JOSEPH T. MONAHAN is the co-founder of the firm and an adjunct professor of law at Loyola Law School and Northwestern University

Law School. A certified social worker before becoming a lawyer, he served as Executive Director of a county licensed child welfare agency

which provided child welfare and foster care services to clients. In this capacity, Mr. Monahan served on numerous community and statewide boards helping to develop legislation and policy concerning child welfare issues. Following his admission to the Illinois Bar, Mr. Monahan was an attorney with the Legal Advocacy Service of Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission, with special responsibility for coordination of legal services to minor wards of the State in mental health facilities and developmental centers as well as providing legal services to persons with disabilities. He had responsibility for the class action law suit entitled In re Lee-Wesley, which resulted in numerous court hearings concerning the rights of minors in substitute care and the obligation of the state to provide services to children in its care.

Mr. Monahan Served as court-appointed "next friend" for wards in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in a federal class action lawsuit entitled B.H. v. Johnson. In September, 1991, Mr. Monahan was appointed by the federal court in the same case to serve as the co-manager of a Rule 706 panel of experts who were ordered to conduct an investigation of DCFS and report its findings to the court. The findings of the report served as the blueprint for the consent decree entered in the case and was used to initiate statewide reforms within DCFS. The changes resulted in huge increases in the appropriation to the Department, enabling it to hire many new

workers to provide services for children and families in Illinois.

Mr. Monahan has represented hundreds of clients in adult guardianship proceedings in the Probate Court in Cook, Lake, Will and DuPage counties. Litigation in these matters includes recovery of millions of dollars stolen from persons with disabilities, and representing people who have been victims of fraud, deceit and exploitation.

 Mr. Monahan has lectured extensively on the legal issues concerning guardianship and mental health and is often invited to speak to professional, lay and lawyers groups concerning these topics. He represents hospitals, social service agencies and individual clients, providing legal services on guardianship, mental health, risk management, confidentiality, disability and related issues. Mr. Monahan is regularly appointed to represent persons with disabilities in complex or extraordinary mental health cases and has been an active participant in various legislative efforts concerning changes in the Mental Health Code, the Probate Act, and other related legislative efforts. In 2002, Mr. Monahan was appointed the ISBA representative on the Senate's Committee to revise the Mental Health Code. He is a member and past chair of the Mental Health Law Committee of the Chicago Bar Association, a member and past chair of the Illinois Bar Association's Study Committee of Mental Health Law, and served on the board of the National Association of Down Syndrome. Mr. Monahan was appointed trustee of the Legal Defense Fund for the National Association of Social Workers for the year 2003 through 2005. He served as a hearing officer for the Illinois State Board of Education from 1987 through 1997 and was an elected member of the Pope John XXIII School Board in Evanston, Illinois. Mr. Monahan received his law degree from DePaul University College of Law (1984) and his masters degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign (1978) and Bachelor'sDegree from the University of Illinois (1977).