Meet Patrick Kelly

Family

Patrick and his wife Beth met on their first day of college in Champaign, and have been married for 18 years.  They have three children, Jonathan (8), Claire (6) and Charlotte (4), who have many years ahead in District 203 schools.  Patrick and Beth moved to Naperville in 2010 because of its reputation as a great place to raise a family, and feel very fortunate to have established roots in our great city.

Community Involvement

From the time that Patrick came to Naperville, he has been very involved in the community, and prior to being elected to City Council in 2019, he was an active member of the Naperville Jaycees, the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce, the West Suburban Irish, the DuPage Children’s Museum’s NextGen Board, and the 5th Avenue Steering Committee.  Since being elected to City Council, Patrick has also served as the Council liaison to the Historic Preservation Commission, the Human Rights and Fair Housing Commission, and the Downtown Advisory Committee.

Education

Patrick earned his undergraduate degree in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. Patrick then attended law school at Chicago-Kent College of Law, and earned in Juris Doctor, along with a certificate from Chicago-Kent’s Program in Environmental and Energy Law, in 2007.

During his time in law school, Patrick completed externships at the United States Environmental Protection Agency and with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where he was mentored by the late Honorable John W. Darrah.

Professional Experience

Upon earning his law degree, Patrick and Beth moved to the Lake Tahoe area where Patrick focused on environmental and natural resources issues. Patrick specifically focused his practice on water rights, including how much groundwater the Las Vegas water authority could pump from northern Nevada, and negotiating settlements regarding conflicting water rights between municipalities, ranchers and Native American tribes.

After practicing in Nevada for three years, Patrick and Beth decided to return to the western suburbs (Patrick grew up in Woodridge and Beth in West Chicago) and Patrick accepted a position with an established local law firm where he focused on litigation, representing small businesses and defending private property owners whose land was being taken through the government’s power of eminent domain.

In 2014, Patrick opened his own law firm in downtown Naperville, and he now focuses his practice on real estate transactions and representing dental professionals throughout Chicagoland. Patrick’s legal background dealing with municipal issues, property rights, and business transactions makes him an ideal fit to analyze the variety of complex issues that come before City Council.