About Susan
Susan Dawson earned her law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1997 after completing a bachelor’s degree in communications at Ohio University in 1990. She remained in Illinois after law school and built a practice that intersects business law and local government matters. Her education laid a foundation in both legal analysis and communication, a combination that shows in her public-facing roles and committee work.
Her career runs through both private practice and civic engagement. She appears regularly in suburban governance circles, serving as a commissioner on the Arlington Heights Planning Commission since 2008. That long tenure has placed her at the crossroads of zoning, development review, and municipal regulation, areas that often overlap with contractual and corporate concerns. She has also held leadership roles in professional and community organizations, including a term as president of the National Association of Women Business Owners — Chicago Chapter from 2016 to 2017.
Dawson’s association memberships trace back more than two decades. She joined the Illinois Bar Association in 2000 and has been active in the Northwest Suburban Bar Association since 2004. Her involvement in the Northwest Suburban Business and Corporation Law Committee dates to 2007. Since 2005 she has been on the board of Buzz A Philanthropic Organization of Dedicated Professionals, and she serves on the Metropolis Theater Steering Committee. Her civic work also includes participation in the Northwest Suburban United Way Women’s Leadership Council beginning in 2010 and continuing to the present.
Her work in practice reflects those overlapping interests. At Waltz, Palmer & Dawson, LLC she handles matters that arise where business concerns meet local regulation. Colleagues and clients have relied on her for contract drafting and negotiation, business entity matters, and issues that require coordination with municipal authorities. She combines transactional work with practical experience in local government procedures.
Collegial involvement has been a constant. She continues to participate in bar and business law committees, where she contributes to discussions about governance, regulation, and the business climate in the suburbs. Outside the office she balances professional obligations with board work and civic commissions, which give her regular exposure to the policy questions that affect clients at the municipal level.
She is licensed to practice in Illinois and remains active in both her law practice and in community organizations. Her current practice focuses on business and corporate matters and matters that intersect with municipal regulation and planning.
