Michael Martin's Email & Phone

Mike Martin began his career as in house counsel for Lyons Savings and Loan Association, where he concentrated on commercial real estate transactions, development, zoning and financing. In February of 1979, he was employed as an Assistant State's Attorney in Will County, Illinois, where within six months he tried his first felony jury trial, and thereafter was responsible for and tried numerous cases from a full felony case load including murders, rapes and armed robberies. In 1981 he joined the law firm of Dunn, Leinenweber and Dunn, and also served as an assistant Public Defender for five years, responsible for a felony case load and also annually defended hundreds of defendants charged with criminal misdeamnors. Under the tutelage of Harry D. Leineweber, a former State Representative who subsequently became a Federal District Court Judge, and Thomas A. Dunn, a former State Senator who subsequently became a Will County Associate Judge; Mr. Martin honed his litigation skills and successfully defended and prosecuted numerous injury claims, including wrongful death and medical negligence matters. He became a member of the firm in four years. In 1988 he was appointed as a Special Assistant Attorney General and worked for the Tollway on the North/South Tollway. He was assigned and/or assisted in the litigation or settlement of several multi-million dollar eminent domain cases for the Tollway. Since that time, he served as the Tollway's local coordinator with the Will County court system for the litigation of the 131 eminent domain cases filed for the extension of the North/South Tollway from Interstate 55 to Interstate 80, and personally prepared for trial and settled many of the cases. He also has litigated since 1988 numerous Department of Transportation eminent domain cases and has assisted on other cases as a trial consultant. He has also been involved in the trial of numerous multi-million dollar eminent domain cases for both condemning authorities and property owners and has assisted many property owners in obtaining just compensation in lawsuits filed by Municipalities, Park Districts and Forest Preserve Districts. Some of the other highlights of his land use litigation include the voiding of a vertical expansion permit issued to Waste Management for the Wheatland Landfill, where he acted as trial and appellate counsel on behalf of the State of Illinois as a Special Assistant Attorney General and on behalf of Will County as a Special Assistant State's Attorney. He was the trial lawyer and Appellate lawyer for In Re Plainfield Annexation which helped establish the Northeastern boundaries of the Village of Plainfield, the case also resulted in an amendment by the legislature to the annexation statute. He recently successfully defended as trial counsel on behalf of Pulte Home Corporation; the zoning of the Big Box Development at 127th Street and Route 59, upon which a Super Wal-Mart Store has been located. This was probably the first case that proceeded to trial involving, not only the customary LaSalle Bank zoning issues; but also the due process issues enunciated by the Supreme Court in In Re Klaaren v. The Village of Lisle which involved the zoning for a proposed Meijer Store. Recent representative clients include MCZ Development Corporation, Gas City Ltd., O'Donnell Construction and Pasquinelli Development Group, Inc. Currently, and over the last two decades, he has been involved in the annexation and rezoning of numerous properties, helping to create thousands of acres of residential, commercial and industrial development in Will County, the Villages of Plainfield and Homer Glen, and the cities of Joliet, Lockport and Crest Hill. While Mr. Martin has had many successes for corporate clients in the areas of commercial development; he also prides himself on his commitment to helping those in need and has volunteered many hours helping individuals with Social Security Disability and other legal problems.