About Kathryn
Kathryn Whitacre earned her law degree from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School in 2011 after completing a bachelor’s degree in business at Bowling Green State University in 2006. She arrived in the legal profession with formal training and a few years of undergraduate study behind her. Those academic years set the groundwork for the work she took on immediately after graduation.
While still in law school she sought hands-on experience in legal workplaces. In 2009 she served as a legal extern with Auto-Owners Insurance Company, and the following year she worked as a legal extern and law clerk for Carey, Filter, White & Boland. Both positions gave her day-to-day exposure to legal drafting, file management, and the procedural work that supports client representation.
After passing through several contract assignments in 2011, working as a contract lawyer for various agencies, Whitacre moved into a firm role. By 2012 she had joined Whitacre & Stefanczuk LTD as a partner. That step established her at a single practice where she has continued to develop her legal work and client relationships.
Her early roles — the insurance-company externship, the clerking work, the contract engagements — informed the kinds of matters she handles. Those experiences provided practical familiarity with litigation support, client intake and case preparation. She combines that background with the organizational and analytical skills from her undergraduate studies in business.
Whitacre is licensed to practice law in Illinois. She maintains current professional memberships and participates in the routine professional activities that accompany small-firm practice. Colleagues describe her as a lawyer who attends to the operational side of cases as closely as to the substantive law, handling filings, client communication and coordination of outside vendors when needed.
At Whitacre & Stefanczuk LTD she has continued to serve clients from the office headquarters. Her work follows the contours of Illinois law and local court practice, and her current practice focuses on matters arising under Illinois law.
