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Law Offices of Attorney Josette Belvedere

LITIGATION/TRIAL/APPELLATE PRACTICE: Josette Belvedere has over thirty-five years experience as a litigator concentrating her practice in Plaintiff’s Personal Injury and some select Divorce & Family Law.  She is known as a tenacious advocate for her clients, trying cases to jury and handling her own appellate work.

She received her Juris Doctor from Northwestern University School Of Law and her  B.S. in Anthropology and Pre-Med from Loyola University Of Chicago.

ADR AFFILIATIONS: In addition to litigating on behalf of her own clients, Ms. Belvedere has enjoyed  a career long involvement in alternative dispute resolution.  She is an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association hearing cases involving uninsured/under-insured motorist coverage as well as disputes arising under the Uniform Commercial Code and The Illinois Consumer Fraud & Deceptive Business Practices Act. She is also a certified major-case mediator and a chair-qualified arbitrator for the Circuit Court of Cook County Mandatory Court Annexed Arbitration Tribunal as well as serving on their Law-Division Commercial Calendars Panel as an arbitrator.  Ms. Belvedere is an arbitrator for FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, formerly NASD) and routinely serves as a party-appointed arbitrator on privately convened UM/UIM panels.  She maintains a private mediation practice and is trained in Evaluative, Facilitative, Transformative and Family Law mediation.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS: Ms. Belvedere is the current Chair of the Chicago Bar Association Creative Writing Committee and a member of their ADR, Divorce and Family Law Committees as well as being former member and officer of the Civil Practice Division.   She is a former member and officer of the Tort Section Counsel of the Illinois State Bar Association (believed to be the first woman to have been so appointed). She has served on the Amicus Brief Writing Committee and as a member of the Board of Advocates for the Illinois Trial Lawyer’s Association and was a founder of the Tort Committee of The Women’s Bar Association of Illinois as well as having been a long standing member of The Association of Trial Lawyers of America (now known as The American Institute for Legal Justice).

PROFESSIONAL SEMINARS & EDUCATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS: Over the years, Ms. Belvedere has served all the above organizations as a moderator and presenter of various programs (both live and televised) on diverse legal topics providing both overview and in depth analysis to professional as well as lay audiences. In addition, she has written numerous  articles analyzing specific legal issues and  trends.

EDUCATION & PUBLICATION FOR NON LAWYERS: Ms. Belvedere has hosted and contributed to general audience television productions  through ISBA & CBA.  She has also taught law and humanities  courses at: Westwood College and MacCormac College.  Two manuscripts of Ms. Belvedere’s general audience writings are currently in the pre-publication stages and are focused on the intersect between human pair-bonding and our legal system.  These are:

“Divorce, Maintenance and Appreciation Of Mobile Homes & Families,” and

“Disengaging.”

Ms. Belvedere also offers a seminar for persons contemplating divorce, divorcing or experiencing post decree problems. For more information, see DivorceAid.org.  She is also currently collaborating on a feature length indie film to be shot in and around the Chicagoland area.

COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE & OUTREACH: One of the hallmarks of Ms. Belvedere’s legal career has been her commitment to providing pro bono legal services to clients unable to afford legal assistance. Her pro bono affiliations include: Chicago Volunteer Legal Services and Law Offices of The Public Guardian. Ms. Belvedere also has a concern for the rights of those who may have special needs or for whom English is a second language. Spanish is spoken at her law offices. She has also represented hearing and sight challenged clients thru successful conclusion of their cases.