Experienced Consumer Protection Lawyers
Edelman, Combs, Latturner & Goodwin, L.L.C. has seven principal attorneys, and seven associates. Together, we have represented consumers in areas in of debt collection, predatory mortgage and inaccurate credit reporting issues against some of the biggest payday and loan companies in the country. When your consumer and employee rights have been violated, our experience can help you recover money.
Contact us to learn more about our experience and how we can help protect your rights.
PEOPLE
Edelman, Combs, Latturner & Goodwin, L.L.C. has seven principals, Daniel A. Edelman, Cathleen M. Combs, James O. Latturner, Tara L. Goodwin, Michelle R. Teggelaar, Francis R. Greene and Julie Clark, and 7 associates.
Principals
Daniel A. Edelman is a 1976 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School. From 1976 to 1981 he was an associate at the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis with heavy involvement in the defense of consumer class action litigation (such as the General Motors Engine Interchange cases). In 1981 he became an associate at Reuben & Proctor, a medium-sized firm formed by some former Kirkland & Ellis lawyers, and was made a partner there in 1982. From the end of 1985 he has been in private practice in downtown Chicago. Virtually all of his practice involves litigation on behalf of consumers.
Mr. Edelman is the author or coauthor of numerous publications on class actions and consumer protection law, including author of Predatory Lending and Potential Class Actions, ch. 6 of Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Practice (IICLE 2003); Predatory Lending and Potential Class Actions, ch. 5 of Real Estate Litigation (IICLE 2004); Illinois Consumer Law, in Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and Related Areas Update (Chicago Bar Ass’n 2002); Predatory Lending Litigation in Illinois (2001); Consumer Class Action Manual (2d-5th editions), National Consumer Law Center 1990-2002; Payday Loans: Big Interest Rates and Little Regulation, 11 Loy.Consumer L.Rptr. 14 (1999); Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Update -- 1999, Chicago Bar Ass’n 1999; An Overview of The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, in Financial Services Litigation, Practicing Law Institute (1999); Consumer Fraud and Insurance Claims, in Bad Faith and Extracontractual Damage Claims in Insurance Litigation, Chicago Bar Ass'n 1992; Chapter 8, "Fair Debt Collection Practices Act," Ohio Consumer Law (1995 ed.); Fair Debt Collection: The Need for Private Enforcement, 7 Loy.Consumer L.Rptr. 89 (1995); The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: Recent Developments, 8 Loy.Consumer L. Rptr. 303 (1996); Residential Mortgage Litigation, in Financial Services Litigation, Practicing Law Institute (1996); Automobile Leasing: Problems and Solutions, 7 Loy.Consumer L.Rptr. 14 (1994); Current Trends in Residential Mortgage Litigation, 12 Rev. of Banking & Financial Services 71 (1996); Applicability of Illinois Consumer Fraud Act in Favor of Out-of-State Consumers, 8 Loy.Consumer L.Rptr. 27 (1996); Illinois Consumer Law (Chicago Bar Ass'n 1996).
Cathleen M. Combs is a 1976 graduate of Loyola University Law School. From 1984-1991, she supervised the Northwest office of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, where she was lead or co-counsel in class actions in the areas of unemployment compensation, prison law, social security law, and consumer law. She joined what is now Edelman, Combs, Latturner & Goodwin, LLC in early 1991 and became a named partner in 1993. Her reported decisions include: Nielsen v. Dickerson, 307 F. 3d 623 (7th Cir. 2002); Chandler v. American General Finance, Inc., 329 Ill. App.3d 729, 768 N.E.2d 60 (1st Dist. 2002); Miller v. McCalla Raymer, 214 F. 3d 872 (7th Cir. 2000); Bessette v. Avco Financial Services, 230 F. 3d 439 (1st Cir.2000); and Emery v. American Gen. Fin., Inc., 71 F. 3d 1343 (7th Cir. 1995). She is a member of the Illinois bar and admitted to practice in the following courts: United States District Courts for the Northern, Central and Southern Districts of Illinois, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and United States District Court for the District of Colorado. She is a member of the Northern District of Illinois trial bar.
James O. Latturner is a 1962 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School. Until 1969, he was an associate and then a partner at the Chicago law firm of Berchem, Schwantes & Thuma. From 1969 to 1995 he was Deputy Director of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, where he specialized in consumer law, including acting as lead counsel in over 30 class actions.
Mr. Latturner’s publications include Chapter 8 ("Defendants") in Federal Practice Manual for Legal Services Attorneys (M. Masinter, Ed., National Legal Aid and Defender Association 1989); Governmental Tort Immunity in Illinois, 55 Ill.B.J. 29 (1966); Illinois Should Explicitly Adopt the Per Se Rule for Consumer Fraud Act Violations, 2 Loy.Consumer L.Rep. 64 (1990), and Illinois Consumer Law (Chicago Bar Ass'n 1996). He has taught in a nationwide series of 18 Federal Practice courses sponsored by the Legal Services Corporation, each lasting four days and designed for attorneys with federal litigation experience. He has argued some 30 appeals, including two cases in the United States Supreme Court and two in the Illinois Supreme Court. Mr. Latturner was involved in many of the significant decisions establishing the rights of Illinois consumers.
Tara L. Goodwin , is a graduate of the University of Chicago (B.A., with honors, 1988) and Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law (J.D., with high honors, 1991). Order of the Coif. She began working for the firm upon graduation and was made a principal in 2000. She has spoken at the Chicago Bar Association on various consumer law issues in 2008, and at the National Consumer Law Center's Class Action Symposium in October, 2008. She was selected as a Super Lawyer in Illinois in the area of Consumer Law in 2008 and 2009. She has chaired the Chicago Bar Association's Consumer Law Committee from 2007 to 2009. Reported Cases: Williams v. Chartwell Finan. Svcs., 204 F.3d 748 (7th Cir. 2000); Bessette v. Avco Finan. Svcs., 230 F.3d 439 (1st Cir. 2000); Greenberg v. Republic Federal S. & L. Ass'n, 94 C 3789, 1995 WL 263457, 1995 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 5866 (N.D.Ill., May 1, 1995).
Michelle R. Teggelaar is a graduate of the University of Illinois (B.A., 1993), and Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology (J.D., with honors, 1997). She began working for the firm during law school and was made a principal in June 2004. Reported Cases: Johnson v. Revenue Management, 169 F.3d 1057 (7th Cir. 1999); Van Jackson v. Check’n Go, 123 F. Supp. 2d 1085 (N.D. Ill. 2000); Van Jackson v. Check’n Go, 114 F. Supp 2d 731 (N.D. Ill. 2000); Van Jackson v. Check’n Go, 193 F.R.D. 544 (N.D., Ill. 2000); Vines v. Sands, 188 F.R.D. 302 (N.D. Ill. 1999); Pinkett v. Moolah Loan Co., 99 C 2700, 1999 WL 1080596, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17276 (N.D.Ill., Nov. 1, 1999); Miller v. Knepper & Moga, P.C., 99 C 3183, 1999 WL 977970, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16362 (N.D.Ill., Oct. 21, 1999); Davis v. Commercial Check Control, Inc., 98 C 631, 1999 WL 89556, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1682 (N.D.Ill., Feb. 12, 1999); Veillard v. Mednick, 24 F. Supp 2d 863 (N.D. Ill. 1998).
Francis R. Greene is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University (B.A., with honors, May 1984), Rutgers University (Ph.D., October 1991), and Northwestern University Law School (J.D., 2000). Reported Cases: Johnson v. Thomas, 342 Ill. App.3d 382, 794 N.E.2d 919 (1st Dist. 2003); Jolly v. Shapiro & Kreisman, 237 F. Supp. 2d 888 (N.D. Ill. 2002); Parker v. 1-800 Bar None, a Financial Corp., Inc. 2002 WL 215530 (N.D. Ill. 2002); Jiang v. Allstate Ins. Co. (199 F.R.D. 267); Hill v. AMOCO Oil Co. 2003 WL 262424, 2001 WL 293628 (N.D. Ill. 2003); Roquet v. Arthur Anderson LLP 2002 WL 1900768 (N.D. Ill. 2002); White v. Financial Credit Corp. 2001 WL 1665386 (N.D. Ill.); Ransom v. Gurnee Volkswagen 2001 WL 1241297 (N.D. Ill. 2001) and 2002 WL 449703 (N.D. Ill 2002); Doxie v. Impac Funding Corp. 2002 WL 31045387 (N.D. Ill. 2002); Levin v. Kluever & Platt LLC 2003 WL 22757763 and 2003 WL 22757764 (N.D. Ill. 2003); Pleasant v. Risk Management Alternatives 2003 WL 22175390 (N.D. Ill. 2003); Jenkins v. Mercantile Mortgage 231 F. Supp. 2d 737 (N.D. Ill. 2002); Hobson v. Lincoln Ins. Agency, Inc. 2001 WL 55528, 2001 WL 648958 (N.D. Ill. 2001), Anderson v. Lincoln Ins. Agency 2003 WL 291928, Hobson v. Lincoln Ins. Agency 2003 WL 338161 (N.D. Ill. 2003); Handy v. Anchor Mortgage Corp., 464 F.3d 760 (7th Cir. 2006). He is a member of the Northern District of Illinois trial bar.
Julie Clark, admitted to bar, 2000, Illinois. Education: Northern Illinois University (B.A., 1997); DePaul University Law School (J.D., 2000). Qualkenbush v. Harris Trust & Savings Bank, 219 F. Supp.2d 935 (N.D. Ill.,2002); Covington-McIntosh v. Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens 2002 WL 31369747 (N.D.Ill.,2002), 2003 WL 22359626 (N.D. Ill. 2003); Record-A-Hit, Inc. v. Nat'l. Fire Ins. Co., 377 Ill. App. 3d 642; 880 N.E.2d 205 (1st Dist. 2007); Western Ry. Devices Corp. v. Lusida Rubber Prods., 06 C 52, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43867 (N.D. Ill. June 13, 2006); Nautilus Ins. Co. v. Easy Drop Off, LLC, 06 C 4286, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42380 (N.D. Ill. June 4, 2007); Ballard Nursing Center, Inc. v. GF Healthcare Products, Inc., 07 C 5715, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84425 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 14, 2007) ; Sadowski v. Med1 Online, LLC, 07 C 2973, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41766 (N.D. Ill. May 17, 2008); Sadowski v. OCO Biomedical, Inc., 08 C 3225, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96124 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 25, 2008).
ASSOCIATES
Heather Kolbus, admitted to bar, 2002, Illinois and Connecticut. Education: DePaul University (B.S. 1997), Roger Williams University School of Law (J.D.2002).
Thomas E. Soule, admitted to bar, 2003, Wisconsin, 2004, Illinois. Education: Stanford University (B.A., 2000), University of Wisconsin Law School (J.D., 2003).
Cassandra P. Miller is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Madison (B.A. 2001) and John Marshall Law School (J.D.2006) Honors: Magna Cum Laude.
Tiffany N. Hardy (admitted NY, DC, IL) is a graduate of Tuskegee University (B.A. 1998) and Syracuse University College of Law (J.D. 2001).
Zachary A. Jacobs is a graduate of the University of South Dakota (B.S. 2002) and Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology (J.D. 2007).
Rupali R. Shah is a graduate of the University of Chicago (B.A. 2004) and University of Illinois College of Law (J.D. 2007).
Catherine A. Ceko is a graduate of Northwestern University (B.A. 2005) and DePaul university (J.D. summa cum laude 2008).
The firm also has 13 legal assistants, as well as other support staff.
The consumer protection and class action lawyers of Edelman, Combs, Latturner & Goodwin, LLC, represent clients throughout Illinois, and in Federal Courts in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan, and will consider substantial cases in other jurisdictions.
