• DePaul University College of Law, J.D.

• Loyola University Chicago, M.S.I.R.

• Loyola University Chicago, B.B.A. in Economics

• Illinois Supreme Court, 1998

• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 2001

• International Latino Cultural Center, Member
• Chicago Latino Public Affairs Committee, Founder
• Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Member
• Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Member
• Hispanic American Construction Industry Association, Member

htristan@tristanlegal.com

Thomas Goedert has worked in the public and private legal sectors for the entirety of his career. His practice includes counseling clients in relation to business formation, contract and partnership agreements, real estate development and acquisitions, commercial disputes, and litigation avoidance strategies, as well as financial restructuring, bankruptcy and insolvency related issues and litigation.  Mr. Goedert has also been lead trial counsel (including numerous jury trials in federal and state courts) for clients his entire career in complex commercial and real estate matters.

Mr. Goedert was appointed Special Assistant Attorney General to oversee land acquisition on behalf of the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority to oversee the I-90 and I-355 highway extensions.

Mr. Goedert functioned as the lead attorney from 2003-2012 to provide counsel to the City of Chicago, O’Hare Modernization Program (OMP) overseeing the land acquisition and relocation as well as federal, state, and municipal regulatory matters and negotiations for the re-configuring of the airport.

Mr. Goedert served as former chairman of the Chicago Bar Association’s Bankruptcy and Reorganization Committee as well as the first chairman of the Bankruptcy liaison Committee to the United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Illinois.  He is also a former Advisory Board Member for the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Mr. Goedert’s clients range from fortune 500 companies to locally owned  and operated small businesses.

• University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, J.D.
• Marquette University, B.A.

• Illinois Supreme Court
• United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
• United States District Court Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar
• United States District Court of Delaware
• United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

• Chicago Bar Association
• Illinois State Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• American Bankruptcy Institute

tgoedert@tristancervantes.com

Melody focuses her practice in litigation in areas including labor and employment (such as discrimination, harassment, wage disputes, and wrongful termination cases); commercial disputes (breach of contract, intra-business disputes, business torts), municipal, and insurance defense. Melody also frequently provides risk-management counseling and guidance to employers and businesses, and assists with business formation.

Before joining Tristan & Cervantes in 2017, Melody served as a judicial extern in the Chancery Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Ms. Saveall also worked as a law clerk at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Through her private and government sector experience, Ms. Saveall has gained thorough hands-on experience in civil litigation.

Melody received her Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Psychology and Philosophy in 2015 from Vanderbilt University. In May of 2018, she earned her Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Melody earned a place on the Dean’s List throughout her entire undergraduate and law school career.

• Vanderbilt University, B.S. in Psychology, B.A. in Philosophy

• Loyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D.

msaveall@tristancervantes.com

Giovanni focuses his practice on litigation in areas including municipal law, employment law, and commercial disputes. Giovanni is also experienced in advisement regarding regulatory compliance.

Before joining Tristan & Cervantes, Giovanni was an attorney at Luetkehans, Brady, Garner & Armstrong, LLC. During his law school career, Giovanni worked at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services auditing thousands of Public Health Emergency Waivers granted during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring all 50 states met the criteria as required for the requested waivers. He also reviewed Managed Care Contracts to ensure compliance with Medicaid standards.

Giovanni received his Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2022, with certificates in Health Law and Compliance. He graduated from New York University in 2019 with Bachelor of Science.

• Loyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D.

• New York University, B.S.

gpadilla@tristancervantes.com

Jorge Cazares has worked in the public and private legal sectors. His practice includes the representation of clients (in particular, management) in contract and business disputes, commercial litigation, employment discrimination, local governmental defense, civil rights defense, products liability, defamation, major personal injury defense, labor disputes and arbitrations, bankruptcy litigation, and commercial real estate litigation matters.

Jorge served as General Counsel for the Chicago Housing Authority. As the first Latino to serve as General Counsel for the Chicago Housing Authority, he oversaw all of the agency’s legal affairs and provided advice and counsel to the CHA’s Board of Commissioners, senior management and employees. Jorge also supervised a staff of over 50 employees which included over 20 in-house lawyers who provided legal assistance on the complicated and sophisticated real estate and finance transactions involved in creating mixed income communities. The Legal Department also represented the CHA in litigation matters, ranging from personal injury lawsuits to decades-old federal court consent decrees to providing advice and counsel on compliance with HUD and other regulatory requirements.

Jorge also supervised the agency’s Office of the Inspector General, which investigated reports of possible fraud and waste of CHA’s resources by the agency’s employees, residents or contractors. He also supervised the agency’s ADA compliance department as well as its One-Strike Program.

Following his return to private practice, Jorge was appointed Chief Ethics Officer and Chief EEO Officer for the CHA. In that capacity, he issued advisory opinions and handled dozens of investigations involving potential violations of the agency’s policies. He also conducted agency-wide training concerning various ethics, EEO, anti-discrimination, and anti-harassment policies.

Prior to his tenure at the CHA, Jorge spent the majority of his private sector career with a Chicago-based firm where he tried various jury and bench trials and has argued before the United Stated Circuit Court of Appeals and the Illinois Court of Appeals. He also briefly worked in-house during a secondment for a Fortune 100 energy company.

Jorge has participated as a panel member in various professional organizations. He has received several awards and has been recognized for his work for various charitable organizations. Jorge was named a Business Leader of Color by Chicago United. Jorge has been selected as a Leading Lawyer from 2012-2022 by the Leading Lawyers Network. He was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© in the areas of Civil Rights Law and Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants areas of law. This distinction is reserved for the top 5 percent of attorneys nationwide, as determined purely by his peers.

• Loyola University School of Law, J.D., 1990
• Yale University, B.S., 1985

• Illinois
• New York
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, including the Trial Bar
• U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois

• American Bar Association
• Illinois State Bar Association
• Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois
• Decalogue Society of Lawyers
• Arbitrator, Cook County Mandatory Arbitration Program
• Member, Yale University Alumni School Committee
• Member, Yale University Latino Alumni Board
• Member and past President of the Loyola University Latino Alumni Board
• Member and past President of the Board of Directors, Gads Hill Center
• Member, Loyola University School of Law, Alumni Board of Governors
• Member, St. Ignatius College Prep. Law Society
• Member and past President of the Board, Santa Lucia School Board of Specified Jurisdiction
• Founding Member, Secretary and past Treasurer, Chicago Police Foundation

• Secured summary judgment for national healthcare organization against claims including civil conspiracy, anti-trust and defamation.
• Representation of transportation company in qui tam complaint asserting various claims under the False Claim Act and the Illinois Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act.
• Conducted internal investigation on behalf of Fortune 500 manufacturer into allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination by various female employees.
• Representation of commuter rail line in F.E.L.A. matters before the United States District Court and Illinois state courts.
• Representation of major petroleum entity in eminent domain matters in Cook and surrounding counties.  As a former Special Assistant Attorney General, he also represented the State of Illinois in prosecuting eminent domain matters for various State of Illinois entities including IDOT.
• Secured summary judgment for client in gender and race discrimination case wherein plaintiff alleged that he was passed over for promotion, disciplined and terminated because he was an African American male.
• Defense of major not-for-profit entity of an employee’s claim of defamation after being accused of removing computers from the employer’s premises without authorization.
• Secured summary judgment for major telephone company in a telecommunications toll fraud case.
• Obtained an Order of Replevin without notice in state court within hours of filing the Complaint.  Such extraordinary relief is rare­ly granted without notice due to the high burden imposed by courts before summary seizure of the property can be justified.

• Contributor, Seventh Circuit Writer; Newsletter on Pretrial Practice & Discovery, ABA Section of Litigation, Committee on Pretrial Practice & Discovery, 1995-1997
• Co-contributor, Bankruptcy Case Abstracts, Commercial, Banking & Bankruptcy Law, Illinois State Bar Association, Vol. 35, No. 3, April, 1991
• Co-contributor, Bankruptcy Case Abstracts, Quarterly Report on Current Developments in Real Estate Law, ABA Section on Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Committee on Decisions, 1990-1991

jcazares@tristancervantes.com

Robyn focuses her practice on litigation in areas including county and township municipal law in the Circuit Court of Cook County.  Additionally, she assists townships in drafting and administering new local legislation.  Robyn also has experience in regulatory compliance, contract review and administrative law.

Robyn has experience with public utilities and energy projects. She provides compliance support to a large state agency administrator related to small business compliance and related areas. Robyn has worked in all stages of federal prosecution, including grand jury proceedings, proffer sessions, extraditions hearings and criminal trials.  She has participated as defense counsel in high-profile white-collar trials in Illinois.

Robyn previously worked at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office where she prosecuted hundreds of cases including felonies, preliminary hearings, domestic violence cases and misdemeanors.

Robyn graduated Magna Cum Laude from John Marshall Law School with her Juris Doctor.  She earned her bachelor’s degree from Marquette University.

• John Marshall School of Law, J.D. 2024
• Marquette University, B.D. 2021

rking@tristancervantes.com

• Augustana College, Magna Cum Laude, B.S. in Political Science, Public Administration, and Biology.

• Also named member of Mortar Board Honors Society and Phi Beta Kappa Society.

• University of Illinois College of Law, Cum Laude, J.D.

• Illinois Supreme Court, 2003

• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 2003

• Member of the Board of Directors for the Chicago Sinfonietta
• Member of the Board of Trustees for Augustana College (Rock Island, IL)
• Illinois Bar Association, Member
• Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Member
• Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Member
• Hispanic American Construction Industry Association, Member