George D. Lenard is a part-time Assistant Public Defender who also has his own private law practice in Joliet, Illinois.

Mr. Lenard graduated from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1984 and began his legal career as an Assistant State's Attorney will the Will County State's Attorneys Office.  He then joined the Will County Public Defender's Office in 1988 and was assigned to the Felony Division of the Office.

Mr. Lenard has tried over 75 felony jury trials to verdict and was certified by the Illinois Supreme Court as lead counsel in death penalty cases.  In addition, he was appointed to the Capital Litigation Screening Committee by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, thus being among a select group of criminal attorneys to have earned that distinction.

In addition to being licensed to practice law in Illinois, Mr. Lenard is actively licensed to practice law in California, Florida, Arizona, and Michigan.  Further, he is admitted to the Federal Trial Bar and is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 

Finally, the distinguished attorney peer-review service, Martindale-Hubble, rated Mr. Lenard AV Preeminent, the highest possible rating that an attorney can receive.  He was named as one of the nation's top lawyers in 2015 by Leading Lawyers, another peer-review service, wherein less than 5% of all lawyers licensed in each state have received.