Dedicated and Detail-Oriented
Attorney Judith A. Schening is dedicated to providing her clients with experienced legal advice regarding both will-based and trust-based estate plans, powers of attorney, advance health directives, and related estate planning areas. Her goal is to design an estate plan that meets her client’s unique and individual needs, desires, and concerns, which are identified and discussed in personal meetings between the client and her.
Compassionate and Comforting
Ms. Schening also represents personal representatives who are charged with administering the trust or probate estate of someone who is deceased, compassionately guiding them through the responsibilities they must meet during an already difficult time.
Adept and Affordable
Ms. Schening’s solo law practice is designed to provide high-quality legal services at an affordable cost. By concentrating her practice on areas relating to estate planning and probate, it allows her to pay attention to details which might otherwise be overlooked by someone who practices in a large number of widely diverse areas of the law. Further, Ms. Schening is a member of WealthCounsel, a collegial organization of approximately 2,500 estate planning attorneys nationwide. This membership provides her with access to estate-planning focused resources which enable her to stay abreast of current issues and trends in estate planning.
Experience and Education
Ms. Schening grew up in Kane County and considers the rural, farming community West of Elgin to be “home.” She began her college education at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL and completed it at University of Houston in 1984. She returned to NIU College of Law for her law degree, which she received magna cum laude in 1987.
She began her legal career in Dallas, TX, working as a briefing attorney for Hon. Robert Maloney, a federal judge at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. She then joined the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.* in their Dallas, TX office where she practiced for more than 20 years, 13 years of which she was a partner.
Ms. Schening then returned home to Illinois to be closer to family, opening her own practice in South Elgin in early 2012.
Ms. Schening speaks fluent conversational Spanish and can communicate well with Spanish-speaking clients who have English as a second language.
Ms. Schening is licensed to practice in Texas (1987)** and Illinois (1988).
Awards and Affiliations
Ms. Schening was a member of the Law Review of the NIU College of Law, and authored the published Comment, Federal Products Liability Legislation: Not the Cure for Worker’s Compensation Ailments, N.I.U. Law Review, Vol. 6, Issue 2, Spring 1986.
Ms. Schening received the NIU College of Law Young Alumna of the Year Award in 1995.
Ms. Schening is a member of the following legal organizations:
WealthCounsel
American Bar Association
Illinois State Bar Association
Kane County Bar Association
Texas State Bar Association
* Now known as Norton Rose Fulbright.
** License currently inactive in Texas. Ms. Schening is also a member of the South Elgin Economic Development Council and the South Elgin Parks FUNdation.
Anna Dopke, Associate
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