Maria Merman

Maria was born in Moscow, Russia and moved with her parents to Chicago at the age of fourteen. As a first-generation immigrant, Maria learned first-hand the value of hard work in order to excel and achieve her dream of becoming an attorney. She brings the same work ethic to the courtroom, tirelessly advocating for her clients. Being fluent in Russian, Maria understands the challenge that some non-native English-speaking clients face when trying to navigate their legal rights. Maria’s goal is to ensure that all individuals, injured due to no fault of their own, are treated fairly and not taken advantage of by insurance companies.

Maria comes to Ankin law with both defense and plaintiff experience in personal injury. Maria has successfully represented seriously injured people in a wide array of cases including: motor vehicle collision, slip and fall, construction negligence and medical malpractice actions. After four years of tirelessly fighting for the rights of the injured, Maria joined a defense firm, representing nursing homes and medical professionals in negligence matters and actions brought under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act. That experience only made Maria’s passion for plaintiff’s work even stronger, as she witnessed some of the most vulnerable members of our society struggle to obtain adequate representation and justice.

In addition, Maria gained strategic insights into defense tactics that enable her to achieve successful outcomes for her injured clients while holding the negligent parties responsible for their actions.

Maria earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her JD from the John Marshall Law School. While in law school,Maria won a prestigious award from American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics for her stellar academic performance in a medical negligence course. She was also selected to be a teaching assistant for a Civil Procedure course, which solidified her knowledge of court rules and procedures.

While away from the office, Maria enjoys taking art history classes, going to the Art Institute, listening to live jazz music and attending musicals, especially in the company of her family and friends.