About Athena
Athena Farmakis has built a legal career that spans public service, private practice and legal education. She moves between courtrooms and classrooms with a steady presence. Clients, students and colleagues find a lawyer who knows trial work and the procedural demands of litigation.
Farmakis earned her Juris Doctor from DePaul College of Law in 1993. The degree set the stage for a long career in litigation. She is admitted to practice in Illinois and before the U.S. Supreme Court, a credential that reflects years of courtroom work rather than a single case.
Early in her career she spent time in public service. In 1994 she served as a litigation supervisor at the Cook County State’s Lawyer’s Office. That role placed her inside one of the region’s busiest legal institutions, handling the demands of managing cases and supervising courtroom strategy. The experience shaped her approach to evidence, witness preparation and case management.
After years of public-sector work and private practice, she opened her own solo practice, Athena Farmakis, Lawyer at Law, in 2018. Two years later she joined VanDerGinst Law, P.C. - Injury Lawyers as a lawyer. Her work there involves civil litigation and client advocacy, where she applies trial experience to personal injury matters and other disputes. The move to a regional injury firm broadened the range of courtroom issues she handles and brought her into more intensive plaintiff-side litigation.
Farmakis also maintains an active role in legal and civic organizations. She is a member and volunteer of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. She serves on the Redeploy Illinois Oversight Board, contributing to oversight efforts that intersect with criminal justice policy. In the classroom she works with young people and future lawyers: she is an instructor for the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago and serves as a substitute trial advocacy instructor and mock trial judge at Chicago Kent College of Law. Those roles keep her connected to legal education and to mentoring students preparing for trial work.
Her practice today sits at the intersection of trial litigation and legal education. She continues to represent clients through VanDerGinst Law, P.C. - Injury Lawyers while teaching and serving on local boards. She is active in Illinois courts and admitted to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court, and she currently focuses her practice on civil litigation and personal injury matters.
