Sandy Burgess to retire from Meltzer, Purtill & Stelle

Sandy Burgess will retire at the end of 2018 after 23 years with the law firm Meltzer, Purtill & Stelle.

For the past seven years, she has been at the Schaumburg office of the national firm that spun off in January 1996 to become MPS.

Burgess began in an administrative capacity, moving up to manage the Schaumburg office. When MPS was formed, she became the firm's administrator, a position that evolved into the role of chief operating officer.

Brian Meltzer recalls, "In 1989, we hired Sandy to be our receptionist. We soon recognized her talent for relating to people and navigating the challenges of a growing law office and promoted Sandy to office manager. Together we worked to build MPS into the firm our clients wanted and deserved, including opening a downtown Chicago office, where half of the firm's lawyers now work."

In 2012, she helped implement a smooth leadership transition as the managing partner for 16 years, Brian Meltzer, turned over that role to Bill Mitchell, the firm's current managing partner.

Mitchell said, "Sandy has been a steadying force in building and maintaining our loyal, motivated staff, many of whom have been with us since we founded the firm. She made sure we stayed focused on doing that which we do exceptionally well and not getting too big."