About

Kathryn L. Ciesla was born in Park Ridge, Illinois and grew up on the Northwest Side of Chicago. She attended Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette, Illinois. Kathryn earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota.

Kathryn then attended The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois where she received her Juris Doctor Degree (1996). She was subsequently admitted to practice law in the State of Illinois (1997), the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1997), the United States Supreme Court (2005), and the United States Tax Court (2007).

Kathryn is a partner of the firm and has a broad depth of experience in business law, corporate governance, education law, employment practices, liquor licensing and estate planning and administration.

Immediately prior to joining the firm, Kathryn served as General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer for a regionally accredited college with campuses in Chicago and the surrounding metropolitan area. While 'in-house,' Kathryn focused her practice on corporate and educational issues, including corporate governance, employment law, compliance, Title IV, contracts, transactions and real estate.

Before going 'in-house,' Kathryn worked as an attorney at the largest law firm in the nation focusing exclusively on matrimonial law. Kathryn handled cases for clients with multi-million dollar holdings. Work on these cases required sophisticated financial expertise in matters of business valuation, personal tax consequences, discovery of assets, property settlement, support and trust and estate planning.

Kathryn started her career as an attorney at a general practice firm in Evanston, where she focused on estate planning and administration, real estate and matrimonial law.

Kathryn currently lives in Northbrook with her husband and two children.

Firm Profile

Our clients come from a variety of industries including education, healthcare, hospices, manufacturing, investment companies, real estate development companies, and holding companies. We represent companies that are closely held as well as publicly traded. Our attorneys have the skills and experience to help our business clients handle issues such as business and corporate governance, employment practices, business contracts, transactional, and real estate issues.

Our firm places special emphasis on post-secondary education law. Our attorneys know that universities and colleges face many of the same issues as other businesses. In addition, they face governmental regulations specific to educational institutions. Handling education law and business law issues common to post-secondary institutions requires uncommon knowledge and experience. Due to our focus on post-secondary education law, our attorneys can provide colleges and universities the legal representation necessary when dealing with complex issues involving the U.S. Department of Education, as well as other common business needs such as employment practices, contracts, transactional, and real estate issues.

Our firm represents post-secondary education institutions and business clients throughout the United States with several clients located throughout the North Shore of Chicago including Cook County and Lake County.

When you need a business law firm that is dedicated to meeting the needs of businesses and the business needs of post-secondary education institutions, please contact Ciesla & Ciesla. We provide solutions to meet our clients' legal needs, so they can go about their business.