Jean Schroeder - Waukegan, IL

My name is Jean H. Schroeder and I obtained my Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, with additional majors in Spanish and German. At Bradley University, I was active in the International Affairs Organization and the International Foreign Language Honor Society, Phi Sigma Iota. I earned an athletic scholarship from Bradley University for their Division I softball team. I later received my Juris Doctor in 1994 from American University’s Washington College of Law in Washington, DC. While in law school, I competitively litigated trial level moot court, and served as Director of the Moot Court Board. Following graduation and the bar exam, I was sworn in and admitted by the Illinois Supreme Court to practice law in Illinois. While in Washington, DC, I worked with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Litigation Branch, and the Felony Homicide Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office where I provided valuable backup for the District of Columbia’s first death penalty prosecution. I also continued my study and use of the Spanish language, serving as an interpreter for an annual conference for a major organization.

Before coming to Shyama S. Parikh, PC in November, 2020, I served as an Assistant State’s Attorney with the State’s Attorney’s Office in Rockford, Illinois, where I prosecuted complex cases and served as Attorney Advisor for the Northern Illinois Auto Theft Task Force. During my time with the State’s Attorney’s Office, I successfully utilized my negotiation and trial skills. After leaving the State’s Attorney’s Office, I further honed my litigation skills by successfully trying complex medical malpractice cases.

For the past fourteen years, I have focused my practice in the areas of Traffic and Family Law, concentrating in all aspects of family law litigation and focusing on giving the gift of a brighter future to children and families. One of my most rewarding cases was when I was faced with strenuous opposition, I was able to obtain a critical court order allowing the father to finally have parenting time with his children, whose lives he had been pushed out of for years. He had never even met one of his children until this court victory! In another case, I was able to get a court order allowing my client to take the parties’ three children to Mexico to visit their grandparents whom they hadn’t seen in over five years.

Outside of work, I enjoy reading, travelling and spending time with my friends and family — especially my fur baby.