Katie M. Clancy
Katie’s skillset as a Special Needs Planning attorney is partially built on her background in Estate Planning Law and government benefit planning. But when she became a mother to a child with special needs, her personal experience and growing knowledge led to a niche in special needs planning law.
“My son is the driving force behind my work and the resources I find. It’s personal. When I learn about a change in the law, discover a new resource, or tour a CILA, I think of him and my clients, and how these opportunities could help them.”
Other parents learned of Katie’s special needs law practice and asked her for help. Recognizing that families need comprehensive support, Katie added other experts to her team to provide clients with a “full service” special needs planning solution.
“As parents, my husband and I became our son’s case manager – managing various experts, medical professionals, therapists and educators – to blend the fractured diagnoses and care our son received. It was overwhelming to become an expert in so many areas for someone who is our everything. Now it is very rewarding to serve as a guide for other families’ legal needs, using the knowledge and solutions I have built. I help relieve the stress I know so well.”
Katie has built a vast network with other professionals in the special needs community in order to connect her clients to the other unique resources. Her innovative approach to Special Needs Planning is forward-thinking, all-encompassing, and always with a parent’s perspective and deep compassion.
More About Katie M. Clancy
Katie is a Member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners. Prior to starting Clancy & Associates, Ltd. in 2001, Katie was an associate with the Chicago law firms of McDermott, Will & Emery, and Drinker Biddle. Katie also completed two internships with The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Katie was a judicial extern for Federal Judge Ronald Guzman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Katie is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Wyoming.
Katie is an expert and frequent speaker at parent support groups, local and national disability organizations, and therapeutic day schools on the topic of special needs trusts and transition / life planning, government benefits, ABLE accounts, Letters of Intent, and financial planning for special needs families. As a Special Needs Planning Attorney, member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners, and parent, Katie is passionate about providing guidance to special needs parents on formulating plans for your loved one, whether that person is a child or an adult. As a parent of a special needs child, her first-hand knowledge in understanding the stress and concerns of special needs children and parents make her uniquely qualified to offer practical, sound advice in navigating complex planning issues. She has presented for Easter Seals, Turning Pointe Autism Foundation, Loyola University at Chicago’s Mustard Seed Project, Elmhurst Parents Support Group, Spot On Therapies, LLC, Aspire, the Informed Parent Series, and more. In addition, she participates in numerous special need resource fairs. See our events page for upcoming dates. If your organization would like to have Katie speak, please contact us.
Katie earned her law degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in Chicago, Illinois with a Concentration in Benefits Law from the School’s Masters of Law Program, consistently making the Dean’s List. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Humanities, Business Administration and Professional Writing from Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, and the University of Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland (formerly St. Patrick’s College).
In her spare time, Katie loves to hike with her husband Ed, son John, and Labrador retrievers, read, play tennis in the NITTL league and USTA, and swim with the US Masters Swimming Association. A recent hobby is to explore local county forest preserves that are good for “scooting” for her son’s scooter (i.e. – nice flat paths).
Read more about Katie Clancy in the EPWNG (Exclusive Professional Women’s Networking Group) member spotlight.
- As a parent, Katie realized the specialized knowledge and resources available to families seeking information about benefits and planning was severely lacking. So she created a non-profit group (“Informed Parent Series”) whose mission is to provide specialized information to parents. The Informed Parent Series went on to sponsor a range of seminars covering psychological testing, educational advocacy, vision therapies, legal and financial planning, dyspraxia and apraxia, autism, the language of disability, and many other topics.
- Aspire Ambassador, a non-profit serving individuals with developmental disability
- Founder of Informed Parent Series, a non-profit providing education to parents of children with disabilities
- The College of DuPage Foundation, Board Member.
- 10% of Clancy & Associates, Ltd’s work is provided to clients in need on a pro-bono basis.
