Brunning & Associates rooted in Social Awareness
Kevin Bruning founded the full-service law firm Bruning & Associates, PC in 2000. The firm has 11 attorneys who collectively have more than 120 years of experience in civil law. It has three Chicago-region offices, the newest one located in Chicago at 2 N. Riverside Plaza. What’s been constant at the firm since day-one is its motivation. Bruning and his team have a passion for helping people, and empathy for those who need representation. They also believe strongly in community engagement.
Schooling in Wisconsin Leads to a Worldview
In late 2018, Kevin Bruning celebrated 30 years as a licensed attorney. His social consciousness was sparked much earlier. It formed during his childhood, when Kevin was a student at Wayland Academy, a College Preparatory boarding school in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. The school had students from all over the world. Bruning says: “The opportunity to live and study in a very small community of diverse individuals, with different backgrounds and ethnicities, had a profound impact upon my view of the world.”
After graduating from Wayland, Kevin earned a degree from Loyola University Chicago and then, in 1988,
graduated from DePaul University College of Law. He worked for one of the largest law firms in the nation for 12 years. His heart, though, belonged to the community. He wanted to start a law firm rooted in that value system.
The opportunity to live and study in a very small community of diverse individuals, with different backgrounds and ethnicities, had a profound impact upon my view of the world.
Family Ties
Bruning’s family contributes to his desire to support social justice. His wife, Ellen, is of Japanese heritage. Her mother, grandparents, aunts and uncles suffered significant injustices during World War II, including imprisonment and forced relocation to U.S. internment camps. Bruning and his family now dedicate a large amount of time toward educating people about these civil rights violations. Their goal is to ensure nothing like it happens again.
Commitment to Community
Bruning is a member of the Rotary Club of Fox Valley Sunset, where Ellen is President-elect and Youth Services Chair. Kevin leads the Membership and Fundraising Committees and has twice been named Rotarian of the Year, most recently in 2017. Staff members of Bruning & Associates are active in Rotary events and their own local clubs.
Bruning & Associates also supports the Child Advocacy Center for North and Northwest Cook County, and takes part in the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Race Judicata 5K run. The team members also spend time and dollars supporting PAWS Chicago. One attorney, Meredith Janes, is currently fostering a dog that needs a forever home. Another, Laura Inns, rescued a dog via the Humane Society and now trains her in agility courses
and competes locally. Yet another attorney, Jonathan Thornton, is passionate about the children at St. Jude’s and Ronald McDonald House.
What’s Next
Kevin Bruning opened Bruning & Associates, PC with the goal of making a difference in the lives of those in his community. That mission will continue in 2019 with new community engagement and a focus on expanding legal services to include immigration law, corporate law and family law specialties. The firm plans to hire additional attorneys. It is growing in order to extend its help for the people of the Chicago region, including the most underserved among us.
For more information about Bruning & Associates, click here. Email Kevin Bruning directly here.