this statement is their attempt to CYA. Alan Downen, a smarter attorney than I'll ever be, also analyzed the situation and agrees the only way to succeed is to establish new law via appellate court. However, I now have a direct line to the Chief Legal Counsel for the entire ISP, which I never dreamed would happen, so I will add this to my list of topics to discuss with her.

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PaulBald2 Welcome New Member

PaulBald2

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Hello.I'm new here. I was looking for a lawyer in LaSalle county,that could help get my 2nd amendment rights restored. I had a domestic back in 1996,and a battery in 1997. I applied for an FOID in 2001 and was denied because of the domestic battery.I did not think to fight it back then.I have no idea where the letter is from back then,as my house burned down back in 2018,and lost just about everything. I am disabled and had my right leg amputated at the knee last year and would really like to be able to defend myself. Thank you.

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once0217 Member

once0217

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On 3/30/2022 at 5:21 PM, PaulBald2 said:

Hello.I'm new here. I was looking for a lawyer in LaSalle county,that could help get my 2nd amendment rights restored. I had a domestic back in 1996,and a battery in 1997. I applied for an FOID in 2001 and was denied because of the domestic battery.I did not think to fight it back then.I have no idea where the letter is from back then,as my house burned down back in 2018,and lost just about everything. I am disabled and had my right leg amputated at the knee last year and would really like to be able to defend myself. Thank you.

IANAL but from what I read, since you have had a domestic battery conviction, you are lifetime banned from owning firearms unless you can get that conviction set aside. 

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Molly B. Member

Molly B.

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On 3/30/2022 at 5:52 PM, once0217 said:

IANAL but from what I read, since you have had a domestic battery conviction, you are lifetime banned from owning firearms unless you can get that conviction set aside. 

 

Since the IL Supreme Court ruling in Johnson vs ISP, there is now a process of petitioning to have rights restored in the circuit court in the county in which you live.

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FredNickl Member

FredNickl

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On 3/30/2022 at 6:17 PM, Molly B. said:

 

Since the IL Supreme Court ruling in Johnson vs ISP, there is now a process of petitioning to have rights restored in the circuit court in the county in which you live.

Correct. I told clients with dom batt dispositions for years to 'read the papers and call me when you hear about the IL Supreme Court taking this on.' When Johnson came out in late January 2020, I got about 2 dozen folks calling me "hey, I think the law changed!" Good times filing all of their formal appeals!

To the original poster, you need to file a Petition for Relief in the county in which you live, give a copy to the State's Attorney's Office, go before a judge and have a short evidentiary hearing (usually). 

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vito Member

vito

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I would hope that I never need a criminal defense attorney, but if I did, having this forum as a resource is certainly helpful. I notice that the original post on this thread by Molly has not been updated, something that would be very helpful as a reference tool rather than having to read through every post on this multi page thread. I'll also add that when looking up the attorneys listed or mentioned later for my location (Rockford), at least one did not even have a website, which makes him appear as a fairly unsophisticated attorney. I have no idea what vetting, if any, has been done before a name is put on the list. 

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FredNickl Member

FredNickl

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On 3/15/2024 at 11:23 AM, vito said:

I would hope that I never need a criminal defense attorney, but if I did, having this forum as a resource is certainly helpful. I notice that the original post on this thread by Molly has not been updated, something that would be very helpful as a reference tool rather than having to read through every post on this multi page thread. I'll also add that when looking up the attorneys listed or mentioned later for my location (Rockford), at least one did not even have a website, which makes him appear as a fairly unsophisticated attorney. I have no idea what vetting, if any, has been done before a name is put on the list. 

Couple things:

 

If you need a criminal defense attorney, meaning you've been charged with a weapons related offense, I don't think this list is that great. You will want the best criminal defense attorney in that town/area, it does not need to be someone that's done a lot of weapons charges defense. Just need a good crim def atty who knows the prosecutors and knows what the judges usually do on those cases in your area.

 

If on the other hand you're looking for someone to handle a FOID or CCL appeal or anything relating to restoration of firearm civil rights, I can tell you that a decent part of that list on page 1 of this thread will simply refer you to my office. We do more than literally anyone at this point. I try to answer questions as much as possible on this forum, but that does not mean there is an attorney-client relationship.

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