Lawyers Serving Illinois Communities With Integrity Since 1984

Attorney Joseph A. Mueller has more than 40 years of experience as a Morris personal injury lawyer. He began his career as an appellate prosecutor and then served as an assistant state attorney, eventually becoming the first assistant state attorney in LaSalle County, Illinois. Since 1979, he has been trying cases to jury verdict. After leaving the State Attorney’s office, he handled criminal cases and tried numerous felony cases, achieving not-guilty verdicts in every felony jury trial where he represented a defendant. Approximately 30 years ago, he formed the original partnership to focus on litigation, particularly plaintiff’s personal injury work. Currently, he exclusively handles plaintiff’s personal injury cases in Morris and Joliet, while his son handles both criminal and personal injury. Attorney Mueller has extensive trial experience and has successfully prosecuted personal injury cases in counties including Grundy, Will, LaSalle, Livingston, Bureau, Cook, DuPage, Kankakee, Kendall, Kane, McLean, Iroquois, Champaign, Vermilion, Winnebago, McHenry, and Shelby, as well as in the United States District Courts for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois. He is known for taking difficult car accident and wrongful death cases to trial, with notable successes including a $200,000 verdict in a Grundy County case that other attorneys had turned down. Recent trials include a LaSalle County case where he obtained a $276,000 jury verdict despite a $2,000 offer and a $1,086,338 jury verdict in Grundy County. He has resolved many cases exceeding a million dollars and takes more plaintiff’s personal injury cases to jury in Grundy County than anyone else, with no defense verdicts.

Eric Frobish is a partner at Mueller, Lawson & Frobish, P.C., specializing in family law in Morris and Joliet. Born in Pontiac, IL, and raised in Livingston and Grundy Counties on his family’s farm, this upbringing instilled values of hard work beneficial in relating to clients. Eric graduated from Gardner-South Wilmington High School and earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was president of the Phi Chapter of the Sigma Pi fraternity. He attended The John Marshall Law School in Chicago from 1993 to 1996, interning at the LaSalle County State’s Attorney’s Office and Legal Aid Bureau. After graduating, he served as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Livingston County from 1996 to 1999, handling felony, misdemeanor, traffic, and civil matters. He operated his own solo practice in Dwight, IL, from 1999 to 2001, focusing on family law. Joining the firm in 2001 and becoming a partner in 2009, Eric handles family law, probate, wills, guardianships, real estate, criminal/traffic, and more. He is a certified guardian ad litem and family law mediator in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Judicial Circuits. Eric resides in Grundy County with his family and is involved in the Knights of Columbus and Lions Club. He handles contested and uncontested divorce, high-asset divorce, paternity, child custody, adoptions, orders of protection, and DCFS cases.

Matthew Mueller is a partner at Mueller, Lawson & Frobish, P.C., focusing on personal injury in Morris and Joliet. Born in LaSalle County, he graduated from Morris Community High School in 2000, Augustana College in 2004 with a B.A. magna cum laude in English and political science, and the University of Illinois College of Law with a J.D. cum laude in 2007. After passing the bar, he worked as a felony assistant at the Grundy County State’s Attorney’s Office. In 2010, he joined the firm, exclusively representing clients in personal injury cases like car accidents and medical malpractice. He has been licensed to practice law since November 8, 2007, and is a member of the Grundy County Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association, and Illinois State Bar Association. Matthew is listed in the Top 100 Trial Lawyers through the National Trial Lawyers. 

J.C. Lawson is a partner at Mueller, Lawson & Frobish, P.C., with over 10 years of experience in business, real estate, personal injury, dog bites, and workers' compensation in Morris and Joliet. Raised in Grundy County, he graduated from Morris High School in 2005, Loyola University Chicago cum laude with degrees in finance and marketing in 2009, and UIC Law School in 2013. Admitted to the Illinois State Bar Association in 2013, J.C. utilizes his business background for strategic representation in personal injury and workers' compensation cases. He volunteers with Grundy County Habitat for Humanity and the Morris BBQ Association and serves on boards for Grundy County United Way, the Housing Authority, and the Morris Community High School Education Foundation. He coaches youth wrestling and baseball. Areas of focus include commercial real estate, residential real estate, agricultural real estate, business practices, workers' compensation, and personal injury.

Pete Siena is an associate attorney at Mueller, Lawson & Frobish, P.C., specializing in criminal defense in Morris and Joliet. Born in Chicago and raised in Wheeling, he graduated from the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Psychology and from DePaul College of Law with a Juris Doctorate in 1999. Licensed in November 1999, he began as a prosecutor in the LaSalle County State’s Attorney’s Office, handling traffic, juvenile, misdemeanor, felony domestic violence, and drug offenses. In 2010, he moved to Grundy County, prosecuting felonies for over 12 years, including possession, theft, aggravated battery, and murder cases. He has tried numerous jury trials. Joining the firm in July 2022, Pete practices criminal defense, forfeitures, license reinstatement, expungements, simple wills, small claims, orders of protection, and civil matters. Areas of focus include criminal defense, real estate, social security disability, and premises liability.

Nick Navarro is an Associate Attorney at Mueller, Lawson & Frobish, P.C. He grew up in Ottawa, Illinois. Nick graduated from Western Illinois University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Law Enforcement and Justice Administration, and earned his Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago in 2014.

Experience

Nick began his career as an Assistant Public Defender in Will County, handling all stages of criminal cases from arraignment through trial. He later joined the LaSalle County State’s Attorney’s Office, where he prosecuted felony drug cases and civil asset forfeitures.

He then worked with Castle Law LLC in Joliet, prosecuting cases for the City of Joliet and working on property law matters. Before joining Mueller, Lawson & Frobish, Nick practiced as a private criminal defense attorney at the Law Office of Juan C. Martinez, LLC, where he represented clients in several Illinois counties—primarily Spanish-speaking defendants—in cases ranging from petty offenses to serious felonies.

Community & Interests

Since 2014, Nick has coached mock trial teams at The John Marshall Law School, helping students sharpen their courtroom advocacy and trial presentation skills. His teams have earned multiple national titles, including two first-place finishes.

A former college rugby player, Nick also spent a year living in Europe, studying law in England and traveling abroad. He now lives in Morris, Illinois, where he enjoys smoking barbecue, gaming, and traveling with his family.