Elk Grove Village hires well-connected municipal lawyer as new counsel

Michael Del Galdo, a heavyweight municipal attorney who briefly represented controversial former Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard and recently got a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement fence to come down in Broadview, is now adding Elk Grove Village to his list of clients.

Del Galdo, senior partner and managing member of the Berwyn-based Del Galdo Law Group, officially starts Monday as the new village attorney in Elk Grove and will be introduced at the village board meeting Tuesday night.

He replaces George Knickerbocker, who retires Friday after 54 years as the Northwest suburb’s legal counsel.

Unlike Knickerbocker, Del Galdo won’t be a full-time village employee. His firm will be under retainer with the village, covering his attendance at board meetings once or twice a month, weekly Thursday office hours at village hall, and fielding phone calls from Mayor Craig Johnson and department heads as needed.

The amount of the proposed retainer fee and other financial details of the engagement weren’t disclosed by village officials Thursday.

Del Galdo has been retained as outside counsel on high-profile matters Elk Grove has faced in recent years, including defense of a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of a 24-year-old man fatally shot by police in 2023. The village hired Del Galdo’s firm in 2020 to defend against a long-running annexation suit brought by local developer Mario Gullo.

Del Galdo and his firm of more than 30 attorneys serve as counsel to some two dozen Illinois municipalities, including Broadview, which earlier this month successfully sued to have a temporary fence around ICE’s detention facility removed over concerns with fire department access.

He represented Dolton from Henyard’s election in 2021 until 2024, when the village stopped paying his legal bills.

One of his longest tenured clients is Cicero, whose town President Larry Dominick hired Del Galdo 20 years ago.

“Mike is very well-known, very well-connected, no question,” Johnson said Thursday.

Johnson decided to appoint Del Galdo village attorney after securing his commitment to attend every Elk Grove board meeting — as opposed to another lawyer in his firm — and assurances he could handle the extra work load.

“No ones’s ever going to replace George. Not going to happen,” Johnson said. “But Mike and his firm and the setup we have is going to fill the niche.”

“Mike and I are already starting to develop a good bond and connection,” the mayor added, “and I’m looking forward to working with him.”