Michael D. Baker

Member of: General Bar of the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois; Illinois State Bar Association; Chicago
Bar Association, National Immigration Project (NIP) of the National
Lawyers Guild. Fluent in written and spoken Spanish.

Law Offices of Michael Baker

Concentration in Immigration and Naturalization Law, Criminal Defense
and DUI litigation, Bankruptcy; firm also practices in Property and Real
Estate Transactions, Corporate and Business Law, Divorce, Child Custody
and Support, Probate, Trusts and Estates, Injury and Workers'
Compensation cases.

State's Attorney's Office, Chicago. Assistant State's Attorney. 1991-1999

Public interest litigation in civil and criminal law concentrated in the
following divisions: Criminal Prosecutions Bureau, Civil prosecutions,
Child Support enforcement, and Building Code enforcement (slumlord
prosecutions). Managed several hundred files and active court cases with
extensive responsibilities in felony case investigation, grand jury
advocacy, witness and trial preparation, drafting and arguing motions,
pleas and settlements. Lead trial lawyer in numerous jury criminal cases
and nearly two hundred civil and criminal bench trials. Lead counsel in
trial resulting in the longest jail sentence imposed in Cook County
under the Criminal Housing Management statute. (upheld on appeal)
Litigation experience in Chancery Division. Proposed and drafted
Illinois Public Law #88-240 on criminal housing injunctive relief (720
ILCS 5/12-5.2), testified before Illinois State House and Senate
Judiciary committees in support of bill, which Governor Edgar signed
into law in 1993.

Litigation experience in Federal District Court, Bankruptcy Court and
Domestic Relations Division.

Associate Attorney Minsky, Feiertag, McCormick & Hallagan, P.C. Chicago, IL 1988 -1990.

Practice concentrated in Immigration and Nationality law. Represented
individuals in political asylum applications, deportation hearings and
other administrative proceedings. Represented clients in family and
business-related immigration matters before the following Federal
agencies: the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Executive
Office for Immigration Review, the Departments of Labor and State, and
U.S. consulates abroad. Represented individuals in applications for
naturalization and in interviews under the Immigration Reform and
Control Act of 1986.

United States House Of Representatives Washington, D.C January 1988 -May 1988

Legislative aide for the Office of Congressman Marty Russo, 3rd
District, Illinois. Ways and Means and Budget Committees: focused on
Omnibus Trade and Competitive Legislation, worked on trade remedy
reform, wrote legislative analyses and attended House-Senate conference
meetings. Briefed Congressman Russo's Legislative Director on pending
legislation, responded to constituent inquiries and complaints.

EDUCATION

Washington University School of Law St. Louis, MO, J.D. May 1988
International Law Society August 1985- May 1988.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, B.A. May 1985
Majored in History/Spanish: concentration in Latin American diplomatic
history; International Honor Society in History: Phi Alpha Theta; honors
in Spanish language. Recipient of scholarship and travel grant to study
in Barcelona, Spain August 1983 - May 1984. Deans List four semesters.
Graduated Evanston Township High School (ETHS 1981) Raised in Evanston,
Illinois

Without the law, ethics and morality wither.
Support for the disadvantaged is not altruism -- it is nothing less than justice.