Carol Edelson

Carol applies her intimate knowledge of business operations to counsel clients on a range of environmental compliance issues. She works on matters involving water, air, and underground storage tank regulations, and also on environmental, social and governance (ESG) analysis and related business endeavors. Her counsel in turn allows them to make change and leave the world a better place than it was before. 

She strives to clear hurdles for businesses in their operations as they face permitting and enforcement proceedings and environmental disputes.

Before turning to private practice, Carol was the COO of The Mercantile Companies, Inc., her family’s business. She provided guidance across a range of corporate, environmental and real estate-related matters. She prides herself on being able to digest the task at hand, leveraging her practical problem-solving and project management skills and strengths to come to the best solution.  

Carol spent a number of years right after law school with the Office of the Illinois Attorney General. Initially, her work was in the criminal appeals division, where she was counsel in connection to the first death penalty execution in Illinois; then she moved over to the environmental control division, where she sat across the table in negotiations with a global machinery, construction and equipment company, early in her career. Pivotally for Carol – out of the gate and now as her practice expands – she is comfortable in even the most challenging circumstances.

When she’s not advocating for her clients, Carol is dedicated to environmental sustainability, philanthropy, health education and family – as a wife and mother of five adult children.