Gloria V. Rodriguez (formally known as Gloria V. Schmidt) is the managing attorney of The Gloria Law Group (GLG) in Illinois. Gloria is a top-rated and award-winning lawyer with more than 11 years of legal experience. She is a native Spanish-speaker and spent her childhood in Miami, Florida before moving to Chicago in 2011. Prior to moving she served in the United States Air Force and was commissioned as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. She is a proud Latina and 1st generation American from Bolivia. What sets Gloria apart is her energy and work ethic, genuine compassion for helping people, her innovative style of finding solutions to problems, and her cultural and worldly experiences.
Gloria has focused her practice in the following fields:
– Federal & State criminal defense
– Complex criminal defense that contain overlapping Immigration and/or Family Law issues
– All aspects of pre-indictment phases of criminal cases, including FBI/DHS interviews, grand jury preparation, and interrogation
– Orders of protection & No Contact No Stalking Orders
– All areas of complex family & divorce related litigation, including parentage cases (i.e. when parents are unmarried)
– IEP & 504 educational planning, DCFS investigations, child endangerment, abuse or neglect cases and all aspects of child-related issues
– Education law & disciplinary proceedings from the elementary level through masters degree level
– General litigation & General Counsel (small businesses make up the bulk of this practice area for The Gloria Law Group)
– Contested probate & trust litigation
– Military administrative separation review boards and contested NJP issues
– Emergency & routine estate planning, emergency directives, and trust planning and administration
Gloria will ensure that you understand your rights and that you understand your case every step of the way. It is vital to her that you understand what you sign, authorize, or can expect when making decisions in your case. She values and treasures her role to provide you with excellent advice, particularly with decisions that can substantially affect your livelihood and/or that of your family and children. Her advice stems from her legal research on the applicable laws, acquiring an in-depth and personal knowledge of the facts in your case, and collaboration with other attorneys or experts when appropriate.
You might have noticed some of Gloria’s notable cases in the news recently:
– Attorney for the Osundairo Brothers; they were the Jussie Smollett attackers (who were never charged);
– Attorney for Diana Copeland; she was R. Kelly’s executive assistant for over 15 years (and who also was never charged);
– Attorney for Ariel Roman, an unarmed Latin man on the CTA redline who was shot in the back twice by the Chicago Police Department;
– Attorney for GM1 Darris Bradley, a 17-year veteran who was being administratively separated by the US Navy for refusing to commit an unlawful order; the 3-member board returned a unanimous decision to retain him after 5 days of trial with less than 8 days to prepare.
Gloria also represents several private high and mid-level executives, media personalities, and police & military members.
Gloria’s legal career began while studying for her undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado (Boulder) where she worked as a legal assistant and file clerk to famed Attorney Elizabeth Meyer. Gloria continued her studies at the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School, where she received certificates of appreciation for her contributions to the Access to Justice Clinic, the Cooley 501(c)(3) Status Project and the Kent County Legal Assistance Center. She was voted amongst her peers to receive the school’s “Atticus Fitch” award before graduating. She is also a recipient of the Commandant’s Wreath of Military Excellence from the U.S. Air Force and was profiled in a magazine for the Department of Defense in 2001. She also received the Coca-Cola Award for Community Service, in addition to inclusion on several peer recognition agencies and organizations.
Gloria is a regular commentator on Fox News, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and all other local news outlets. She and her GLG partner Xochitl Rodriguez have presented to the Annual Lake County Family Law Bar Association on topics relating to Family Law and Immigration and has taught CLE classes on high-income maintenance and related issues. Gloria enjoys regularly visiting local schools and organizations and discussing her experience as a high-profile attorney and small business owner. Please do not hesitate to contact her if your organization is interested in having her speak at your next event.
The Gloria Law Group is a small firm comprised of two full-time attorneys (one of whom is a dedicated immigration attorney), an in-house financial expert, a communications director, paralegal, and secretary. Gloria is married and has 3 young children; they all reside in Waukegan, Illinois. She maintains an additional office in downtown Chicago by appointment only. Gloria also sat and passed the California State Bar attorneys’ only exam in 2022 and hopes to open a satellite office in Los Angeles soon.