About Janella L.
Janella L. Barbrow built a career that moves between courtrooms and committee rooms. Her training began overseas and continued through two American universities, producing a lawyer comfortable in both state and federal forums.
She spent her early school years at Stella Maris International School in Kobe, Japan, attending in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and history from the College of William and Mary in 1978 and completed her legal studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, receiving her J.D. in 1981.
Barbrow’s courtroom credentials include admission to several significant forums. She is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Illinois and has appeared in federal courts, including the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Her admissions list also includes the United States Supreme Court. Public service has been part of her record as well; she has served as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois.
Her professional life has been anchored in private practice. She is a partner at Schmidt & Barbrow, PC, where she has combined litigation work with appellate practice. Colleagues and clients have worked with her in matters that proceed through trial and, often, into the appellate process.
Appellate work has been a consistent theme in Barbrow’s career outside of courtroom appearances. She chaired the Appellate Law and Practice Committee during 1995–1996 and served on that committee again in 2015–2016. From 1992 to 1995 she was on the board of directors of the Appellate Lawyers Association. She is also listed as a member of the DuPage County Bar Association and held a membership beginning in 1981 that continues to the present.
Her day-to-day practice blends appellate briefing and argument with the procedural and substantive tasks required to carry cases through trial-level courts and up on appeal. She works in state and federal matters, drawing on long experience in appellate procedure and litigation strategy. She is currently a partner at Schmidt & Barbrow, PC, handling appellate and trial matters in Illinois and federal courts.
