In addition to lobbying services, Eric Madiar offers separate legal services protected by an attorney-client relationship. He is a go-to advocate and counsel for candid, timely, and tested assessments of the law on unique, complex and high-stakes issues that impact public policy and require painstaking research.
Eric is well suited at providing clients with thorough and credible legal opinions on the constitutionality of existing statutes under the Illinois or United States Constitution, the preemptive effect of federal statutes, and the scope of Illinois public pension, gaming, lottery, public utility, ethics, procurement and transparency laws. He is also a seasoned advocate with substantial civil litigation experience at both the trial and appellate court levels in state and federal court, and before Illinois administrative agencies. His bio can be found here and highlights of his legal accomplishments are available here.
“Simply put, no other currently licensed lawyer in Illinois - or perhaps, throughout Illinois history, has done what Mr. Madiar has done. That is, grasp the legal parameters of the Senate’s role as an impeachment tribunal, draft the impeachment trial rules, and set the timeline and sequence of events for the impeachment trial itself.”
Most recently, Eric has been President Cullerton’s point person on public pension reform legislation, including the $145 billion pension reform legislation passed in December 2013. He also wrote the first comprehensive article analyzing the history and scope of the Illinois Constitution’s Public Pension Clause (Article XIII, Section 5), and several notable Illinois attorneys have referred to that article as the new standard text for understanding the Pension Clause. He also published two other law review articles on the legal implications of pension reform, available here and here. In addition, he has been a frequent speaker regarding public pension matters at conferences and webinars held by the American Bar Association, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago Bar Association, State Universities Annuitants Association, Association of Illinois Public Retirement Systems, Illinois Public Pension Fund Association, Labor and Employment Relations Association, Illinois Association of School Administrators, Northern Illinois Alliance of Fire Protection Districts, and Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois.
“Eric takes on the role of legal archeologist, digging into the past to find not only the framework behind the laws and constitutional protections that exist, but exploring the mindset and reasoning of those who put them in place.”
BAR ADMISSIONS
- Illinois
- United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
- United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
- United States District Court, Central District of Illinois
EDUCATION
- J.D., Chicago-Kent College of Law
- B.A., Truman State University