Stephen Oleszkiewicz has solved problems 50 years for community residents
Chicago attorney Stephen M. Oleszkiewicz had an undergraduate background in liberal arts and a desire to help people and corporations. Combined, he thought they paved a good path to the law.
“I was also recently married at the time, and I thought it best to aspire to a profession,” said Oleszkiewicz, who will be honored next month as an ISBA Senior Counsellor. “I also had as an example an older cousin who was a lawyer.”
After graduating in 1958 from the DePaul University College of Law, Oleszkiewicz practiced with a small downtown law firm and then went to work as an attorney for Commonwealth Edison.
“I had quite a diversity of experience at Edison,” he said, “including legal research, negligence, rights of way and personal injury questions.” Then for the bulk of his career, he maintained a diverse general, private practice.
“I handled real estate, probate, taxes, corporate clients, divorce, criminal and appeals,” he said, plus other areas. He’s cut back a little, but he still goes daily to his office. Managing time is his most important goal now.
“There are always fresh, unexpected problems in law,” Oleszkiewicz, said, “even in areas you think would be routine. Even simple things become complex.”
He enjoys that challenge and the necessary work. “I enjoy the persistence of the work and the sometimes long hours it requires,” he said, “including research and the required preparation.”
For years, Oleszkiewicz was a stalwart counsel to many Polish immigrants in the neighborhood. His practice consisted mainly of real estate issues.
“That has changed dramatically, since most of the Poles have moved out, but I still do have some Polish clients,” he said. His parents were from Poland.
Oleszkiewicz has seen first-hand the effects of the nation’s poor economic climate.
“There’s much difficulty in home sales,” he said, “including trying to secure FHA mortgages and the drop in equity. A lot of people are in over their heads and they don’t know what to do.
“Unless the lenders would take back the property and forgive the debt, I don’t know where we’re going with this. I do think that banks and investment do need to be watched and the scope of their activities reduced as they’re in over their heads.”
Oleszkiewicz also questioned businesses that create a craze to make money, “like the 90-year old client going into a bank to make a deposit from an estate and being strong-armed into buying any annuity.”
He maintains that there are, and always will be, good lawyers. “It’s very important to have cooperative attorneys and don’t take things personally.”
Does Oleszkiewicz have any memorable stories from his legal career? “What’s memorable is my practice of law,” and he’s especially proud of his sons, Robert and Vincent, both of whom are lawyers.
“This is a great source of pride to me,” he said, “that I had two sons who went into law, developing good careers on their own. They’re independent, and yet we’re together on many items.”
Robert T. Oleszkiewicz, an associate with Daley & George, serves on the ISBA Assembly and chairs the Employee Benefits Section Council. He’s also a past president of the Advocates Society.
He recalls that his dad taught him to “always be honest, care about your clients and how to quietly become a problem solver. I think by his example alone he gave me advice about being a lawyer, and he still has a passion for it.
“He also taught me to have faith in God and in my own capabilities,” Bob Oleszkiewicz added. Even in his third year of law school, his dad would still ask him, ”Are you briefing the cases?”
Vincent S. Oleszkiewicz, a partner in Duane Morris, wrote that when he was in his first year of law school, his father would “run to old boxes in the attic where he still kept his law school notes and exams.
“He would get into detailed discussions with me about theories or cases or approaches to a particular legal issue, all with an excitement like he was back in law school.”
Vincent Oleszkiewicz added that his father also taught him to be “diligent, thorough, respectful of opposing counsel, humble, but also tough when you have to be.”
As for retirement, Steve Oleszkiewicz said he’s considered it, but wonders what that would entail. “Obviously, the realization that we are mortal settles in and you wonder if there’s something else to do.”
For now, though, he’ll be at the office each day, doing what he truly loves: practicing law.