Aronberg Goldgehn Davis & Garmisa

Focus and practice areas

The firm builds most of its practice around business and commercial matters. Aronberg Goldgehn Davis & Garmisa lists business litigation, business divorce, and complex ownership disputes among its named areas. It also handles business law and transactions, banking and finance, private equity and venture capital, and loan workouts.

The list reaches past commercial work. The firm names construction law, real estate, divorce and family law, employment law, and intellectual property. It also lists insurance coverage litigation, health care, taxation and business planning, trusts and estates, appellate litigation, government relations, and white collar investigations. A separate practice covers artificial intelligence, privacy, cybersecurity, and technology law.

In my opinion, that spread points to a firm set up to keep a business client's legal needs under one roof. A company can bring a contract fight, a property purchase, and an employment question to the same lawyers. The firm groups these areas so that commercial disputes sit next to the transactional work that often causes them.

What the firm handles

Ownership disputes and business divorce

Business divorce covers what happens when the owners of a company decide to part. These cases often turn on how a departing owner's stake is valued and on the terms of a buyout. They can involve reviews of company books, arguments over who controls daily decisions, and questions about contracts signed in the company's name. The outcome can decide whether the business continues under one owner or splits its assets between them.

The firm pairs this work with business litigation, which places trial and appellate lawyers close to the same clients. In my opinion, that pairing suits owners who want the people negotiating an exit to be the same people ready to argue the matter in court.

Litigation and appeals

Business litigation is the courtroom side of the firm's commercial work. It covers disputes over contracts, fights between shareholders, and claims about how a deal was carried out. Cases can run through pleadings, discovery, motions, and, in some matters, a trial before a judge or jury. The firm's appellate practice carries these matters to a higher court when a party challenges the result.

Two of the litigation areas point at particular kinds of dispute. Insurance coverage litigation turns on whether a policy pays for a given loss and how its terms are read. White collar investigations involve responses to inquiries from government agencies into business conduct, including document requests and interviews. Government relations work, listed separately, deals with how businesses engage with regulators and public bodies.

Transactions and finance

The transactional side sits on the other end of the same relationships. Business law and transactions covers the contracts, sales, and financing that set up a company's operations. Banking and finance and loan workouts deal with lending and with debts that need restructuring. Private equity and venture capital work supports investors putting money into companies and founders raising it.

Beyond the business practice

The firm's reach extends into areas that touch individuals as much as companies. Divorce and family law covers the end of a marriage, including custody, support, and the division of property. Trusts and estates work handles wills, the transfer of assets after a death, and plans that set out how property passes to family members. Employment law sits between the two, covering workplace disputes over hiring, firing, contracts, and conditions.

Construction law and real estate form another pairing. Real estate work covers the purchase, sale, and leasing of property. Construction law deals with the contracts and disputes that come with building projects, such as delays, defects, and payment claims among owners, contractors, and suppliers.

The attorneys the firm names

The people doing the work include senior members and associates hired this year. Sharon Zaban, Elizabeth Lazzara, Ralph Dado III, Jerry Holisky, Jay Frank, Amy Gibson, Timothy Nelson, and Christopher Bannon each appear among the attorneys the firm lists. Kara Friedman is a member of the firm.

The firm sorts its lawyers into members and associates. Members hold the senior, ownership roles at the firm. Associates are the more junior attorneys who handle much of the day to day case work. This structure is common at firms of this size, and it gives clients a mix of experienced and developing lawyers on a matter.

Recent hires and recognition

The firm added two associates in mid 2026. Bhavya Pathak joined in July 2026 and has experience in litigation and trial support. Angelo D'Agostini joined the real estate practice in June 2026.

Kara Friedman, a member of the firm, was recognized in the Chambers USA 2026 guide. Chambers USA ranks lawyers and firms in the United States, and it builds its rankings from interviews with clients and with other lawyers in the field. A place in the guide points to feedback from clients and peers who have dealt with the attorney.

Where the firm works

The firm runs two offices, both in Illinois. One is in Chicago and the other is in Wheaton, a suburb west of the city. A second office in the western suburbs puts the firm closer to clients and courts outside downtown Chicago.

The Chicago office moved to a new address on May 1, 2023.