Clarissa L. Palermo

Attorney

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Clarissa Palermo attended Northern Illinois University School of Law where she received her Juris Doctor in 1990. She was Vice Dean of the Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity and the secretary/treasurer of the International Law Society. Ms. Palermo received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Northern Illinois University where she was on the Dean’s List.

Clarissa Palermo is an experienced trial attorney with over 30 years of trial experience as an Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney. She was the supervisor of the Seniors and Persons with Disabilities Unit where she prosecuted crimes committed against some of society’s most vulnerable, which included such crimes as Financial Exploitation of the Elderly, Sexual Assault and Murder. In addition to prosecuting those crimes, Ms. Palermo also supervised the attorneys who handled Involuntary Commitment Mental Health Hearings as well as other mental health related issues. Her experience includes trying hundreds of bench trials, as well as numerous jury trials. She prosecuted everything from misdemeanor traffic offenses to murder cases.

Additionally, Clarissa has taught Continuing Legal Education courses on elder abuse and mental health issues to fellow lawyers. That training included, but was not limited to Insanity defenses and mental health fitness issues in criminal cases. She has trained federal and local law enforcement officials in the investigation of crimes against seniors, including Financial Exploitation, sexual assaults and violent crimes. She also spoke to groups of senior citizens regarding crimes against seniors.

Clarissa sat on three, and was Chair of two, fatality review teams. The teams are multi-disciplinary and multi-agency review teams that reviews deaths of at-risk adults and assist the State and counties in developing a greater understanding of the incidence and cause of deaths and the methods for preventing those deaths, improving methods for investigating deaths, and identifying gaps in services to at-risk adults.

She was also part of the Mental Health Collaborative Team which was a program created to find a better way to address misdemeanor offenders who are chronically unfit. Rather than have them spend months in jail or a mental health facility, the program addressed their mental health issues immediately and deters them for treatment. She spent many years focusing on getting treatment for those suffering from mental illness, as opposed to them going to prison.

Areas of Practice

• Criminal Defense
• Civil Litigation

Education:

• Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, 1990, J.D.
• Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, B.A.

Bar Admissions

• Illinois, 1990