Joseph A. Garofalo

Joseph A. Garofalo is a dedicated husband, brother, partner, mentor, friend, trial lawyer, and writer.

He is a graduate of North Park College (magna cum laude, 1974) and DePaul University School of Law (1977). He was admitted to practice law in Illinois before the US District Court, Northern District of Illinois, in 1977 (subsequently including the Federal Trial Bar). He was admitted to practice before the US Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, in 1989. After working as an associate in a firm for seven years, in 1984 he co-founded his own law firm, now called Garofalo, Schreiber, Storm & Grant, Chartered.

Throughout his career, he concentrated his practice in the area of workers’ compensation and employers’ liability, defending employers and insurance companies. He has extensive litigation experience before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, the circuit court, the appellate court, and the Illinois Supreme Court. He has lectured on the topic of workers’ compensation defense before the Chicago Bar Association and a variety of business groups and has presented seminars for insurance professionals and self-insured professionals. He also served as an arbitrator in the Circuit Court of Cook County mandatory arbitration program (1990–present).

He is “AV Preeminent” as rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and his firm’s biography is presented in Best’s Directory of Recommended Insurance Attorneys. He has been selected as one of Illinois’s Leading Lawyers, where he is an advisory board member (2006–21) and one of Illinois’s Super Lawyers (2008–21). He was inducted into the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in 2011. Old Republic Construction Program Group named him as the 2014 Midwest Region’s Workers’ Compensation Attorney of the Year. In 2018 Leading Lawyers selected him as the 2nd Highest Ranked Illinois Workers’ Compensation Defense Attorney in Illinois. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Association, and the Justinian Society of Lawyers.

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, he lives with his wife, Toni, residing in Park Ridge, Illinois.