Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Attorney Maria Gabriella Antoniolli works closely with individuals who are going through some of the hardest challenges of their lives while passing through the family court system.
“We see people at their worst and try to get them out at the other side of the tunnel,” says Antoniolli, who goes by “Gabby.” “You have to deal with a lot of contentious and high stress situations, sometimes its people fighting over their kids or assets.”
Antoniolli says the job can be emotionally draining, but she has found that she has the right temperament for the challenge.
“There’s a need and it’s something I’m able to do and be good at it,” Antoniolli says.
Antoniolli will ascend to the presidency of the DuPage County Chapter of the Justinian Society of Lawyers at their installation ceremony on May 14 at Il Sogno Ristorante in Wheaton.
She’ll be accepting the gavel from outgoing president Kira N. Albrecht. Joining Antoniolli as officers will be Vice President Lindsey Mirabella, Second Vice President Anthony Pasquini, Secretary Marta Prell, Treasurer Michael Scalzo, Director Evan Davi and Comptroller Elizabeth Pope.
Antoniolli got involved with the chapter when she was at John Marshall Law School and has long enjoyed the camaraderie and community the chapter provides.
“Italians, we like to stick together and help each other out,” Antoniolli says.
After earning her law degree at John Marshall in 2012, she spent several years prosecuting traffic and misdemeanor cases as part of the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office. Antoniolli says those cases tended to have a lot in common because there are only so many ways to prosecute a DUI offense. But after leaving the SAO for family law in 2018 she’s found family court to have an abundance of variety.
“You never have the same case,” Antoniolli says. “We are dealing with people’s lives and those are ever-changing.”
She currently serves as managing partner at Antoniolli, Cerny & Winthers, P.C., which she helped to launch in October 2023.
Antoniollo is proud to be a small business owner like her father, who was born in a small mountain town called Giustino in the Trentino region in the north of Italy and ran a family knife-sharpening business in the Chicago area.
Antoniolli says her goals as president of the DuPage Justinians are to organize more social events for members and to continue to raise money for the group’s charitable efforts.
“We’ve had a few strong years and I’d like to keep that going,” she says.
The chapter’s two main fundraising events are its St. Joseph’s feast, held this year at Clara’s in Woodridge, and the Halloween Charity Ball. Last year, the proceeds from the ball went to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The group recently brought back its scholarship program for law school students. Last year was the first since the pandemic that the chapter had offered scholarships.
The chapter also shares a holiday party with the DuPage Bar Association and the DuPage Association of Women Lawyers. The combined party is a plus, Antoniollo says, because it limits the number of gatherings the members need to attend during the busy holiday season.
For more information about the DuPage Justinians, or to make reservations for the May 14 installation, click here.
