Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Attorney Lindsey Mirabella’s first experience with the DuPage County Chapter of the Justinian Society of Lawyers came when she was instructed to attend an event by one of the partners at her first law firm after she passed the bar in 2021.
“As a baby attorney, of course I said ‘Yes ma’am I will certainly be there,’” Mirabella says. “I loved it right away, it felt like home.”
Mirabella was brought onto the chapter’s board almost immediately and before she knew it she was helping plan the group’s annual charity ball.
“I was a total fish out of water just trying to make heads or tails of how to plan such a large event,” Mirabella says. “I’d never been part of planning on such a large scale. It was overwhelming but fun.”
Just five years later, Mirabella is set to lead the group. She ascends to the presidency of the DuPage Justinians at their installation ceremony on May 6 at the Maggiano’s in Naperville. Past President Mario Palermo will be presented with the Peccarelli Award at the event. For details, email Mirabella at lmirabella@mkfmlaw.com.
She’ll be accepting the gavel, nicknamed the “Big Hammer,” from outgoing president Maria Gabriella Antoniolli. She and the other officers will be sworn in by Judge Todd Scalzo.
Mirabella says her goals as president are to host more meetings and social events, including a past president’s luncheon.
“We’ve done (past president’s luncheons) before and I want to bring that back,” Mirabella says. “It’s a great opportunity for past presidents to share stories and for everyone to get a better sense of the Justinian’s history.”
The Justinian’s DuPage Chapter was established in 1977 after the Chicago Society of Justinian’s, which was established in 1921, issued the suburban group a provisional charter.
The chapter’s two main fundraising events are the St. Joseph’s Day feast and the Halloween Charity Ball. Mirabella is currently considering which charity to donate the group’s proceeds to.
In 2024, the group brought back its scholarship program for high school students, which began in 1978 but had been suspended because of the pandemic. The DuPage Justinian’s have given more than $40,000 in scholarships through the program.
The chapter shares an annual holiday party with the DuPage Bar Association and the DuPage Association of Women Lawyers, so all the county’s lawyers can gather to celebrate with friends and colleagues.
A fifth-generation family law attorney, Mirabella works at Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella, LLC, a family law firm started by her great-grandfather Joseph Mirabella Sr. in 1949. Her grandfather Joseph Mirabella Jr. and her aunt Lynn Mirabella also worked at the firm.
She started out at the firm in 2012 as a teen and has served in just about every position one can at a law firm, she says.
“I am well acquainted with the copy room,” Mirabella jokes. “I’ve worked at nearly every paralegal desk in the office.”
Mirabella completed her undergraduate studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2018 and graduated from University of Illinois Chicago School of Law cum laude in 2021.
“The firm has grown exponentially from when I started in high school to where we are now,” Mirabella says. “There are five partners now and my aunt is still there so it definitely still has a family firm feel.”
Family law can be particularly difficult work since so many people in the system are dealing with highly emotional problems including divorce and child custody.
“I’ve been blessed with having amazing mentors at the firm who are really good at what they do,” Mirabella says. “That has made me love the job. There’s a lot of tough days of course, it is family law, but I’m working with colleagues who’ve inspired me since day one.”
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