Christina Cantlin

Christina Cantlin is a Partner at The Cantlin Law Firm in Ottawa, Illinois. Her legal services include municipal law, estate planning, real estate, corporations, and transactional law. Her government practice includes serving as corporation counsel for the City of Ottawa and the City of Marseilles and assisting other cities, villages, townships, fire districts, and drainage districts. She also represents financial institutions, giving her a practice that spans public-sector and private transactional matters.

Christina earned her law degree from Northern Illinois University in 2001, graduating magna cum laude. Her legal education preceded more than two decades of private practice involving estate planning, real estate, corporations, and governmental law. She later served as a Circuit Court Judge in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit before returning to the firm as a Partner in January 2023. That combination of private practice and judicial service informs her work with public bodies and institutional clients.

Christina’s day-to-day work includes advising municipal clients on legal matters arising from local government operations and serving as corporation counsel for Ottawa and Marseilles. She also assists other local governmental entities, including villages, townships, fire districts, and drainage districts. Her broader transactional practice includes real estate, corporations, estate planning, and representation of financial institutions. This mix of public and private work requires attention to governance, transactions, local authority, and institutional decision-making.

Christina Cantlin has held leadership and board roles in the Ottawa community and maintains affiliations with organizations including the Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Local Government Lawyers Association, International Municipal Lawyers Association, and LaSalle County Bar Association. Her current practice combines municipal counsel work with estate planning, real estate, corporate, and transactional matters. Her prior judicial service and long private-practice background provide additional perspective when advising local governments and other clients on legal and operational concerns.

Law Office Affiliations

• Partner, Cantlin Law Firm
• Member, Illinois State Bar Association
• Member, Illinois Supreme Court Committee
• Member, Illinois Local Government Lawyers Association
• Member, International Municipal Lawyers Association
• Member, LaSalle County Bar Association
• Member, Phi Alpha Beta Law Fraternity
• Board Member, Illinois Valley Action Center
• Board Member, First National Bank of Ottawa
• Former Director and Chairman, Ottawa Regional Hospital
• Former Board Member and Treasurer, Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
• Former Board Member, Easter Seals of LaSalle and Bureau Counties
• Member, Epsilon Delta Professional Education Organization

Licensed State

• Illinois

Education

• Northern Illinois University College of Law
  Juris Doctor (JD) (Magna Cum Laude)
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
  Bachelor of Science (BS) (Summa Cum Laude)
• St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University
  Studied (no degree listed)

Awards & Badges