Meet Our Legal Team

Gilbert Drendel is our mentor and primogenitor; he blazed the trails, lead the way, put the law firm on the map and set it as a beacon on a hill. We naturally hold him in high esteem, and we are not the only ones. A local leader, community servant, peacemaker, trendsetter, the “professor” and author of local laws and rules by which the legal tribe practice their professional craft, Gib Drendel is enjoying a well-earned retirement, displaying his skills in manuscripts and books that are the fruits of his new labor tracing ancient family lineages, traveling the country and the world, and simply enjoying life. We could not have been the people we are, the law firm we have become, without his steady, diligent, patient and wise counsel and sterling example. Every once in a while we still lure him from his current paths to lend a hand or simply spend some time with us. Follow the link or click on the photo for Gib Drendel’s impressive history.

From singing the national anthem in a stadium to municipal board/council meetings to the courtroom, Carolyn Jansons is comfortable in her own skin in any setting. She cleverly hides her self-proclaimed nerdy background and high intellectual performance (7th in her law school class) with her charming personality. Not a lawyer or judge in the area does not know or know of Carolyn. Carolyn’s ability to adapt serves her well in court, in negotiations, in family law settings and in the corporate or municipal board room. She is the pretty local prosecutor with whom you do not want to mess. She is a local bar leader, and we do not mean tavern. She is the life of a party and also has the coolest new cellphones, even before they hit market, thanks to her husband, the creator of those devices. If she is not in family court, she is usually in another courtroom or a municipal board/council room. She likes to be where the action is, and we are not about to get in her way. Follow the link or click on the photo for the official litany of accomplishments and experience.

Only love would lead a Packers fan from the north woods to the Chicago suburbs – that and the lure of a law degree. Roman Seckel juggled both with skill culminating in his law school graduation, accepting a job with us and getting married – all within a 14-day period! Roman’s quiet confidence is backed up by high school valedictorian, college honors and law school honors (top 8%) performances and passing both the Illinois and Wisconsin bars in one whack. He added the Lincoln Writing Award for the Illinois Bar Journal and Kane County Outstanding New Lawyer Award in 2010 for good measure. We thank Ann for keeping him humble. Listening is an asset for a family law attorney, but his interest in political science puts Roman in the thick of our local governmental work. That does not prevent him from doing creditor collections, landlord evictions and bank foreclosures or from doing pro bono work for which he has been recognized statewide. Follow the link or click on the photo for Roman Seckel’s official bio.