Jeff Kroll never dreamed of being an attorney when he was a teenager attending Marist High School in Chicago, playing baseball and setting a then-Illinois High School Association record for hits in a season with 65.
That year Kroll was preparing to attend University of Wisconsin at White Water, and his father, a truck driver, and mother, a bank teller, had already instilled in him a work ethic that would later serve him well.
“I grew up in an apartment at 40th Street and Archer Avenue on the South side of Chicago before we moved as a family to Orland Park. I never thought I would be living this lifestyle now,” said Kroll, who has been a licensed attorney for the last 19 years.
Two years ago he left the prestigious Clifford Law Offices in Chicago to form his own company, JK, The Law Offices of Jeffrey Kroll.
“The first couple of years at Clifford I wasn’t sure, I lost my first two cases and lost badly. Then Bob Clifford gave me some great advice and told me to just be myself, not try to be like other lawyers,” Kroll said. “Bob Clifford was a huge influence, my mentor.”
Since then he has been a rising star in personal injury and wrongful death law circles, and was named one of the top attorneys in America under the age of 40 by the National Law Journal.
Recently he was featured in Chicago Lawyer, but Kroll said the accolades are not as important as the work he provides.
Kroll feeds his desire for competition both in the court room, through coaching his son’s youth teams in Hinsdale, and attending DePaul University basketball games.
“I love competition, and I love dealing with people,” Kroll said.
Notable
n Sits on the Board of Directors for DePaul University
n Council member of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation
& quotable
“When I started my own practice I told people it wasn’t that scary, in fact, I slept like a baby — I woke up every two hours and cried,” Kroll said.
Philosophy
“Find something you don’t do well and don’t do it. Too often people try to do too much. So find something you do well and stick to it.”
Favorites
LOCAL RESTAURANTS Vi, in Western Springs and Amber, in Westmont
HOBBIES Golf and DePaul University basketball
MUSIC/BAND Bruce Springsteen
DEPAUL BASKETBALL PLAYERS Mark Aquirre, Drake Diener, Quentin Richardson, Tom Kleinschmidt and Tyrone Corbin
Hinsdale, IL —
