2026 ILLINOIS ATTORNEYS TO WATCH
“
Chlece is one of the fiercest advocates I have ever encountered. ”
CHLECE WALKER- NEAL-MURRAY AGE: 39 FIRM : Chicago Advocate Legal, NFP LAW SCHOOL : Loyola University Chicago School of Law AREA(S) OF PRACTICE: Family law, housing law, preventative law
A fter graduating from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Chlece Walker-Neal-Murray trained under mentor at- torneys at Legal Aid Chicago and taught high school equivalen- cy courses at the Cook County Jail before co-founding Chicago Advocate Legal, NFP. Her mission? Make quality legal represen- tation available to families who often fall into the gap between free legal aid and traditional private practice. Today, Walker-Neal-Murray’s work in family law, housing law and preventative law reflects her philosophy that legal problems rarely exist in isolation. The firm’s preventative law practice trac- es to an early case: a very young father who sought help before his situation had fully unraveled. That perspective partly stems from this young attorney’s un- common academic background. In addition to her law degree, Walker-Neal-Murray earned master's degrees in social work and computer science software engineering from Loyola University Chicago and is pursuing a doctorate in social work at the Uni- versity of Illinois Chicago, where her research centers on pro- moting health equity in domestic relations court as a necessary component of access to justice. As both an attorney and licensed social worker, Walker-Ne- al-Murry has built a holistic model of representation that con- siders the social, economic and emotional factors affecting cli- ents alongside their legal issues.
“Chlece is deeply passionate about ensuring families, partic- ularly Black and low-income families, have the tools to advocate for themselves and to break generational patterns,” said Roya Samarghandi, chief advocacy and innovation officer with the Chicago Bar Foundation. Walker-Neal-Murray also partners with Chicago-area univer- sities to mentor social work students and interns, and serves as a guardian ad litem and child representative. Under her leadership, Chicago Advocate Legal and its staff at- torneys developed an income-based, sliding-scale flat-fee model for clients who fall between free legal aid and full-price represen- tation. Her work also helped the nonprofit secure grants from the Illinois Lawyers Trust Fund and Polk Brothers Foundation, ex- panding services regardless of a family's financial circumstances. “Chlece is one of the fiercest advocates I have ever encoun- tered,” said Elise Meintanis, attorney and owner of Law Works Illinois. Walker-Neal-Murray’s work has earned widespread recogni- tion, including the American Bar Association's 2025 Jean Crowe Pro Bono Award and the Illinois State Bar Association's 2022 Young Lawyer of the Year honor. Anita Weinberg, with Loyola University Chicago’s Curt and Linda Rodin Center for Social Justice said, “She has the ability to see the positive in almost any situation, and she has a forceful energy that captures those around her.”
74 40 Under Forty 2026 CHICAGO LAWYER & CHICAGO DAILY LAW BULLETIN
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