Attorney Information for Coffey at Law, LLC

Karen S. Coffey, owner of Coffey at Law, LLC, concentrates her practice in the areas of real estate closings, estate planning, small business law and FREST. She’s been drafting and reviewing contracts since she graduated from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1998, spending the majority of her first five years as an attorney in the commercial litigation arena. She’s been setting up wills, trusts and powers of attorney since she started her own law firm three years later in 2001. 

Ms. Coffey shifted her practice from litigation to transactional work 10 years ago because in her opinion, the system doesn’t work. “Generally speaking the side with the most money wins. When you have money you can litigate the little guy into the ground regardless of the merits of the case. Even when the little guy wins, they rarely have the additional resources necessary to find the quickly hidden assets of the one who has done them wrong.”

Over the years Ms. Coffey’s been involved with more real estate closings than she can count. When friends and family started coming to Ms. Coffey for foreclosure representation advice and the majority of real estate transactions she handled were short sales, she realized it might be time to get back into the courtroom.

While she was hesitant at first, she experienced first-hand how she could finally “work the system” on behalf of the common man/woman. This shift in perspective led to the design of a new, flat fee, business model with the self-coined acronym FREST (Foreclosure Representation to Extend Stay Time). The process is designed to give the client the time they need to affect a change in circumstances – ideally to the extent the foreclosure suit could be dismissed.

Ms. Coffey was born in the Edgewater neighborhood on the northeast side of Chicago and moved to New Buffalo, MI when she was eight. She received her undergraduate degree magna cum laude in criminal justice with an emphasis in juvenile delinquency from Michigan State University in 1991.

Except for a short stint in Miller Beach, IN Ms. Coffey had resided in the City for the past 20 years until she returned to her roots, moving back to southwestern Michigan in 2011. Ms. Coffey currently splits her time between her downtown Chicago office and her office in Union Pier, MI as she serves her Illinois clients. Whether she will apply for reciprocity in IN and/or MI is still under review.

Before beginning her career as an attorney, Karen worked as a professional fundraiser and, before that, a caseworker. After receiving her juris doctorate, Ms. Coffey continued her service related endeavors including work (both paid and unpaid) with the Chicago Public Schools, Little City Foundation, PAWS Chicago and the Humane Society of La Porte and Berrien Counties, Inc. She currently serves as a director for Michiana Pet Shelter, a non-profit organization currently applying for its 501(c)(3) status with the IRS.