PETERSON - Key Persons
Deanna Rosenbaum Hall concentrates her practice in both labor and employment law for public and private sector employers. Deanna advises clients in negotiations of collective bargaining agreements, grievance arbitrations, and unfair labor practice proceedings. She has successfully defended employers in interest arbitration, employee discipline and termination before commissions and in arbitration, and management rights in grievance processing.
Deanna has represented numerous employers in discrimination cases before the Illinois Department of Human Rights, the Illinois Human Rights Commission, and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Much of her practice is focused on working with clients on day-to-day employment law matters, including contract interpretation, Family Medical Leave Act requirements, employee compensation and working hours requirements under both state and Federal law, advising employers on hiring and termination procedures, and drafting and review of employee handbooks and guidelines.
Prior to joining Peterson Johnson & Murray, Deanna was an Administrative Law Judge with the Illinois Labor Relations Board. She has experience investigating and adjudicating unfair labor practice allegations, handling union certification petitions, and issuing recommended decisions and orders.
Job Titles:
- Counsel for the City of Aurora
Marissa Spencer specializes in governmental relations and municipal law. Prior to joining PJM, she served as Assistant Corporation Counsel for the second largest city in Illinois. Marissa also served as and an Assistant State's Attorney in both the civil and criminal bureaus in DuPage County.
Marissa began her legal career in Springfield where she practiced employment, administrative and municipal law. There she had the opportunity to successfully argue before the Fourth District Appellate Court, resulting in the reversal of an administrative decision.
Serving as an Assistant State's Attorney in DuPage County, she gained valuable criminal and civil experience. In the criminal bureau she tried and brought to verdict hundreds of cases before a Judge or Jury. During her tenure in the Juvenile Division she worked with social workers and local organizations to facilitate needed resources for local youth and their families. In the civil bureau she represented elected officials and department heads in state and federal court. She was also responsible for addressing questions and compliance with both the Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act. Marissa has given numerous trainings on OMA and FOIA compliance.
As assistant corporation counsel for the City of Aurora, Marissa continued to advise elected officials, department heads, employees and appointees on the municipal level. She also gained transactional experience in zoning and planning matters, and drafting ordinances, contracts and Intergovernmental Agreements. In 2022, she was awarded the Mayor's MVP award for her work redrafting the decades old sign ordinance.
Marissa continues to represent governmental clients in providing legal counsel, litigation and transactional matters.
Norman Taplin is an attorney who concentrates his practice in the areas of regulatory insurance, administrative law, corporate and commercial law and all aspects of the Financial Services industry. He has 30 years' experience as an insurance regulatory attorney. He is a member of the Florida Bar and licensed to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States. Norman is on the National Cabinet of Israel Bonds and served on boards of trustees, former board member of the National Alliance of Life Companies and served on the Georgia Hurricane Mitigation Board. Norman and his family reside in Florida.
Paul S. Festenstein brings more than 35 years of litigation experience to Peterson, Johnson & Murray. He will focus his practice on Insurance Coverage and Defense matters involving both First- and Third-Party Matters. During his career, Mr. Festenstein has served as an appellate advocate and has presented at the national conference of the International Association of Special Investigative Units (IASIU). Prior to joining PJM, Mr. Festenstein was a Partner at a Chicago law firm where he represented insurance carriers and their customers in casualty defense and coverage matters regarding both personal and commercial lines. Mr. Festenstein received his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois in 1976 and his Juris Doctor from Washington University in St. Louis in 1979. He holds memberships in the Illinois State and Chicago Bar Associations and is A Volunteer Front Line Attorney for both the JUF Legal Clinic and Chicago Volunteer Legal Services.
Job Titles:
- Partner of Peterson, Johnson & Murray, LLC
Shantel Perez is a partner of Peterson, Johnson & Murray, LLC. She joined the firm in 2016 as an Associate Attorney. Shantel represents individuals in a wide range of insurance defense matters including uninsured and underinsured motorist claims and civil law division matters in the counties of DuPage, Will, Kane, Lake, Kendall and Cook. She negotiates, arbitrates, litigates and resolves issues related to insurance defense.
She also represents counties, prisons and police officers in civil rights - Section 1983 cases in federal and state court. She handles the prosecution of traffic and ordinance violations for a Cook County village. On occasions, Shantel will handle appeals and hearings before the Illinois Liquor Control Commission.
Prior to joining the firm, Shantel serves as a city prosecutor for the City of Chicago - Legal Information, Investigations and Prosecutions Division. With the City, she prosecuted traffic court violations, city misdemeanor violations at respective Chicagoland branch courts and handled administrative hearing matters.