About Terra
Terra Gross trained first as an educator and a writer before turning to law. She earned a B.A. in Writing & Literature and Music from Prescott College in 2006, followed by an M.A. in Secondary Education from Portland State University in 2010. She then pursued legal studies at the University of Illinois College of Law, earning her J.D. in 2013. In 2019 she completed mediator training at the Center for Conflict Resolution (CCR), adding a formal background in alternative dispute resolution to her credentials.
Her career in law led her to establish Attuned Legal, LLC, where she serves as founder and principal attorney. Over the years she has developed experience representing clients in Illinois and in the federal courts that sit in the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois. She maintains memberships in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association. She also volunteers as a lawyer with Lawyers for the Creative Arts, a role that connects to her academic background in the arts and literature.
The mediator training she completed at CCR informs part of her practice. That program is designed to teach de-escalation techniques and practical negotiation skills. In combination with her courtroom admissions, it allows her to approach disputes in more than one way: by representing clients in court and by attempting resolution through negotiated settlement or mediation.
Colleagues describe her approach as practical and attentive to the particulars of each case. Her academic path — from literature and music to education and then law — gives her a different set of tools for client communication and case preparation. She has found those tools useful in both written advocacy and in discussions that require careful listening and clear explanation.
Outside of her firm work, she keeps ties to the legal community through bar association involvement and volunteer legal services. Her participation in Lawyers for the Creative Arts reflects an ongoing interest in matters that touch creative professionals and nonprofit organizations.
She is admitted to practice in Illinois and is authorized to appear in the United States District Courts for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois. Today she runs Attuned Legal, LLC, where she represents clients in Illinois state and federal matters and provides mediation and dispute resolution services.
