Local Government
If you choose Ancel Glink, you will have the benefit of having one firm provide advice and legal representation in all areas of the law that affect local governments.
Ancel Glink’s local government practice offers comprehensive legal services to municipalities, park districts, townships, libraries, schools, counties, and other local governments. Our role as a local government attorney is to provide prompt, accurate, and cost-effective legal advice to our clients to address the day-to-day and novel legal issues they face
With our extraordinary experience and resources, Ancel Glink is well-qualified to advise our government clients in all areas of the law affecting local governments, including land use, litigation, labor and employment, elections, workers compensation, and general government legal matters. Ancel Glink attorneys regularly assist our government clients on the crucial day-to-day matters they encounter, including compliance with Open Meetings Act and FOIA, meeting procedures, ethics and conflicts of interest, public bidding, purchasing, and contracting, labor and employment, real estate, elections, litigation, and land use and development, among many others.
The following are just a few examples of the work we do for our local government clients:
- Regularly attend board, council, commission, and committee meetings on behalf of our local government clients.
- Routinely advise elected and appointed officials and employees on all types of legal issues that affect governmental bodies.
- Review and draft ordinances, resolutions, policies, and other legal documents on a wide-range of issues.
- Draft, negotiate, and review intergovernmental agreements, construction contracts, and other government contracts.
- Prepare policies to comply with and implement federal and state laws.
- Advise our clients on labor and employment matters, assist our clients on land use and economic development issues, provide counsel on election matters, defend our clients in litigation, and represent our clients with workers compensation claims.
- Provide training to local government officials and employees on a variety of legal issues, including FOIA, open meetings, board meeting procedures, ethics, First Amendment audits, social media use, and newly elected officials training.
Municipalities
Ancel Glink serves as the primary village, city, or town attorney for numerous municipalities across the state. We also serve as special counsel to municipalities that need our assistance on special projects or matters, including serving as municipal prosecutor, special labor counsel, defending litigation matters, or providing specialized land use services. We have represented communities with less than 5,000 residents and those with over 100,000 residents, both throughout the Chicago area with offices in Chicago, Vernon Hills, Naperville, Oak Lawn, and Crystal Lake, and beyond through the services of our central Illinois office located in Bloomington and our western Illinois office in Moline.
We frequently conduct workshops and seminars for our general and special counsel municipal clients, including board workshops and training sessions, and other board and committee advisory sessions on new matters of widespread concern. When new state or federal legislation is passed, our clients are fully briefed on the impact, as well as creative approaches for compliance. Ancel Glink lawyers regularly speak at local and national conferences on a variety of local government topics.
Ancel Glink’s collective experience in municipal law is also reflected in our attorneys’ contributions to numerous local, state, and national publications, including significant contributions to several of the chapters that comprise the four volume Illinois Municipal Law Series, published by IICLE and edited by our partner, Stewart H. Diamond. The popular Illinois Municipal Handbook is written entirely by Ancel Glink attorneys and has become the most valuable resource for local government officials and employees across the state.
Ancel Glink also provides regular updates on legal topics of interest to local governments through our Municipal Minute blog and Quorum Forum Podcast, as well as our monthly e-newsletter, Ancel Glink Today, that we send to our clients.
Park Districts
Ancel Glink represents more than 50 park districts, municipal park and recreation departments, forest preserve and conservation districts and special recreation associations across Illinois. Ancel Glink attorneys and our clients consider parks the “fun government.” (One of our clients has a FUNdation) Our Park District clients assist individuals and families improve their health, participate in recreational programs and enjoy open space. Ancel Glink is the premier park district firm because our clients have concluded it is no longer possible to operate a park district without developing substantial knowledge and familiarity with this special area of the law. The firm’s park practice has expanded because we offer not only our economical legal services, but practical expertise for both standard and complex issues. We are able to do so because our staff includes professionals who have stood in our client’s shoes and understand the challenges park districts must meet.
Ancel Glink attorneys are the authors of a series of books and pamphlets published by the Illinois Association of Park Districts designed to assist both elected officials and professionals. The Illinois Park District Law Handbook explains the legal rights and responsibilities of park districts and interprets and analyzes the Park District Code. Although the handbook cannot supply the answer to every question that might come up, it is a good source for initial reference and investigation. The contents of the handbook illustrate well the full-service nature of our law firm. In addition, the Financial Procedures Manual for Illinois Park Districts provides step-by-step legal and practical explanations for how to prepare financial documents and comply with state law in matters related to appropriations, tax levies, borrowing and investing money and filing financial reports.
For more information about our park district practice, please talk to our clients, because it is their word of mouth that is our best asset. Of course, you can also contact us for additional information.
Libraries
Libraries have come a long way from being focused almost exclusively on lending books and serving as a research source for library patrons, and as libraries evolve and modernize, the legal issues they face have become more complex and varied. Ancel Glink attorneys are well aware of the legal challenges that libraries face in a modern world and are experienced and ready to provide expert legal guidance to ensure the continued success of this important community resource.
Ancel Glink represents more than 70 libraries and library districts throughout the state, serving as the library’s general counsel. We also provide special counsel services in a variety of specialized legal areas, including annexation, referenda, First Amendment, labor and employment, and litigation, among others. We currently serve as corporate counsel for the northern Illinois’ regional system, Reaching Across Illinois Library System (“RAILS”) and are the primary attorney for the Libraries of Illinois Risk Agency, a library self-insurance pool. Ancel Glink attorneys have experience and expertise in a variety of practice areas, including public finance, employment, construction, litigation, while also counseling our library clients on its regular day-to-day business.
Ancel Glink attorneys wrote the Financial Manual for Illinois Public Libraries, available through the Illinois Library Association, and are currently working on a second edition of this popular finance manual geared towards libraries. Attorneys of the firm are also frequent contributors to the ILA Reporter, and our attorneys routinely speak at the annual ILA Conference on a variety of legal topics, including First Amendment and censorship, social media use by library officials and employees, First Amendment audits, compliance with FOIA and OMA, among many others.
Townships
Townships are the oldest form of local government in Illinois. The Illinois Constitution of 1848 gave voters in each county the opportunity to adopt township government. By 1850, the first township governments began operation. Townships are the governmental entities charged with three basic functions: (1) general assistance for the indigent; (2) the assessment of real property for the basis of local taxation; and (3) maintenance of all roads and bridges outside federal, state, and other local jurisdiction. Beyond the three mandated services, township government provides other vital services to their residents. This may include senior citizens programs, youth programs, assistance to the disabled, parks and recreational facilities, health services, local transportation, open space, and cemetery maintenance. In this regard township government serves its neighbors from the cradle to the grave.
Ancel Glink represents numerous townships throughout the Chicago metropolitan area. We assist our township clients in complex and mixed questions of law, economics finance, general assistance, open space, personnel, collective bargaining, and real estate matters.
Ancel Glink attorneys are the authors of the Township of Illinois Laws and Duties Handbook. The handbook describes and explains the legal rights and responsibilities of townships and it interprets and analyzes the Township Code. The firm also assisted in the creation of the Illinois Township Supervisors Guide.
School Districts
Ancel Glink has represented school districts through the unprecedented growth of the 1940s and the 1950s, the social turmoil of the 1960s, the increase of government regulation and employee awareness of the 1970s and 1980s and the changing landscape of the past four decades. Creative and innovative approaches to problem solving are what these difficult and constantly changing circumstances demand and what the firm’s long and varied experience makes possible. We represent school districts as their general attorney, in litigation, and as counsel on special matters, including advising districts on employment matters and assisting in collective bargaining negotiations.
In addition, our firm currently serves as chief defense attorney for several educational self- insurance pools which keeps the firm in constant contact with the problems faced by more than 100 Illinois school districts. One of our partners is the founding General Editor and current Co-Editor of the two volume handbook published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education entitled “Illinois School Law.”
Special Districts and Other Government Bodies
Illinois has more governmental bodies than any other state in the country, including numerous forms of special districts, including fire protection districts, community colleges, sanitary and water districts, and other specialized units of local government. Ancel Glink represents many of these special districts as corporate attorneys and as special counsel or consultants. The firm’s experience in providing day-to-day representation of special districts for many years puts us in the best position to provide their elected and appointed officials and employees with the necessary legal tools to achieve their district’s goals and policies.
Our Recent Case Studies
Municipalities
Park Districts
Townships
Libraries
School Districts
Special Districts
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