About Ms. Mary K.
Ms. Mary K. Neal began her path to law after completing a bachelor’s degree in linguistics at Georgetown University in 1994. She returned to Chicago for law school and earned her J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2005. The arc from linguistics to law shaped how she thinks about language and access to legal information. Years later she would come back to Chicago-Kent as an adjunct professor, teaching students at the school that awarded her degree.
Early in her career Neal took a post as Governor Edward Coles Fellow at the Illinois Human Rights Commission in 2007. That position placed her inside state government work on rights and administrative processes. In 2008 she moved to Illinois Legal Aid Online as Automated Documents Manager. There she worked on efforts to make legal forms and resources more usable for people who cannot afford private counsel.
Neal’s ties to the legal community are long-standing. She joined the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association in 2008. In 2012 she added membership in the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Rogers Park Business Alliance. Those memberships reflect a mix of professional development and neighborhood connection, and they have run in parallel with her other work.
Her career touches three related strands of practice: immigration, human rights and access to justice through legal services technology. The immigration association membership signals ongoing engagement with immigration issues. Her service at the Human Rights Commission points to experience in civil rights and administrative law. And her time at Illinois Legal Aid Online ties her to efforts to expand practical access to legal documents and information.
Neal maintains a solo practice from the Law Office of Mary K. Neal in Illinois. She combines litigation and administrative experience with work on legal services projects and community-oriented legal concerns. Her current practice includes immigration matters, civil rights issues and projects that aim to improve access to legal information for underserved clients.
