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“ A nation may establish a system of free government, but without the spirit of municipal institutions
it cannot have the spirit of liberty.”

– Alexis de Tocqueville –

The Bond Conway Law Firm has built its professional reputation providing high quality, cost-effective legal services to local governmental entities for nearly three decades with a distinguished record of success.  Based on the strength of its experience, the Firm has maintained long-standing relationships with its local government clients.

The Firm’s Attorneys have an impressive record of providing skilled representation to local government entities in all aspects and on all operations.

The Bond Conway Law Firm represents Municipalities, Townships, Park Districts, Fire Protection Districts and Election Authorities, among many other local government entities.  The Firm’s Attorneys also serve as appointed defense Counsel in complex governmental litigation and have a proven track record of success at all levels of State and Federal Courts.  Additionally, the Firm’s Attorneys serve as Certified Hearing Officers in several municipal systems of Administrative Adjudication.

A hallmark of the Bond Conway Law Firm is its dedication to providing high quality legal advice and attention to time-sensitive local government matters.  The Firm’s Attorneys have an unparalleled dedication to the efficient delivery of legal services, with the understanding that the Firm’s work has a direct impact on the timely provision of governmental services.

Firm Attorneys

Patrick Bond
Sean Conway
Neal Smith
Sarah Kallas
Michael Roth

Practice Areas

General Counsel to Local Governments

The Bond Conway Law Firm and its Attorneys, Patrick Bond, Sean Conway, Neal Smith and Sarah Kallas serve as appointed General Counsel and Corporation Counsel to several units of local government, including home rule and non-home rule municipalities, townships, park districts, fire protection districts and more.

As General Counsel, the Bond Conway Law Firm provides elected and appointed officials and staff day-to-day legal advice and assistance on every aspect of local government administration.  This includes the Firm’s legal assistance on legislative, police, labor and employment, contractual, regulatory, fiscal, building and zoning, administrative, public works and information request matters, among many others.

The Firm’s Attorneys regularly attend open and closed board and council meetings, providing real time legal assistance to elected officials on agenda items and meeting procedures.  The Firm’s Attorneys, with over 100 years of combined experience in local government representation, pride themselves on their ability to provide local governments creative solutions to complex legal matters in the most efficient, timely and cost-effective manner.

The Firm has served as General Counsel to a significant number of its local government Clients for decades and over multiple administrations, illustrating the confidence in the Firm’s provision of the highest quality local government representation, no matter the results of any single election and changes in administration.  

The Bond Conway Law Firm has an extensive and proven track record of success in the arena of local government litigation and appeals.  The outstanding record of the Firm’s litigation division, led by Sean Conway, marks it as one of the top local government litigation Firms in the State of Illinois.  The Firm has achieved exceptional results for the Firm’s Clients in all varieties of complex litigation at every level of State and Federal Courts and is at the forefront of forging enduring caselaw with positive impacts on local governments throughout the State.

Most recently in 2025, the Firm achieved a complete success in the Illinois Supreme Court for one of its local government clients leading to a seminal Supreme Court decision that will have a significant positive implications for local governments and election authorities in the areas of administrative and election law throughout Illinois for decades to come.

The Bond Conway Law Firm has additionally served as preferred appointed insurance defense counsel for numerous insurance providers and has achieved exceptional success and results for its local government clients and insurance providers.

For over 25 years, the Bond Conway Law Firm’s elections division, led by Patrick Bond has provided premier representation and advice to election authorities and local elections officials in their administration of elections, electoral board proceedings, discovery recounts, and election contests.  The Firm’s elections division, which includes Attorneys Patrick Bond, Sean Conway, Sarah Kallas and Neal Smith takes pride and care is guiding its local government clients through the complex patchwork of state and federal elections regulations.  The Firm is dedicated providing its local government clients with the highest caliber of representation and advice to enable premier elections administration that withstands the strictest scrutiny and any potential legal challenges.

Attorneys Patrick Bond, Sean Conway, Neal Smith and Sarah Kallas at the Bond Conway Law Firm have significant experience and training in assisting its local government clients in making responses to requests for public records and in conducting open and closed meetings under the complex framework of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

In his time with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, Sean Conway successfully defended the Attorney General and Public Access Counselor against legal challenges to binding opinions on FOIA matters on administrative review in Circuit Court.  In bringing this skill and experience to the Bond Conway Law Firm, the Firm has successfully defended its local government clients against a wide variety of legal challenges to their responses to FOIA requests brought before the Illinois Public Access Counselor and in state courts, which successes have been upheld in Illinois Appellate Courts.

Attorneys Patrick Bond, Sean Conway, Michael Roth, Neal Smith and Sarah Kallas at the Bond Conway Law Firm have extensive experience in providing legal assistance to its local government clients in land use, zoning and annexation matters.  These matters often involve a complex patchwork of constitutional and statutory considerations that can be perilous to local governments, without the skilled legal representation like that which is consistently provided by the Attorneys at the Bond Conway Law Firm.

Attorneys Sarah Kallas and Sean Conway serve as legal counsel to a number of local government zoning boards of administration guiding these boards through public hearing on land use matters some of which garner significant attention of the local community.

Sean Conway and Patrick Bond have achieved significant success in state and federal courts in defending local government clients against challenges to land use decisions.

The Bond Conway Law Firm and its Attorneys Patrick Bond, Sean Conway, Sarah Kallas and Neal Smith have extensive experience in serving as local government prosecutors of local government regulations in administrative tribunals and state circuit courts.  Attorney Patrick Bond has brought his prosecutorial experience gained as a former Assistant DuPage County State’s Attorney to the Bond Conway Law Firm and has built a local prosecutions division which is second to none in the Illinois. 

Attorney Sean Conway and Patrick Bond have established comprehensive systems of administrative adjudication in both home rule and non-home rule municipalities enabling clients to efficiently and locally prosecute local government regulations before certified hearing officers as opposed to burdening circuit courts with local prosecutions.  This has provided clients and local residents with an expeditious and convenient means of adjudicating violations of local regulations.  These administrative adjudication systems provide for the protection of circuit courts by review of final administrative adjudication orders, upon the request of an aggrieved party. 

Bond Conway Law Firm Attorneys Patrick Bond, Sean Conway and Neal Smith are Certified Hearing Officers and serve as Hearing Officers for numerous local governments in systems of administrative adjudication.

In this role, they are obligated to provide judicious, fair and impartial hearings in the administrative adjudication of local government regulations and render final administrative decisions based on the law and facts properly admitted into the administrative record.

As architects of administrative adjudication systems for local governments, the Bond Conway Law Firm Attorneys are mindful that administrative adjudication systems are intended to provide and expeditious resolution of local prosecutions, subject to principles of due process.  With this in mind, as Certified Hearing Officers, the Bond Conway Law Firm Attorneys ensure that local prosecutions are conducted in the most efficient and expeditious manner, at the same time preserving due process required under law.

Through tireless dedication, talent and skill, the Bond Conway Law Firm has established a professional reputation in the local government law community and in the judiciary as a preeminent local government law firm.

Because of this reputation, a significant number of local governments have engaged the Attorneys at the Bond Conway Law Firm to assist on highly complex and sensitive legal matters as special or additional legal counsel to that of general counsel.  The complexity and sensitivity of these legal matters require the extensive experience, skill, time and dedication that the Attorneys at the Bond Conway Law Firm are uniquely suited to provide.

In this role, Bond Conway Law Firm Attorneys Sean Conway, Patrick Bond, Neal Smith and Sarah Kallas work collaboratively and cooperatively with general counsel, elected and appointed officials and staff to provide the highest quality legal representation and advice.  The Attorneys at the Bond Conway Law Firm pride themselves on being highly skilled and creative problem solvers and in this regard there is no local government matter too difficult or complex.

The Attorneys at the Bond Conway Law Firm welcome achieving excellent results for its local government clients as special projects counsel in connection with the most sensitive and complex local government matters.