Law School and SCALES Program Alum Promoted to Equity Partner at Beermann LLP
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For alumnus Joseph Napoli (JD ’12), being promoted to Equity Partner at Beermann LLP was a full-circle moment in his legal career. Entering law school through the performance and evaluation-based admission program, Summer College to Assess Legal Education Skills (SCALES), Napoli was elated to attend the same alma mater as his father, Joseph R. Napoli, Sr. (JD ’64), and follow in his footsteps as a lawyer.
However, law school was not always Napoli’s original plan. After his junior year in college, he was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the Major League Baseball Draft. When that path didn’t unfold as expected, he pivoted—applying to only one law school, determined to build a career where he could make a meaningful impact.
Napoli’s legal journey began with a suggestion from his then-classmate and now close friend, Justino Mirabelli, to apply for a clerkship at his father’s law firm, Nadler Pritikin & Mirabelli, LLC, co-founded by 1981 law school alumnus Enrico J. Mirabelli. On November 11, 2011, that firm merged with Beermann Swerdlove LLP, forming what is now known simply as Beermann LLP.
At the time of the merger, Napoli was unsure whether he was even part of the transition. “I just showed up with the hopes that they wouldn’t tell me to leave,” Napoli recalled. “I eventually landed in an interior office space that I shared with two other employees—even after I became a lawyer.”
When it became clear that an associate position at Beermann LLP was unlikely at the time, Napoli ventured out on his own. During this period, he was introduced to family law attorney William White, who generously provided him with an office, internet access, and case files to work on.
As fate would have it, Napoli eventually returned to Beermann LLP, a move he credits to the mentorship of Equity Partners Enrico J. Mirabelli and James M. Quigley. Upon his return, he steadily climbed the firm’s ranks—starting as a law clerk and advancing to staff attorney, associate attorney, partner, income partner, and most recently, Equity Partner. Today, he is the youngest of the 10 attorneys at the firm currently holding this distinction.
Founded by Miles N. Beermann in 1958, Beermann LLP has grown to become one of the largest family law firms in Illinois, with over 100 employees.
Napoli currently manages high-profile cases involving divorce, parentage, pre- and post-nuptial agreements, child support, custody disputes, orders of protection, and more. His work has garnered recognition in the legal community, earning him features on ABC’s Channel 7 News, in the Illinois Trial Court Divorce Digest, and acknowledgment by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin as an “Attorney to Watch”.
Along with the mentorship he has received from Quigley and Mirabelli, Napoli credits his law school experience as a “vital” part of his success, particularly for instilling, “discipline, professionalism, and providing a real-world perspective on the practice of law.”