LaLuzerne & Smith is the preeminent municipal prosecution law firm in Lake County.  The firm and its predecessor firms have been municipal prosecutors for over 40 years.  Current members of the firm have held the position of village or city prosecutors for numerous municipalities in Lake County since 1989 and have combined municipal prosecuting experience of over 37 years.

LaLuzerne & Smith currently serves as the prosecutor for nine municipalities in Lake County. Our attorneys have handled all types of municipal matters from building code violations and other minor ordinance violations before administrative hearing officers, traffic and ordinance violations in the various branch courts in Lake County, and driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs (DUI) charges in the main court house in Waukegan.

Both Lawrence LaLuzerne and Brian Smith have presented the “Prosecutor’s Perspective” at state wide conferences on traffic and DUI matters.  Recently, Nicole Cheskey was recognized by court observers for the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AAIM) for being one of the truly outstanding young prosecutors in Lake County. Our attorneys have tried hundreds of jury trials and thousands of bench trials in DUI cases alone.

Our attorneys have also authored numerous appellate briefs resulting in published appellate opinions in dozens of municipal law cases, with the primary focus being on DUI enforcement, police discipline, and police disability. One appeal upheld the right of police officers to make primary stops for failure to wear a seat-belt under local ordinances, which lead to a change in the law statewide. Several appellate decisions involved the issue of police officers making traffic stops on anonymous tips, which ultimately lead to DUI arrests. These cases have been part of a nationwide trend of courts putting more credence in 911 calls about possible intoxicated motorists to give police officers reasonable suspicion to stop impaired motorists. Mr. LaLuzerne has argued before the Illinois Supreme Court in a case involving the issue of trains blocking railroad grade crossings in the Village of Mundelein.

Our trial and appellate experience in municipal law sets LaLuzerne Smith apart from other law firms in Lake County.