We defend
Illinois drivers.

Attorney/Partner

Derek Martin is from the south suburbs of Chicago. He attended Illinois State University where he received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Derek worked at a major media company for five years before deciding to enroll in law school.

He attended Chicago-Kent College of Law part-time in the evenings while working full-time during the day. Derek supervised and managed 55 employees at the company, before leaving to practice law full-time.

As a real estate investor since his early twenties, Derek built a law practice managing real estate transactions for investors throughout Chicagoland.

Derek has since co-founded Driver Defense Team where he manages the daily operations of the firm and represents clients each day in all types of traffic defense and DUI matters.

Owner

Stephanie Kemen is a Wisconsin native and received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota. After graduation, she began law school at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

During law school, Stephanie gained valuable trial experience as a felony clerk with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office. After graduation, that experience allowed her to begin working for a private criminal defense attorney soon after passing both the Illinois and Wisconsin bar exams.

Since 2009, Stephanie has worked with some of the most prominent defense attorneys in Cook County. In 2012, she opened her own firm, the Law Office of Stephanie Kemen. Stephanie has built a reputation of providing diligent representation by successfully representing her clients on thousands of criminal and traffic matters.

In 2016, Stephanie co-founded Driver Defense Team where she continues to defend DUI, criminal, and all types of traffic cases.

Attorney

Chris Dionne attended the University of California, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 2005. In 2007, Chris moved to Chicago to attend Loyola University School of Law, graduating in 2010.

While attending Loyola, Chris competed on the Latin American Students Association ABA Criminal Law Trial Team, serving as Lead Counsel.

In 2014, Loyola University Chicago School of Law awarded Chris with an adjunct faculty position. He also coaches law students on the Civil Law Mock Trial Team.

Professionally, Chris worked for the City of Chicago for over three years. While with the City, Chris prosecuted defendants who were accused of violating various Illinois State traffic violations, City of Chicago traffic code violations and misdemeanor Chicago Codes.

In February 2015, Chris left the City to work as a defense attorney. Since leaving the City, Chris has successfully defended hundreds of individuals accused of violating local and State traffic offenses.

Attorney

Katlyn Mathy attended Illinois Wesleyan University, where she earned her bachelor’s degrees in Risk Management and Mathematics. She moved to Chicago to attend Loyola University Chicago School of Law and graduated with her Juris Doctor degree.

While attending law school, Katlyn competed as a captain on Loyola’s Civil Mock Trial Team, served as Finance Director on Loyola’s Mock Trial Board, and tutored Legal Writing. During law school, Katlyn worked as a law clerk at a civil plaintiff’s firm, where she worked primarily on insurance subrogation and personal injury cases.

Professionally, Katlyn began her practice working as a plaintiff’s class action attorney before switching to criminal and traffic defense. Since joining Driver Defense Team, Katlyn has successfully defended many clients facing a variety of criminal and traffic-related offenses.

Attorney

Douglas Swift has been practicing law for over 20 years, concentrating in all phases of criminal law. He served as a public defender in Charleston, South Carolina where he learned the value of intense preparation and the necessity of creative and empathetic approaches to criminal law cases.

Doug also served over 10 years as a prosecuting attorney. In that role, Doug received two special awards in recognition of the quality of his performance.

Doug graduated from the Indiana School of Law-Indianapolis in 1994. He has practiced in Indiana and South Carolina before coming to Illinois. In addition to his public service, Doug has represented clients in private practice in forums ranging from municipal traffic courts to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The common thread uniting all of his practice is his ability to listen to his clients and find solutions to their problems through his experience, creativity, and preparation.

Google Rating

4.9

Driver Defense Team

4.9

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Todd Lawrence

16:37 07 Jun 17

This place is incredible. I had gotten a bogus ticket by a Big-headed State Trooper with a Swollen Ego that not even his 2011 white unmarked Crown Victoria could hold as he tried to merge with me off an On-ramp as I was traveling NB I-55 at the I-294 South Interchange. I knew I was in the right and both the Attorney's Assistant Maria and the Attorney Mr. Martin were very understanding and overly co-operative with my frustration. I currently hold a C.D.L. in the state of Illinois and it is important for me to bring home money. The team at Drivers' Defense understood this and made me feel like I wasn't just another guy to collect easy paycheck from, but took my trust and their experience and handled my Citation very swiftly and with great skill that it felt as if I knew I was in great hands. All I had to do after the first intake call was make my payment arrangement and pray, the rest was in theirs' and God's hands. It works out great when they help you here. I continue on a major scale to spread the word about them daily and weekly in my profession and with friends and family. As you can tell I talk a lot and I am very detail oriented. But I can't say enough how impressed and happy I chose this group of incredible people to help me.Sincerely,Toddread more

Zach Lukachik

16:00 17 Apr 17

The professionals at Driver Defense Team certainly know what they're doing. I had recently acquired a moving violation and they were able to get it dismissed. Their rates are amazing especially considering that I ended up paying nothing in fines or court costs. Not to mention the fact that my driving record remains clean because of their performance. The team that worked with me was very diligent and thorough. The communication was outstanding as I was kept in the loop every step of the way. This was easily the least amount of headache I've ever dealt with regarding a traffic violation. It's pretty refreshing to be able to say that. I highly recommend Driver Defense Team if you are ever in need. They take care of business.read more

Kal P

20:15 27 Jun 17

Extremely helpful and professional!I am a chauffeur and CPD and BACP treat us differently, but the DDT team dismissed my U-Turn ticket in the Loop. Moreover , it will not be on my driving record.Thank you very much!!!Highly recommended!!!Keep up the good jobread more

Vaibhav Parakh

17:47 01 Jul 17

I had a really nice experience with these guys. They were very responsive and they got my ticket dismissed. It's definitely worth the money. (They aren't that expensive)read more

Ayoola Awofadeju

12:50 20 Apr 17

Outstanding experience. Excellent service. My son's tickets were painlessly taken care of. I'm truly appreciative of this wonderful service. The price can't be beat, and the customer service was great. I will use this firm again and recommend it to anyone having traffic issues.read more

Devonte Morris

20:03 02 May 17

I love this place. Tricia I think her name is, was very personable and her pictures do her no justice by the way. They got my case dismissed and very informative in red to any questions I had. This was in reference to driving on a suspended license. Thanks again, already referred a few clients to you guys. 😁read more

Jesse Garcia

19:56 23 Aug 17

I walked into the office Saturday morning worried that I was going to lose my job and license for CDL. Luckily I walked in and got attended by a gentleman name Danny that is well educated and knew how to calm me down and get me quick assistant. After, I went to court for a good attorney Chris Dionne and got my ticket dismissed with no point assessed to my license. Thank you Chris,Danny and Driver Defense Teamread more

Jorge

17:10 09 Sep 17

Hands down best group I have ever worked with the staff is amazing the lawyer chris that helped me with my case, good guy did his best to help me n get all my tickets dropped!! Will recommend all the people I knowread more

tamekio williams

19:49 07 Nov 17

I recommend this place to anyone they are fast .Efficient kind and very helpful.Maria made my mind at ease!! Spend the money well worth it!!read more

Dejan Janjic

17:29 17 Nov 17

Really good, fast & professional service! Would recommend 100% They can do magic 🙂

Dan Breen

21:45 23 Feb 18

Stef Kemen is a great lawyer.

Maulik Patel

01:01 04 Mar 18

I highly recommend DDT to represent any traffic violations. My profession involves a lot of driving, roughly 3,000 miles a month. In 2017 i had 4- traffic citations and I came to know about DDT through internate search. DDT represented me in the court for all my traffic violations and were able to successfully dismiss all 4-citations. that's a great relief for the person like me, who's job is depended on driving ! Kudos to DDT !!read more

Tereza Kostova

19:33 29 Mar 18

Really good customer service, trustworthiness, and professionalism. Also, very quickly responded and took care of the whole case. Strongly recommend!read more

Melanie Alvarez

21:56 03 Apr 18

I’m beyond thankful and pleased with my experience with Driver Defense Team. From the very beginning when I spoke with Ricardo who was the one reaching out to me about my case, to having Derek represent me. The price is really affordable and they make sure you feel comfortable letting them represent you. The communication was always clear as well as prices of payments/fees you would have to make. There was never any surprise fee or anything like that. I had a moving violation but I was confident that I was going to have my license suspended based on my record. However, the date of my court came by and later that day Derek called me to tell me how it went. For my surprise, he was able to get me another supervision which I didn’t thought possible, because I had the two limit supervision on a 12 month period already. ANYWAY, I don’t know what Derek did or how he did it but he made it possible and avoided me the unpleasant inconvenience of losing my driving rights for a period of time. I also got a letter from them giving me the information about my case regarding the court cost and all the information I need to register for a driving course. I’m thankful for making all this process as painless and unstressful as possible. I really hope I will never have to need their services again, but I will definitely recommend them to anyone who needs it.read more

Ashif Patel

22:12 05 Apr 18

Excallant service and vary pleasant. Thank to chiristopher dinnoe he was vary great and help full. My ticket dismiss in a minute.read more

Saher Talaat

15:49 11 Apr 18

I got a speeding ticket in Chicago on I-294, for being over the speed limit by 25mph in my personal car.I'm a CDL holder, and I was so worried about my record staying clean.They were so professional in answering my calls, answering my questions, getting back to me on time, handling my case, and the best part I didn't even have to show up to court.... and they got my ticket dismissed.RECOMMENDEDread more

Jaffrey Zaman

21:02 16 Apr 18

DDT is amazing!! My attorney was Doug Swift and he did an amazing job handling my case!! He was able to answer all of my questions in an honest manner.read more

tara cummings

09:56 22 May 18

Hi the drivers defense team got my failure to yield to emergency vehicle ticket dismissed,and the good about it was I did not have to appear you don't understand how happy I am I was found not guilty Thank you so much I would recommend 100%read more

Jack

03:51 29 May 18

Couldn't be more please with how smoothly everything was handled. My attorney Christopher Dionne was incredible! I didn't have to show up for court. Chris took care of everything and my ticket was dropped without even having to pay court fees.read more

Suzy Alamo

20:07 06 Jun 18

Highly recommend Drivers Defense team. Extremely helpful. Maggie was a GREAT help, this was a time sensitive issue and she was able to help us immediately. Very Pleased with the service and Cost.read more

Jeremy Mccaskill

23:13 02 Jul 18

They got my case completely dismissed, didnt even have to go to court. Thanks DDT!

Aumir Ahmad

21:39 13 Jul 18

I had a complicated traffic court issue & with my busy work schedule, I wanted someone reliable on my side to help me get out of it. I contacted Driver Defense Team & spoke with Derek Martin. He assured me that his team would do their best to get me the best possible outcome even if it took multiple visits to court. Based on my case, Derek helped me lay out a plan on how we would approach things, and advised me on how we should handle my case. I followed his instructions, and everything got situated as he predicted which I’m very thankful for.I was afraid of different lawyers going to court for me, but he assured me that all their lawyers could handle my issue and that is exactly what happened. Even when different lawyers, including Chris Dionne, that came from the Driver Defense team, everything was handled well & efficiently. All the laywers were up to date with what was happening and knew what the game plan was and worked hard to achieve that.Their entire team is very responsive which made communication easy. They were all very caring, and listened and addressed all my concerns and I was extremely happy with the outcome they helped me reach.Driver Defense Team is also priced very competitively which is obviously a huge plus!I hope no one ever ends up in this type of situation, but if you do, I would highly recommend The Driver Defense Team to help you get out of it.read more

Mikee Mikee

15:23 16 Aug 18

Use these guys! Had Eric today did a fantastic job will highly recommend. Very professional and helpful. Also very resonable. Won’t use anyone else.read more

Larry Hall

17:04 31 Aug 18

I highly recommend these guys if u get a thicket in Bellwood illonois like i did. They had all my tickets dropped an I couldn’t be happier. I live in vb an they were able to not have to come back to court which made this process super easy for me. Thank u guys again. An thank u doug. I really love u guys!!read more

Abdul Jama

23:11 14 Nov 18

The best of the best. I highly recommend everyone to them . I guarantee you gonna like the outcome

Jason Alexander

21:33 05 Dec 18

Received 7 tickets from berwyn over a car accident i caused and subsequent mistakes thereafter. After a few court dates they cleared me of all the tickets and with only supervision. The absolute best, saved my butt. Would recommend to anyone.read more

Husain Adamji

18:24 15 Dec 18

I was issued two tickets in Chicago, a destination that I was just passing through, one for speeding over 30 mph, and the other for driving an uninsured vehicle (which was a rental). The uninsured vehicle ticket was dismissed and the speeding ticket was reduced from a criminal offense to an ordinary speeding fine. Very happy with the outcome and I highly recommend. All correspondence with them was done over phone since I live in Boston and they were very patient, understanding, and cooperative. I highly recommend.read more

3laa ,Da Boss

16:15 12 Dec 18

Best lawyers forreal!! They got my cases dismissed and gave me money back and I didn’t have to wait to get my license these people are the best!! Osmaralda and Maria are really the ones that helped lol but I’m pretty sure I annoyed everyone else too, get with them ASAP! Cheap and they get it done better !read more

Ryan McGuire

16:57 11 Jan 19

Date I signed up: dec 29Court date: Jan 8Liscence reinstatement: Jan 11.Ticket: running a red lightPrice for ticket vacation and subsequent dismissal: $300 flat (including all court fees, etc...)The court date was about a week after filing to vacate the conviction, which was a day after paying.Result: supervision (NOT liscence supervision, which is different), which means that my liscence was good to go right away (kind of, more explained later), but I had to pay an additional $180 to the county and attend an online driver class within I months.In order for liscence to be OFFICIALLY reinstated, I had to go to the county clerk and obtain the disposition letter, and deliver it to the Secretary of State office in Chicago.read more

Mutaz Hamed

19:06 20 Sep 19

It was an complete honor working with Chris Dionne. I have never came across someone with so much commitment and passion for their job. Chris went above and beyond to help me dismiss my traffic ticket. He was absolutely amazing the entire way through the process. Very honest, knowledgeable, compassionate and professional. Very happy I came across him! From here on out, I will recommend Chris Dionne to all my friends and family! You will not be disappointed.read more

Jeremy Martinez

22:17 01 Oct 19

Thought the service was excellent. Got me in the office and I explain the situation to them. The aids were very helpful. Would highly recommend. I wasn't in a good situation and it was very bad odds in my favor, but I called them and they helped me get both cases dismissed. I really thank the people who work here for going to court for me and defending me. I was doubting everything and they proved my doubts wrong. The price they charge is very reasonable comparing other attorneys I spoke to. Would recommend to anyone with a traffic case and if I ever get another ticket they will be my first call. Thank you again DDTread more

Alex W

14:01 11 Sep 19

Got 2 tickets dismissed for me. Made everything painless, appeared on my behalf and always called after to let me know what happened/what the next step was. Would definitely recommend DDTread more

Masroor Bhatti

20:43 16 Jul 19

Attorneys are superb..!! I had multiple cases.. and My license was about to suspend and they did very good job very well...!! I saved my license and my all the tickets are waved from my records..!! Really Appreciated for that help..! Thanks to All Team for helping me out..!! Highly recommended..read more

Tim Niebergall

14:02 26 Oct 19

I got my first speeding ticket in 7 years. Frustrated and not wanting to go to driving school. I contacted driver defense team. For less than the cost of paying the ticket. They got the ticket completely whipped out to maintain my good driving record! Thank you!read more

Alia Rathore

03:39 03 Jan 20

I had a wonderful experience with DDT and attorney Chris Dionne. They were very kind throughout the process and were able to remove all convictions against my record! It's clear that they are committed and efficient in finding the best possible outcomes for their clients. Would definitely recommend to others.read more

Sarg Baznaya

22:47 27 Dec 19

I had literally over 10 traffic cases and they beat every single case for me with a good price these people are in the top 5 guaranteed in Illinois if not probably number 1. There always on time and very respectful also helpful!! Thanks u guys!!read more

Yolanda B. Hawthorne

23:01 23 Dec 19

Driver Defense Team was AWESOME! Maria super! My lawyer Eric Tibbs were professional and made every efforts possible to resolve my speeding ticket issue. Eric was beyond words determine to fight for me and succeeded delivering positive results. A petty offense instead of a misdemeanor speeding ticket saving lots of money. I recommend this legal team to fight for your driver's license and record. I am happy no tickets on my license!read more

Unknown Name

22:31 04 Nov 19

Amazing services! I called their office at around 2:00 PM on a Friday about a court date scheduled for Monday, they were very kind and efficient all the way around! They represented me in court and saved me the trip from Saint Louis, not only did they take my case but also were able to get my FIVE tickets dismiss without me having to pay any court fees or even a fine! That is what I call OUTSTANDING JOB!! I will recommend Driver Defense Team to all my friends and Family!!! Nice Work Team and THANK YOU!read more

Jonathan Friedman

22:12 03 Jan 20

Great team -- they got my speeding ticket dismissed within 24 hours. They were extremely communicative and I would not hesitate to use them again or refer them to friends/colleagues.read more

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Attorney

Eric Tibbs is originally from Central Illinois and moved to Chicago in 2010. He graduated from the University of Illinois: Urbana-Champaign in 2003, and received his Juris Doctorate in 2007 from the University of Tulsa.

Eric practiced for three years as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Tazewell County, where he was a prosecutor in the Traffic Division. Eric has over ten years of experience with DUI cases, Statutory Summary Suspension hearings, and License Reinstatement hearings. He has been involved in numerous bench and jury trials, involving every type of traffic-related offense. Eric currently resides in the city of Chicago, where he enjoys playing guitar and Playstation 4.

Attorney, Of Counsel

Colin Gage was born and raised in Joliet, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School and worked for a private firm where he handled criminal, traffic, and family law cases.

After working privately, Mr. Gage worked for the City of Chicago as a prosecutor in the traffic and administrative hearings divisions prosecuting traffic tickets, code violations, and vehicle impoundments. Over the course of his tenure with the City, Mr. Gage conducted hundreds of vehicle impoundment and Chicago ordinance hearings and prosecuted thousands of these violations.

At Driver Defense Team, Mr. Gage focuses his practice on vehicle impoundments and Chicago code violations. He has been defending these violations for over 2 years.

He is licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois and Wisconsin and is a diehard fan of the 2016 World Champion Chicago Cubs.