LAW SCHOOL

1979 John Marshall Law School, Graduate of the Year B)B

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:

1974-1979 University of Illinois – Office of Business Affairs Supervisor
1979-1984 Shareholder Hill Van Santen, Steadman and Simpson, Sears Tower, Chicago, Illinois.
1985-Present Law Offices of Cary J. Collins, P.C.

AREA OF PRACTICE:

General practice with concentration in the area of Police and Fire Pension Law, Administrative Law and Municipal Law.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS:

1995-Present Legal Counsel of the Illinois Public Pension Advisory Committee
2003-Present Village of Hoffman Estates Trustee
2005-2006 Chairman, Finance Committee Village of Hoffman Estates
1997-2001 Hoffman Estates Park District Commissioner –Past President
1985-1989 Chairman, Hoffman Estates Police and Fire Commission
1989-Present General Counsel, Hoffman Estates Business Association
1982 Former Vice Chairman, Product Liabilities Committee of American Bar Association
1986-1995 Deputy General Counsel Illinois Police Pension Fund Association
Four-Year Term Chairman, Hoffman Estates Unit of American Cancer Society
1989-1991 Regional Representation of the Northwest Suburban Unit of the American Cancer Society
Four-Year Term Host of “Within the Law” cable television show
1984-1985 Director Chicago Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division
2001-Present Appointee of the Illinois Department of Insurance Pension Advisory Service Committee
1997-2003 Illinois Park & Recreation Association, Join Public Awareness & Conference Committee

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY

Graduated law school in 1979 and joined the Law Firm of Hill, Van Santen, Steadman and Simpson in June 1979. Represented international clients in product liability litigation throughout the United States and was intricately involved in a major personal injury case, Holden vs. State Fair of Texas, a jury trial in the United States Northern District of Texas in 1982 which lasted over six weeks.

Became a shareholder in Hill, Van Santen, Steadman & Simpson in 1983 and left in January 1985 to begin my own practice.

Established a reputation in the area of Fire and Police Pension Law and has litigated several Appellate Court cases of first impression. Frequent speaker on topics of public pension issues and has spoken before the Illinois Government Financial Officers Association, Illinois Treasurers Association, the National Fire and Police Pension Fund Association, Illinois State Fraternal Order of Police, the Illinois Associated Firefighters of Illinois, Illinois Police Association and for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Pension Division. Serves on the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation Advisory Panel.

OTHER OFFICES

2003-Present Trustee, Village of Hoffman Estates
2003-Present Trustee, Hoffman Estates Police Pension Board
1994-Present General Counsel, Northern Illinois Police Crime Laboratory
1999-2003 General Counsel, Hoffman Estates Chamber of Commerce & Industry
1994-2000 President, Hoffman Estates Fire Protection District

SPEAKER

1996-1998 National Fire and Police Pension Fund Association, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
1997- Present Disability Hearing Procedures
1995- Present Illinois Public Pension Advisory Committee Annual Conferences
1986-1995 Conference of the Illinois Police Pension Fund Association; Topic:
IGFOA Fiduciary Responsibilities of Pension Trustees
Illinois Department of Insurance Pension Advisory Service Committee

AUTHOR/CONTRIBUTOR

1995-Present Illinois Public Pension Advisory Committee, Quarterly Newsletter 2001, 2003 Firefighters’ Pension and Police Pension Plan Description Booklets
1997 Portability of Police Pensions
1997 Establishing Pension Disability Procedures
1996 Local Issues of Pension Funds
1994 Investigating and Adjudicating Disability Claims
1992 Police & Fire Pension Forms & Procedures and Practice
2005 Buy-back of Creditable Service for Firefighters

ADMITTED

Illinois State Bar
Wisconsin State Bar
Federal Trial Bar
Northern District of Illinois
Northern District of Texas
United States Supreme Court