J. William Braithwaite

Partner

Mr. Braithwaite is a partner in the Hoffman Estates and Chicago offices of Arnstein & Lehr, where he has practiced since 1985. He serves as chair of the firm’s Governmental & Municipal Affairs group. During a legal career spanning more than four decades, Mr. Braithwaite has acquired a wide depth of experience representing municipalities, library districts, and other public entities, as well as real estate developers and other private parties. He has litigated several landmark cases in the municipal law area beginning with the formation of the Village of South Barrington in 1959. In the early 1990s, Mr. Braithwaite successfully represented Village of Volo residents in hotly contested litigation over their incorporation, allowing the far northwest suburban community finally to be incorporated as a village. In April 2007, in a two-year legal battle, he represented residents in Kane County which resulted in forming the Village of Campton Hills, the second largest new village ever incorporated in Illinois in terms of land area and population. Additionally, he assists clients with real estate transactions, corporate matters, and estate planning. Mr. Braithwaite has served as village attorney for the Villages of Barrington, North Barrington, Tower Lakes, Volo, Inverness, and Gilberts, as well as special counsel for the City of Freeport, the Chicago Park District, and the Illinois-Indiana Bi-State Commission.

Publications and Lectures

Mr. Braithwaite is the author of various chapters on land use and real estate in textbooks published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education. He has spoken extensively at seminars conducted by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education and the Illinois Municipal League.

Professional Activities and Achievements

Mr. Braithwaite is a member of Lamba Alpha Honorary Land Economics Society, and the Chicago, Illinois State, and American Bar Associations. He is a former chair of the Local Government Committee of the Chicago Bar Association and former chair of the Local Government Section of the Illinois State Bar Association. He is also a member of the Law Club of Chicago and a former public member of the Illinois Land Resources Management Study Commission. He served as secretary of the Joint Committee on Implementation of the Constitutional Judicial Reform.

Education

Columbia University School of Law (J.D., 1955)
University of Connecticut (B.A., 1950)
University of Santo Tomas (Special Studies, 1948)

Bar Admissions

States of Illinois; State of Connecticut; U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois