Dixie Lee Peterson
Illinois Dept. of Children & Family Services
Organization Type: Government
Position/Title: Deputy Director, General Counsel
Functional Area: Law Practice
160 North La Salle Street, 6th Floor
Chicago, IL 60601
UNITED STATES
Business Phone: 312-814-2323
Fax: 312-814-6859
dpeters2@idcfs.state.il.us
www.state.il.us/dcfs/index.shtml
A 1975 graduate of The John Marshall Law School, Dixie Lee Peterson was a capital partner in a major national law firm, concentrating in environmental law. She made law in several instances, has been on the cutting edge of policies and programs of the Environmental Protection Agency, and published numerous articles on environmental law and health and safety related issues.
In 2000, she accepted an appointment as Deputy General Counsel of the Department of Children and Family Services at Cook County Juvenile Court, where she managed the DCFS Office of Legal Services there. In 2004, she became Deputy General Counsel supervising the legal staff outside of Cook County, and in 2006 became DCFS Acting General Counsel.
Her involvement in the legal community goes beyond her office at DCFS. In 1993, she was awarded The John Marshall Law School Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award and in 1994 was named to the “100 Women Making a Difference” by Today’s Chicago Woman magazine. She is a speaker and organizer of the American Bar Association’s Women Rainmakers in the Legal Profession, and a past Chair of the ABA Law Practice Management Section. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees and former Adjunct Professor at The John Marshall Law School, and served as Secretary of the Chicago Bar Association. She won the Burton Award for legal writing for an article she wrote for Environmental Protection magazine. Ms. Peterson also is a Fellow of the Air and Waste Management Association. In addition, Ms. Peterson is the a Past Chair of the Corporate Law Department Section Council and is Secretary of the Juvenile Justice Section Council of the Illinois State Bar Association. In 2001, Ms. Peterson was inducted in the Lyons Township High School Hall of Fame.
In 2007, Ms. Peterson was elected President of the Women’s Bar Foundation.
