Stellato Schwartz is a full-service "AV" rated litigation and coverage defense firm. Our philosophy is simple: to provide quality legal representation at a reasonable rate. We serve insurers and self-insured, municipal and not-for-profit corporations. We concentrate on civil jury trials for the defense. Our attorneys have experience in all varieties of tort liability and all forms of damages, from the routine to the catastrophic. We additionally concentrate on related insurance coverage matters, as well as appeals.

Donald E. Stellato, who has over 30 years of defense trial experience, founded the firm in July, 1989. The founder is "AV" rated and has personally tried or supervised hundreds of jury trials to verdict and favorably resolved countless other cases for our clients. In early 1990, Esther Joy Schwartz joined the firm and added her considerable experience in handling countless insurance coverage and appellate matters. Robert A. Muhr joined the firm in early 1992 and brought with him nearly 20 years of claims and risk management experience while being a top officer/manager of an insurance company and a major corporation. John W. Gilligan, III, became a partner in the firm in late 1995 after honing his considerable litigation skills since the firm's doors first opened. In the summer of 2002, the firm elevated both Derek M. Barker and Richard D. Foody to partner status after several years of considerable successes in their respective fields, the former in our trial practice and the latter in our coverage practice. In 2004, the firm opened a second office dedicated to handling legal matters regionally. This satellite office is currently located in Schaumburg, Illinois. Presently, we have 30 attorneys on staff with a wide variety of expertise in all tort litigation areas. Each and every one of the partners are in the prime of their professional careers, possessing excellent legal and management skills that are honed by experience and applied with focus and intensity.