Just eight years into her legal career, Missy Turk Firmage already has made a mark on our profession and our community that most lawyers would be proud of at the end of their careers. Missy has built a successful fiduciary probate litigation and administration practice as Principal at Chuhak & Tecson, PC while prioritizing pro bono work and service to the bar and our community.
From her start as a lawyer, Missy has consistently demonstrated leadership and service to the bar. Active in the Chicago Bar Association, Missy recently served as the legislative liaison of the Mental Health and Disability Law Committee and chaired the Probate Practice Committee from 2020 to 2021 having also served as the vice chair. Within her firm, Missy dedicates countless hours to mentoring younger attorneys, focusing on instilling the importance of integrity in the profession. She was also recently appointed as her firm’s first Pro Bono Publico Chairperson.
Missy is a dedicated volunteer with Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS). Over the past seven years Missy has taken on more than two dozen pro bono guardianship cases for minors and adults with disabilities. Missy is also an active member CVLS’s Junior Board and was recently elected to board leadership. As a committed child welfare advocate, Missy serves as a trained volunteer for youth in foster care as the immediate past Associate Board Vice President for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), an organization she has been involved with for over a decade. Missy’s clients talk about her unique ability to make them feel seen and heard through even the most difficult circumstances.
Missy exemplifies the highest ideals of the legal profession. Missy’s commitment to pro bono and community service and the organized bar are not a footnote to her career—they are central to it. Her efforts reflect a deep, sustained engagement with the most vulnerable people in our community, far beyond the obligations of her professional role. Missy indeed is an exceptional lawyer and leader, and an ideal recipient of this year’s Maurice Weigle Exceptional Young Lawyer Award.