CHICAGO — Illinois-based attorney Junilla Sledziewski has been nominated as vice president of the Business Law Network, which is based out of Chicago.
The announcement, made late last month, will place the young attorney at a high position among her peers. The Business Law Network is an organization where “attorneys can work together to find the best ways of representing a client in and out of court by leveraging their specific areas of expertise." Members of the group come from various areas of focus, assuring clients that they're receiving experienced and competent legal representation for all of their business needs. The group serves clients by allowing attorneys to network and share knowledge, pursue further legal education and co-counsel.
Sledziewski, who is currently an attorney with Chicago’s Statman, Harris and Eyrich, said she is thrilled to have this opportunity.
“The opportunity came up that they needed a new VP,” she told the Florida Record. “They asked if I wanted to take the position and I wholeheartedly said ‘yes.’”
Prior to gaining a toehold in the Chicago legal scene, Sledziewski cut her teeth in South Florida. After graduating magna cum laude from University of Miami’s law school in 2009, she practiced in the city for almost five years.
Initially, Sledziewski worked for Fowler, White and Burnett, a large firm with offices in three Florida locations: Miami, West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale.
“I started there in the litigation and medical malpractice group,” she said. “I got a lot of court experience and a lot of deposition and very heavy litigation practice. It was very high-level work.”
After learning the ropes there, she decided to set out and open up her own firm where she focused mostly on small business and individual representation covering a wide variety of real estate matters, commercial litigation, breach of contract disputes, landlord-tenant disputes and helping people set up new businesses. She said the experience of setting out on her own in South Florida was incredibly rewarding.
“All of that prepared me for the role I’m in now, because when you have your own firm, you’re forced to create a network of people to help you,” she said. “Every day, you’re getting calls about things and you’re like, ‘well, I could probably handle this if I had a little bit of help from someone who knows maybe a little more about it, and that’s just how you learn.'”
She added that her time spent in Florida, in general, went a long way to preparing her for the tall task of developing a new network in the Windy City.
“When I came here to Chicago and I didn’t know anybody, I had to build a network from scratch,” she said. “So I had to draw from my time in Florida, which gave me an underlying appreciation and knowledge for how and why building a network is important.”