Our Attorneys
BERNARD WICZER is a senior partner at Wiczer & Zelmar, LLC, as well as a Certified Public Accountant. He has represented clients on matters ranging from basic incorporations to complex mergers of publicly held corporations. He has handled a variety of commercial real estate syndications, as well as basic house closings. He is experienced in the area of employee benefit plans and insurance, having represented one life insurance company for over twenty-five years.
Mr. Wiczer has represented a variety of clients, as both plaintiff and defense counsel, in litigation matters involving class actions, estates, trusts, minority shareholder rights, insolvency, securities, white collar and tax crimes, as well as contested divorces. He has always maintained an active practice in both federal and state courts.
Mr. Wiczer has served as Vice Chairman of the American Bar Association Bankruptcy Committee in recognition of many years of practice in the area of financial reorganization and bankruptcy.
MICHAEL A. ZELMAR concentrates is in the areas of Estate Planning, Trusts and Probate Law. He was an early advocate of the use of Living Trusts for estate planning. He has assisted hundreds of clients both in designing their Estate Plans and drafting the documents to implement them. In addition to Marital and Credit Shelter Trusts, he incorporates Generation Skipping Trusts, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts ("ILITs"), Family Limited Partnerships, Qualified Personal Residence Trusts ("QPRTs"), Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts ("GRATS") and "Special Needs" Trusts into estate plans based on the size and nature of a client's estate. He has been practicing in the probate courts for more than 30 years working with Decedent's Estates and Disabled Person's Estates.
In addition to his estate planning practice, Mr. Zelmar's extensive expertise in the areas of real estate and corporate law permit him to counsel clients with regard to business succession issues as well as complex real estate issues, business transactions and corporate law matters.
ELLIOT S. WICZER is one of the premier litigation and business attorneys on the North Shore. His experience includes arguing and filing briefs in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, in the Illinois Supreme Court and the Illinois Appellate Court. Mr. Wiczer has tried or arbitrated over 40 cases to verdict/award in the state courts. Some of those cases include complex trademark and patent cases in the Federal District Court business and commercial claims including claims relating to promissory notes, guarantees, loan agreements, secured transactions, real estate matters, shareholders disputes, labor and employment law and other general litigation matters.
Mr. Wiczer in the last several years has provided comprehensive business advice to his business clients by acting in the capacity as general counsel for his business clients. As a result of Mr. Wiczer's comprehensive approach to the practice of law, Wiczer & Zelmar, LLC has established itself as the premier North Shore law firm specializing in representing small to medium size businesses and their families.
JOHANNAH HEBL is an associate at Wiczer & Zelmar, LLC, with over seven years of private practice experience. Johannah is a 1994 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned her J.D. in 1998 from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota.
TRESSA PANKOVITS is an associate at Wiczer & Zelmar, concentrating her practices in business litigation. Ms. Pankovits graduated from Chicago Kent School of Law with Honors in 2006, where she also served on the Law Review and Moot Court Honor Society.
Mr. Wiczer has represented a variety of clients, as both plaintiff and defense counsel, in litigation matters involving class actions, estates, trusts, minority shareholder rights, insolvency, securities, white collar and tax crimes, as well as contested divorces. He has always maintained an active practice in both federal and state courts.
Mr. Wiczer has served as Vice Chairman of the American Bar Association Bankruptcy Committee in recognition of many years of practice in the area of financial reorganization and bankruptcy.
MICHAEL A. ZELMAR concentrates is in the areas of Estate Planning, Trusts and Probate Law. He was an early advocate of the use of Living Trusts for estate planning. He has assisted hundreds of clients both in designing their Estate Plans and drafting the documents to implement them. In addition to Marital and Credit Shelter Trusts, he incorporates Generation Skipping Trusts, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts ("ILITs"), Family Limited Partnerships, Qualified Personal Residence Trusts ("QPRTs"), Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts ("GRATS") and "Special Needs" Trusts into estate plans based on the size and nature of a client's estate. He has been practicing in the probate courts for more than 30 years working with Decedent's Estates and Disabled Person's Estates.
In addition to his estate planning practice, Mr. Zelmar's extensive expertise in the areas of real estate and corporate law permit him to counsel clients with regard to business succession issues as well as complex real estate issues, business transactions and corporate law matters.
ELLIOT S. WICZER is one of the premier litigation and business attorneys on the North Shore. His experience includes arguing and filing briefs in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, in the Illinois Supreme Court and the Illinois Appellate Court. Mr. Wiczer has tried or arbitrated over 40 cases to verdict/award in the state courts. Some of those cases include complex trademark and patent cases in the Federal District Court business and commercial claims including claims relating to promissory notes, guarantees, loan agreements, secured transactions, real estate matters, shareholders disputes, labor and employment law and other general litigation matters.
Mr. Wiczer in the last several years has provided comprehensive business advice to his business clients by acting in the capacity as general counsel for his business clients. As a result of Mr. Wiczer's comprehensive approach to the practice of law, Wiczer & Zelmar, LLC has established itself as the premier North Shore law firm specializing in representing small to medium size businesses and their families.
JOHANNAH HEBL is an associate at Wiczer & Zelmar, LLC, with over seven years of private practice experience. Johannah is a 1994 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned her J.D. in 1998 from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota.
TRESSA PANKOVITS is an associate at Wiczer & Zelmar, concentrating her practices in business litigation. Ms. Pankovits graduated from Chicago Kent School of Law with Honors in 2006, where she also served on the Law Review and Moot Court Honor Society.
