The Cook County Public Guardian’s Office is the only law office of its kind in the country that combines the legal representation of abused and neglected children, children in custody/divorce cases, and disabled elderly wards. In the Juvenile Division, the office represents abused, neglected or dependent children as their lawyers and guardians ad litem in Cook County’s juvenile court.

The Public Guardian’s Office represents over 6500 children in Cook County, Illinois.

In the Domestic Relations Division, the office acts as the child representative in hotly contested custody cases.

In the Adult Guardianship Division, the office acts as guardian for mostly elderly, adult wards who are disabled due to Alzheimer’s or other cognitive functioning. As guardian of the estate, the office manages $70 million dollars of the wards’ assets and has recovered nearly $36 million of assets that were stolen from the wards prior

to the office’s involvement.

Our office acts as the guardian of over 800 wards

The staff of over 268 employees is comprised of approximately 130 lawyers, but also includes case managers, paralegals, bookkeepers, investigators, a nurse, a psychologist, support staff and others that help the office to fulfill its statutory responsibilities for their clients and wards.