Meet the Attorneys

Jean Swee

jean@williamsandswee.com

Jean Swee concentrates in representing injured workers in Central Illinois. She has practiced law since 1986. Jean has been involved in the Illinois State Bar Association and Workers' Compensation Section Council. She is also a frequent speaker at Workers' Compensation workshops and seminars. Jean has a Martindale-Hubbell AV peer rating.

Jean represents injured workers at arbitration trials, Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission hearings, before the Appellate Court of Illinois and the Illinois Supreme Court. Jean graduated from Michigan State University and Cooley Law School.

William Trimble

bill@williamsandswee.com

William Trimble is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law. He is a graduate of Grinnell College (B.A.), where he studied philosophy. He is admitted to practice in Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. William Trimble is a member of the McLean County Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association.

Prior to joining Williams & Swee, Trimble practiced for nearly two decades in Decatur, Illinois, and for more than a year in Peoria. He has practiced in Worker’s Compensation and has represented claimants in Social Security Disability. He has also represented clients in all aspects of complex civil litigation, from intake and assessment through appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, and on a broad range of legal issues including, but not limited to: medical negligence, hospital institutional negligence, trade secret litigation, non-competition contract litigation, corporate contract disputes, real estate contract disputes and insurance company fraud.

His experience will help Williams & Swee continue to represent clients in prosecution of workers’ compensation, medical negligence, and enforcement of patient rights in nursing homes.

Dirk May

dirk@williamsandswee.com

In law school, Dirk worked with Legal Services, assisting lawyers who represented low income clients in Social Security cases. In 1983, he moved to Springfield, Illinois and worked in state government. Eventually, he represented disabled people in Social Security Disability cases while in private practice. He went on to represent consumers and disabled individuals before the State Legislature. He also worked for the Workers Compensation Commission in Springfield, Illinois.

Dirk travels to Peoria, Springfield, Champaign and Decatur to represent injured workers in Workers' Compensation trials as well as Social Security hearings, in addition to handling a large case load in Bloomington. Click here to view Dirk May's Social Security Law blog.

Michelle Schneiderheinze

michelle@williamsandswee.com

Michelle is a seasoned litigator with over twenty years of legal experience.

Since 2017, Michelle has limited her practice to representing injured people in Motor Vehicle, Premise Liability, Product Liability, and Worker’s Compensation matters.

In the past she has served as class co-counsel in NB v. Norwood, a federal class action lawsuit seeking treatment for thousands of disabled children living in Illinois.

Michelle is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) and worked as a chemist for several years before attending law school.

In law school, Michelle received the CALI Award for achieving the highest grade in her first-year property class. She was an associate editor for The University of Illinois Journal of Law, Technology & Policy and President of the Myra Bradwell Association of Woman Law Students. She also participated in moot court competitions. While in law school, Michelle passed the registration exam for the United States Patent and Trademark Office and is still a registered patent attorney.

After graduating from law school, Michelle spent several years as a law clerk for the Honorable Joe B. McDade, United States District Court Judge, Central District of Illinois. During her tenure as a law clerk, she assisted court appointed monitors in Johnson v. Board of Education Champaign Community Unit School District #4, Case No. 00-CV-1349 (C.D. Ill.), a school desegregation case. Michelle also worked as a staff attorney for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals drafting memorandum and opinions for federal appellate court judges in a variety of civil and criminal law matters.
In her spare time Michelle enjoys spending time with her children and cycling.