About John Dirk
John Dirk Gutzke built his legal foundation at the University of Illinois College of Law, earning his J.D. in 1984 after completing undergraduate work at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle in 1981. Earlier studies included time at Franklin College in Lugano, Switzerland, and at Shimer College. The sequence of schools shaped a practical approach to practice and an appetite for both transactional and courtroom work.
Gutzke began gaining professional experience while still in law school. He served as a summer clerk in 1982 in the law department of Standard Oil Company, an early exposure to corporate legal work. After receiving his law degree he joined Rolewick & Kenny, P.C. as an associate in 1984. Seven years later he became a principal in the successor firm, Rolewick & Gutzke, P.C., a position he has held since 1991.
He is licensed to practice in Illinois and is admitted to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the United States Supreme Court. Those admissions have allowed him to handle matters that range from federal filings to state probate cases. His work has combined estate and probate matters with business-related legal issues.
Gutzke has been active in professional organizations for decades. He joined the DuPage County Bar Association and the DuPage County Estate Planning Council in the mid-1980s and remains involved. He served on the DuPage County Bar Association’s Probate and Estate Planning Committee as vice chair and chair during multiple terms between 1998 and 2006. At the Illinois State Bar Association he held leadership roles in the Trusts and Estates Section Council in the late 1990s and later served as vice chairman of the ISBA Business Advice and Financial Planning Section Council in 2011–2012. Since 2011 he has also served on the Hearing Board of the Lawyer Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Illinois Supreme Court.
Community involvement has been part of his profile. He served as lay moderator for the First Congregational Church of Downers Grove from 1998 to 2001 and was on the board of the Theater of Western Springs in the mid-1990s. That local engagement runs alongside long-standing memberships in the American Bar Association and other county and state bar committees.
At Rolewick & Gutzke, P.C., Gutzke handles estate planning, probate administration, and business law matters. He currently practices at Rolewick & Gutzke, P.C., concentrating on estate planning, probate and business law matters.
