Peskind Law Firm, founded in 1978, is an innovative family law firm, constantly seeking to improve with changing times. At the same time, the firm has the unchanging core values of professionalism and integrity, which have remained consistent over the past 42 years. It is this combination of tradition and change that makes Peskind Law Firm so effective. This is the first of a three-part series that addresses the history of Peskind Law Firm.
1961-1985
David Peskind (1935-1991) attended the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana where he studied finance and accounting. He also attended the University of Illinois for his first year of law school. Because he had a new family to support, he transferred to the John Marshall Law School night program in his second year. He worked as a truck driver during the day until he graduated in 1961.
After David passed his bar examination, he started his career as an associate at the law firm of O’Brien, Burnell, Puckett, and Barnett in Aurora. During the mid-sixties, David also served as the Attorney for the City of Aurora, which was then a part-time job. In 1967 he teamed up with Lloyd Tyler (who would later go on to be President of the Illinois State Bar Association) and they founded the Law Firm of Tyler and Peskind.
Tyler and Peskind was a general civil practice, which handled a number of matters including: the defense of personal injury cases, commercial and business litigation, divorce, and real estate. Throughout the years the firm grew to include a number of other partners and associates. It was located in the Aurora National Bank Building at the southeast corner of New York Street and Broadway in Aurora.
David was actively involved with the Kane County Bar Association and the Commercial Law League of America, where he served as chair of the Midwest Region. He was also involved with a number of civic and charitable organizations.
In 1978 David went out on his own and started the firm of David P. Peskind, Ltd. This was the precursor of the current Peskind Law Firm. David moved into an office in a building he bought at the corner of New York Street and River Street, across from the Old Second National Bank. At that point, David was a sole practitioner and while his practice was still general, it increasingly included more divorce and family law cases.
David was recognized as a fair but tough opponent. His background in accounting and finance served him well in more complex divorce negotiations. He developed creative solutions for his clients’ legal problems and was well respected by the bench and the bar. In 1991, after his death, The Kane County Bar Association named its annual family law seminar after him.
In 1985, his son, Steven Peskind, joined the firm after graduating from DePaul College of Law and becoming a member of the bar. Steven received his undergraduate degree from Tulane University in New Orleans. Prior to joining David’s firm, he clerked for the renowned personal injury attorney Susan Loggans, where she mentored him on trial advocacy. He also would watch trials in State and Federal Court and observed some of Chicago’s greatest trial lawyers at work.
In the next installment of Peskind Law Firm history, we will review the development of Steven as a divorce lawyer and the unfortunate early demise of David.