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Paulette A. Petretti
Equity Partner
312.565.3100 ext. 245
312.320.8562 cell
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Ms. Petretti directs significant legal focus to the care and handling of complex federal and state court litigation for school district, community college and municipal clients. Many of Ms. Petretti’s recent accomplishments have arisen in the area of risk management where her extensive experience in rendering advice and litigating insurance disputes has resulted in significant and beneficial awards for clients. Additionally, Ms. Petretti has accumulated extensive experience handling administrative agency matters, resolving contract controversies, and defending management against civil rights suits, employment discrimination charges, tort claims and grievances. Ms. Petretti continues to devote attention to advising clients on personnel, disciplinary matters and labor relations concerns. Legal dilemmas concerning the interpretation of the United States and Illinois State Constitutions, disputes over the meaning of regulatory statutes and ordinances, and questions relating to discretionary board management decisions all come within the scope of her ongoing legal practice. Ms. Petretti co-authored the Students Rights and Responsibilities Chapter of the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education 1999 Illinois School Law Handbook, as well as the Labor Relations and Employment Discrimination Chapters of the Illinois School Law Handbook Supplement. Early in her career, Ms. Petretti served as Assistant Corporation Counsel with the City of Chicago Labor and Employment Division, where she served as a litigator and trial attorney on civil rights cases and she prosecuted cases before the Chicago Police Board and Personnel Review Board. An ardent supporter of the performing arts as a venue that encourages examination of challenging social issues, for many years Ms. Petretti has been a member of the Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee, an organization that bestows annual awards celebrating achievements of excellence in the Chicago area theatre. Ms. Petretti received her Bachelor’s degree from St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana, after which she taught high school English, speech and drama in her native State of Wisconsin. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University Chicago, School of Law in 1990.
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