Jack L. Zaremba is a Joliet criminal defense attorney and the founder of the Law Offices of Jack L. Zaremba, P.C. With more than two decades of criminal law experience — including years on the prosecution side as both an Illinois Assistant Attorney General and a Will County Assistant State’s Attorney — Jack brings a perspective most defense attorneys cannot offer. He knows how the State builds cases because he spent years building them himself.
From his office in Joliet, Jack defends clients across Will County and Grundy County facing every category of criminal charge: DUI, drug crimes, weapons offenses, domestic violence, felonies, misdemeanors, and juvenile matters. Every case he takes receives his personal attention — never a paralegal, never a junior associate. That commitment, combined with his prosecutorial background, is what allows him to consistently identify weaknesses in the State’s case before the State sees them itself.
Whether your situation calls for aggressive trial advocacy or strategic negotiation, Jack has the courtroom experience to deliver. He has acted as first chair in over fifty bench trials and more than thirty jury trials — work that has produced not guilty verdicts, dismissals, suppression of evidence, charge reductions, and avoided convictions across the spectrum of criminal offenses.
Background and Legal Education
Jack earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alabama in 1998 before returning to Illinois for law school. He graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law with his Juris Doctor in 2003 and was inducted into Phi Delta Phi, the international legal honor society.
His commitment to criminal law began before he ever earned his JD. While still attending Loyola, Jack served as a clerk in the Illinois Office of the Attorney General — work that gave him an early, ground-level view of how the State investigates and prosecutes criminal cases. That experience shaped the trajectory of his entire career.
Illinois Office of the Attorney General — Medicaid Fraud Bureau
Immediately after graduating from law school in 2003, Jack was offered a position as an Assistant Attorney General in the Medicaid Fraud Bureau of the Illinois Office of the Attorney General. There, he prosecuted complex white-collar and financial crime cases on behalf of the State of Illinois.
The work was technical, document-intensive, and demanded a deep understanding of how prosecutors build cases that hinge on records, financial trails, and circumstantial evidence rather than eyewitness testimony. Jack handled investigations and prosecutions that ranged from individual provider fraud schemes to organized billing fraud rings, often coordinating with state and federal investigators.
For a young prosecutor, the Medicaid Fraud Bureau was an unusually demanding training ground. The lessons learned there — how to dissect documents, how to anticipate defense strategies, how to build a case that holds together under cross-examination — continue to inform Jack’s defense work today.
Will County State’s Attorney’s Office
In 2006, Jack accepted an appointment as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Will County. Over the next several years, he disposed of hundreds of criminal cases covering virtually every offense category Illinois law recognizes — from misdemeanor DUI and traffic offenses to first-degree murder.
It was in the Will County courts that Jack developed the trial experience that defines his current practice. He served as first chair in more than fifty bench trials and over thirty jury trials, becoming a familiar presence to the judges and prosecutors he now appears across from on a daily basis. His courtroom performance during those years was described as “electrifying” by colleagues — direct, prepared, and aggressive on the facts that mattered.
That daily, repeated exposure to the Will County criminal court system is one of the most valuable assets Jack brings to his clients today. He knows the local prosecutors, the local judges, the unwritten norms of how cases progress in Will County, and — importantly — where the State’s case against you is most likely to have weaknesses.
Founding the Law Offices of Jack L. Zaremba, P.C.
Jack opened his own defense practice in 2009, applying the prosecutorial experience he had built over the prior six years to defending the rights of the accused. From day one, the firm has been built around a single principle: every client receives Jack’s personal attention from the first phone call through the final disposition of the case.
Larger firms route clients to junior associates and paralegals. Jack does not. When you hire the Law Offices of Jack L. Zaremba, P.C., Jack is the attorney who reviews your discovery, files your motions, negotiates with the prosecutor, and — if your case proceeds to trial — stands beside you in the courtroom. That continuity is rare among Will County criminal defense attorneys, and it is the foundation of how the firm has built its reputation over the past decade and a half.
The Former Prosecutor Advantage
“Former prosecutor” is one of the most overused phrases in criminal defense marketing, but it carries real meaning when the experience is recent, sustained, and local. Jack prosecuted serious felony cases in the same Will County courts where he now defends clients. He worked alongside many of the prosecutors he now negotiates against. He understands how Will County’s State’s Attorney’s Office evaluates cases for trial vs. plea, how charging decisions are made, and what factors prosecutors actually weigh when deciding whether to dismiss, reduce, or push forward.
That insider knowledge translates into concrete advantages for his clients. Jack can often predict how the prosecution will proceed before the prosecutor has decided. He knows which evidentiary weaknesses prosecutors privately worry about and which ones they consider routine. He understands the local diversion and supervision programs well enough to position eligible clients for those outcomes early — before the State has hardened its position.
Combined with his trial record — over eighty bench and jury trials as first chair — that prosecutorial perspective is what allows Jack to deliver outcomes that pure defense-side attorneys often cannot.
Practice Areas
Jack defends clients in Will County and Grundy County across the full range of state and federal criminal matters:
- State and federal criminal defense
- All felony and misdemeanor charges
- DUI and DWI defense — including first offense, second offense, and aggravated felony DUI
- Drug crimes — possession, intent to deliver, trafficking
- Weapons and firearms charges — FOID violations, unlawful possession, aggravated discharge
- Domestic battery and domestic violence, including orders of protection
- Assault and battery
- Juvenile crimes
- Retail theft and shoplifting
- Resisting arrest and obstructing a peace officer
- CDL violations
- Speeding tickets and traffic offenses
- Driver’s license reinstatement — Secretary of State hearings, RDPs, BAIID matters
- Expungement and record sealing
Credentials and Professional Memberships
Bar Admissions
- State of Illinois
- United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Federal)
Education
- Loyola University Chicago School of Law — Juris Doctor, 2003
- University of Alabama — Bachelor of Arts, 1998
- Phi Delta Phi — International Legal Honor Society
Past Government Positions
- Assistant Attorney General, State of Illinois (Medicaid Fraud Bureau)
- Assistant State’s Attorney, Will County, Illinois
Professional Memberships
- Illinois State Bar Association
- Will County Bar Association
Outside the Courtroom
Jack lives in Will County with his wife Ann Zaremba — herself an attorney practicing in commercial real estate — and their four children. His connection to the county where he practices is not just professional; it is the community where he and his family live, work, and raise their kids.
Schedule a Free Consultation
If you have been arrested or charged with a crime in Joliet, Will County, or Grundy County, the decisions you make in the first 24 to 48 hours can shape the entire outcome of your case. Talk to a former Will County prosecutor before you talk to anyone else.
The Law Offices of Jack L. Zaremba, P.C. offers free initial consultations. Call 815-740-4025 to speak with Jack directly about your case.