Rick W. Aeilts

Rick is a native of Champaign, Illinois, and a 1984 graduate of Central High School.

Rick earned his law degree from the Southern Illinois University School of Law in 1995. Before that he earned an M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University in 1992 and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Southeast Missouri State University in 1989. He began his M.B.A. while playing in the National Football League and pursued it full time after retiring from football. During his M.B.A. he worked as building manager of the SIU Student Center and as a small business counselor at the SIU Small Business Incubator. In his last two years of law school he clerked at Winters, Brewster, Murphy, Crosby and Patchett, a law firm in Marion, Illinois.

After law school Rick joined the Winters firm, where he spent eight years litigating mainly personal injury and workers' compensation cases. In 2003 he and his wife Susie moved back to Champaign to raise their two children, Audrey and Joseph, and he joined Erwin, Martinkus & Cole, Ltd. His practice has since grown into residential and commercial real estate while he continues to handle personal injury and workers' compensation matters.

With more than 20 years in practice, Rick has represented clients in both state and federal court. He is currently a member of the Champaign County Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the Bar Association of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois. He has volunteered with Big Brothers-Big Sisters and the C-U Kiwanis little league. Rick and Susie still live in Champaign.

About Rick

Born

Lincoln, Illinois, December 13, 1965

Admitted to bar

1995 (Illinois)

Education

Southeast Missouri State University (B.S., 1989, Management); Southern Illinois University (M.B.A., 1992); Southern Illinois University (J.D., 1995)

Member

Champaign County Bar Association; Illinois State Bar Association; Bar Association of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois