Appelman Law LLC

Focus and practice areas

Appelman Law LLC is a Naperville, Illinois firm that works on two connected sides of the law: criminal defense and civil litigation. The criminal side is where most of the listed work sits. It covers misdemeanors and felonies, DUI, traffic offenses, drug charges, violent crimes, theft and retail theft, and juvenile matters such as underage drinking.

The civil side is narrower in what the firm describes. It takes landlord eviction cases and small claims, and it handles broader civil litigation through one of its named attorneys. In my opinion, that pairing is worth noting up front, because a client with both a criminal charge and a related civil dispute can find both under one roof.

The practice areas read as a working criminal defense docket. DUI and drug charges appear alongside traffic offenses, which is a common combination in county courts. Theft and retail theft sit next to violent crime defense, so the firm handles both property and person cases.

How the team is built

The firm names two attorneys, and each covers a distinct part of the work. That split gives the firm a clear internal division between the criminal and civil sides.

Brett Appelman

Brett Appelman holds an M.A. in Forensic Psychology. He practices criminal defense and builds mental health-based defenses, including the insanity defense in cases where it applies. The forensic psychology background is an unusual credential to see attached to a criminal defense lawyer, and it points to how he approaches cases where a client's mental state is part of the story.

His reported results include a sentencing hearing where the client received no jail time. He also tried a case that ended in a not guilty verdict on DUI and cannabis charges. Those are the two outcomes the firm chooses to publish for him.

Sean Sullivan

Sean Sullivan handles the firm's civil litigation. One reported matter involved a stolen identity scam tied to a bank. Another was a civil suit over a defective used vehicle, in which the client was awarded more than $20,000.

As a reviewer, I read that pairing as a sign the civil work runs from consumer disputes into fraud-related matters. The two published results sit on different sides of civil practice, one about property and money, one about identity and a financial institution.

What the record shows

The firm publishes a small set of case results, and each names a real outcome. For Appelman, that means a no-jail sentencing and a full acquittal on two charges. For Sullivan, it means a recovery figure and a resolved fraud matter.

These are the outcomes the firm has chosen to stand behind in public. They map cleanly onto the two attorneys and their stated areas, so a reader can see which lawyer produced which result. That kind of direct attribution is useful when you are trying to judge who would actually handle your matter.

I would treat the published results as examples of the firm's range, not as a promise about any new case. Every criminal and civil matter turns on its own facts. Still, the results give a concrete picture of the kind of work the firm takes on, which is more than many listings offer.

Where the firm works

Appelman Law is based in Naperville and works across five Illinois counties: DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Cook, and Will. That is a wide stretch of the western and southwestern Chicago area, and it covers several county court systems.

The firm lists specific cities within that reach, including Wheaton, Aurora, Downers Grove, Lisle, Elgin, St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, Yorkville, Ottawa, and Plainfield. A criminal case in Illinois is tied to the county where the charge is filed, so a firm that already appears in DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Cook, and Will is positioned to follow a client's case to the right courthouse.

The county list also tells you something about the client base. These are suburban and exurban counties with active traffic and DUI dockets, which lines up with the practice areas the firm describes.

Access and first contact

The firm offers a free initial consultation and states that its attorneys can be reached by phone 24 hours a day. For criminal matters, that around-the-clock line matters. Arrests do not keep business hours, and the early hours after a charge are often when a defendant most needs to reach a lawyer.

The free consultation lowers the cost of a first conversation to zero, which lets a prospective client test the fit before committing. In my opinion, the combination of a no-cost first meeting and a 24-hour phone line is the most practical thing the firm advertises, because both address the moment a person actually decides to call.

Appelman Law LLC presents itself plainly: two named attorneys, a defined set of criminal and civil practice areas, a handful of published results, and a clear service map across five counties. The firm handles criminal defense and civil litigation from a single Naperville office at 1560 Wall Street, Suite 304.