ATTORNEY PROFILES - PARTNERS

NIDHI DESAI practices both in adoption and in the areas of gamete donation, embryo donation and surrogacy; her emphasis is in the area of collaborative reproduction. In 2004, Nidhi worked closely with Illinois House Representative Barbara Currie in a successful legislative effort to enact “The Gestational Surrogacy Act”, the first law of its kind in the nation to recognize the enforceability of contracts between parties in gestational surrogacy arrangements. In addition to being one of the principal authors of the Gestational Surrogacy Act, she testified on behalf of the Illinois State Bar Association in front of both the state House and Senate judiciary committees and was instrumental in gaining unanimous support for this legislation.

Nidhi served on the Leadership Council of the Illinois local area affiliate of RESOLVE, a national non-profit organization providing support and advocacy for infertile men and women. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and the American Academy of Assisted Reproductive Technology Law Attorneys as well as a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Nidhi has been appointed to and currently serves on the Illinois State Bar Association’s Genetics and Human Reproduction Task Force, formed to examine and develop policy recommendations for the myriad of issues that arise surrounding these new technologies. Her peers have also selected her as a member of the Leading Lawyers network.

Nidhi is the Chair of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s Legal Professional Group and has also been appointed to several committees throughout the years to provide education and recommendations to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding federal embryo donation policy. She contributed the chapter on reproductive technology law for the 2011 ISBA Family Law Handbook, published by the Illinois State Bar Association, and authored the chapter on surrogacy and assisted reproduction for the 2011 Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education Practice Handbook on Illinois Adoption Law. She is a frequent speaker on infertility legal issues, both locally and nationally, addressing medical and legal professionals including the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and The American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Nidhi obtained her undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis. She then received her law degree from Loyola University Chicago, where she served as an articles editor for the Loyola Annals of Health Law.

MARCY MILLER began her practice in the field of reproductive law while maintaining a thriving estate planning practice at a small Chicago firm.  In 1999, Marcy left her law firm and established the law firm of Marcy B. Miller & Associates, LLC, in order to cultivate a specialty practice in reproductive technology, one of only a few firms in the Chicago area focusing solely on helping individuals build their families through all forms of assisted reproductive technology.  For over a decade, the firm represented thousands of clients, including intended parents, donors, surrogates and fertility centers, providing legal and practical advice in all types of reproductive arrangements.
 
After practicing law for a number of years, Marcy's own experience with infertility and in vitro fertilization has enabled her to understand the emotional and practical issues facing patients pursuing infertility treatment from a different, more personal perspective.  Her experiences have furthered her commitment to aiding her clients in all aspects of the third party reproductive process. 

Marcy has presented to reproductive endocrinologists and fertility center managers of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine regarding the legal aspects of reproductive technology with a focus on how these medical providers can help guide patients through not only the medical, but also the non-medical aspects of their reproductive arrangements. Marcy is a Fellow in the American Academy of Assisted Reproductive Technology Attorneys, as well as a member of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Family Law Section and the American Bar Association’s Assisted Reproductive Technologies Committee and the Chicago Bar Association.  Marcy graduated from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana in 1992 with honors in political science and from Georgetown University Law Center in 1996.

SHELLEY BALLARD (formerly Shelley Bostick) focuses primarily on adoption matters, having practiced adoption law since 1988, shortly after becoming a parent by adoption herself. She handled hundreds of adoptions of every category as a solo practitioner before merging her practice with that of Victoria Bush-Joseph and Terri Finesmith Horwich in 1995. Shelley helped draft several pieces of legislation affecting adoption in Illinois, including the "Baby Richard Law" enacted in 1994 that created the Illinois Putative Father Registry and added several safeguards to the Illinois Adoption Act to reduce contested adoptions. She was recognized by the Illinois House of Representatives in a formal House resolution for this effort. Shelley authored the Illinois Bar Journal's lead article in its December 1994 issue, entitled The Baby Richard Law: Changes to the Adoption Act, an article that was instrumental in upholding the constitutionality of the law when it was challenged in the courts. In addition, she contributed the chapter on adoption for the 2011 ISBA Family Law Handbook, published by the Illinois State Bar Association and wrote the chapters on Interstate, Intercountry and Adult Adoption for the 2011 Illinois Adoption Law Practice Handbook, published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education. Shelley also regularly addresses adoptive parent groups and legal professional groups on various legal issues affecting adoption.

Shelley relocated to North Carolina in 1998 and operated a solo practice focused on adoption and reproductive technology law until 2002, when she returned to Chicago and rejoined the firm. While in North Carolina, Shelley was involved in the successful 2001 legislative effort to revise North Carolina adoption law to shorten the revocation period for adoption consents, allow openness in agency adoptions and permit advertising by approved adoptive families searching for a child to adopt. She also taught an introductory adoption seminar for Central Piedmont Community College and authored several adoption articles that appeared in the Charlotte Parent, Carolina Parent and Carolina Youth Alliance magazines.

Shelley graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University School of Engineering in 1979, and cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law in 1987, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif (top 10% of her class). Since 1990, she has been a Fellow of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, a national organization of attorneys devoted to the ethical and competent representation of parties in adoption and collaborative reproduction matters. In 2004, Shelley joined the Board of Directors of the On Your Feet Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to birth parents who have placed children for adoption and served as President of the Board from 2009 to 2011. Shelley is an active member of the Chicago Bar Association Adoption Law Committee, and served as its Chair during 1993-94 and 2005-06. She has been recognized as a top lawyer in adoption and reproductive technology by the Leading Lawyers Network and is also a member of the Illinois State Bar Association.

ATTORNEY PROFILES - OF COUNSEL

VICTORIA (VICKY) BUSH-JOSEPH, a co-founder of the firm who retired in 2003, played a critical role in shaping the Illinois law that mandates insurance coverage for infertility. Vicky served as the Chair of Advocacy for RESOLVE of Illinois, and was a member of its Board of Directors for many years. Vicky, along with Terri Finesmith Horwich, drafted the Illinois Family Building Act and co-directed RESOLVE's lobbying campaign to pass the law, which requires insurance coverage for medical treatment of infertility. RESOLVE’s all-volunteer effort to pass the Family Building Act was hailed by then-Governor Edgar and legislative leaders as the single most successful grassroots legislative effort they had witnessed. Vicky and Terri were also primarily responsible for helping the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services design the Putative Father Registry, improving the adoption process in the wake of the Baby Richard case by making it easier to identify birthfathers.

Vicky is a Lecturer of Graduate Legal Studies at Loyola University Chicago's School of Law, where she teaches a seminar on adoption law, and is also a retired Fellow of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. She wrote the chapter on “Practical and Financial Aspects” for IICLE’s 2011 Illinois Adoption Law Practice Handbook. Before beginning the practice of law concentrating on adoption and infertility issues, Vicky practiced law as in-house counsel for AT&T and Ameritech for ten years. Vicky graduated summa cum laude from Loyola University Chicago in 1978. She also received her law degree in 1982 from Loyola, where she was a member of the law review. Vicky became Of Counsel to the firm in 2003.

TERRI FINESMITH HORWICH is a founding partner and also Of Counsel to the firm. Terri, along with Vicky Bush-Joseph, was a principal drafter of the Illinois Family Building Act requiring insurance coverage for medical treatment of infertility. She has served as a member of several prominent advisory groups that recommended standards for the field of reproductive technology and is a retired Fellow of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.

Terri completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Distinction in the Major (Psychology) and was also a Special Student in Social Policy Studies at Loyola University Chicago’s Graduate School of Social Work. She graduated cum laude from Northwestern University’s School of Law in 1984, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the law review.

EDWARD J. O’CONNELL is Of Counsel to the firm for Estate Planning Matters. He is a solo practitioner with his own practice in real estate and adoption matters. Ed served for 26 years as the Guardian ad Litem of the Adoption Court for Cook County, Illinois, where he was regularly appointed to represent the children being adopted in that Court. Ed also taught Family Law at Harper College for 15 years. Early in his career, he worked for the Legal Aid Bureau and volunteered for VISTA.

Ed received his bachelor’s degree from St. Louis University, where he graduated cum laude and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. He received his law degree magna cum laude from the DePaul University College of Law in 1975. Ed is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, where he chaired its Adoption Law Committee 3 times and its Juvenile Law Committee once, as well as a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, where he participated in the Family Law Section Council for 8 years.