Peter Jennetten
My family: My wife Jolie, and three kids: Leo (14), Gus (10), and Hal (6)
Best family vacation: Disney with my wife and kids
Hobbies: Skiing
Some things you may not know about me:
- I was born in Burlington, IA and live in the Uplands – we love the neighborhood I grew up in as a kid.
- I originally wanted to become an ecology professor…..I obtained a masters in Biology from UIUC but then decided to go into law and attended Georgetown University Law Center.
- I took a Juvenile Delinquency clinic my third year and spent much of my time defending delinquent juveniles in D.C. for assault, gun possession and drug possession. You haven't really lived until you've knocked on doors at a D.C. crack house to ask if anyone witnessed your client getting arrested.
- For pro bono work, I set up a not-for-profit corporation for Peoria Wilds a few years ago and handle their legal matters. I also co-chair the Campaign for Legal Services for Prairie State Legal Services, which I did this year and last year. I am the Chairman of the Washington Gifted School Endowment Fund. I chaired the Civil Practice seminar for the PCBA for the last couple of years and will be a speaker at this year's seminar.
I probably got into law because of my father. I had the opportunity to see what he did and to get to know the senior partners at the firm, who I respected. Mary McDade had a big influence on the direction of my practice. She got me involved in municipal defense and civil rights defense work. When she left Quinn, Johnston, Henderson & Pretorius to become a judge, it gave me the opportunity to take primary responsibility for some of the pending civil rights and municipal cases, particularly in federal court. Those led me into a fairly busy federal court practice which includes police and jail liability, jail medical staff, and other federal injury litigation. I am also currently busy with a couple of large cases involving train accident fatalities as well as more run-of-the-mill insurance defense work..
