Gary Ravitz is a trial and appellate lawyer; whose practice focuses on civil rights defense. His extensive prior experience as a criminal defense lawyer who tried numerous state and federal cases to verdict, easily translates to the defense of municipalities and individual police officers in Section 1983 litigation. In addition to handling such complex civil litigation, Gary’s experience includes defending complex criminal litigation, ranging from alleged bank and mortgage frauds, to alleged violations of RICO and conspiracy, to allegations of public corruption. His past client list includes politicians, business folks, sports figures and alleged kingpins along with many others, whose humbler backgrounds left them vulnerable to systemic abuses.

Before joining Mohan Groble Scolaro in an of counsel capacity, Gary was engaged in private practice as a founding member of Ravitz & Palles, P.C. He also has worked in the public sector as a judicial law clerk in the Illinois Appellate Court, as appellate counsel with the Office of the Illinois State Appellate Defender, and as a trial attorney with the Office of the Cook County Public Defender, where he was a member of that office’s elite Murder Task Force. He was among the first attorneys admitted by the Illinois Supreme Court to its Capital Litigation Trial Bar. He also has been appointed to serve as Learned Counsel in federal death penalty litigation.

EDUCATION

John Marshall Law School, J.D. with honors

BAR ADMISSIONS

Illinois

COURT MEMBERSHIPS

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Member Federal Trial Bar
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court

PRESENTATIONS & PUBLICATIONS

“Court Supervision after Padilla v Kentucky,” Illinois Bar Journal, July 2010
“Illinois Criminal Pretrial Discovery,” Ch. 5, IICLE Defending Illinois Criminal Cases (1996 and 1999 Supp.)
“School’s Out: A Practice Primer for New Attorneys,” IICLE publication (1999)
Comment, The Illinois Juvenile Court Act: Does it Protect the Child’s Best Interests? 9 J. Mar. Prac. & Proc 396 (1975-76)
“The People vs. Mary Smith,” a mock trial video presentation at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital Center, Chicago

AFFILIATIONS & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Illinois State Bar Association