MEET BERWYN’S ENTREPRENEURS: LIBBY POPOVIC OF CAPUTO & POPOVIC P.C.

Name: Libby Popovic

Hometown: Belgrade, Serbia

Current Residence: Northwest Indiana

All About Libby:

I was born in Belgrade, Serbia (former Yugoslavia) and emigrated to the US at the age of 3 with my parents and younger brother. I grew up in Northwest Indiana and am fluent in Serbo-Croatian. Growing up I enjoyed playing tennis. I moved to Chicago when I went to Loyola and then continued education at Chicago Kent Law School and Stuart School of Business for a Juris Doctorate and a Masters in Public Administration. I am married with 3 children, ages 17, 14, and 10 and live in Northwest Indiana with my husband.

The Business Side: I graduated from the Chicago Kent Law School in 1998 and started with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor working on criminal appeals and misdemeanor cases. I then went to work for the State of Illinois as a staff attorney with the Appellate Court and then the Illinois Supreme Court with Justice Thomas Fitzgerald. I returned to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and continued to work there until 2010 working on criminal appeal cases. I even had a chance to argue before the Illinois Supreme Court on one of the appellate cases. I left in 2010 and joined Nicholas Caputo in the private sector and Caputo & Popovic PC was created, focusing on litigation, business law and real estate.  I am the managing partner for the transactional division and help run the Berwyn, Chicago and Tinley Park office. Prior to working together, Nick and I both taught Trial Advocacy for years at Chicago Kent and worked together as adjunct professors. We wanted to offer our collective experience in both the public and private sector to our clients and pride ourselves on our motto to be resourceful, reasonable and responsive.

Additionally, we have also brought City Wide Title into the neighborhood to really help streamline the closing process for our clients. Carmen and Alejandra are fluent in Spanish and have been instrumental in helping clients navigate the process. We also work with a number of first time buyers and help them through the process. Our clients are sellers as well who need help for the closing. We try to take the burden off of them by having flexible hours, weekend consultations and having them sign documents ahead of time to make it a smooth process.  Having City Wide Title next door to us is a huge help.

 

TELL US ABOUT YOUR INVOLVEMENT WITH THE BERWYN PUBLIC ART INITIATIVE.

As for the Art Initiative, we are going to have local artists fill in the frames that the initial artist did.

 

DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN 3 WORDS.

Three words to describe me are energetic, friendly and motivated.

 

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

What inspires me is seeing progress and an end result, whether it is in my personal life or in my work life.  Working with strong minded and inspirational people is a motivating force that inspires me.

 

WHY BERWYN?

We chose Berwyn because we really liked its thriving community and location. It is well situated with easy access to the city as well as the suburbs. Since I focus on real estate, it is a perfect location for us. We like being involved in the various community activities, whether the BPAI project or the Berwyn Police Department charity events, and we like that our clients can easily find the office, can park and see us at any given time.

We have also participated in a Downsizing Workshop that we hosted at the Berwyn Library and were sponsors for the Berwyn PD for their special Olympics airplane pull.

With Nick bringing his litigation staff to Berwyn, we want to make it easier for our clients to receive the best client service on their files. We have a number of investors who have various matters, ranging from litigation to real estate and business formation. Having the Berwyn office has been convenient for everyone. This year we are celebrating 1 year in Berwyn and couldn’t be happier!

 

WHAT IS SOMETHING PEOPLE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU?

Something that people might now know about me is that I played the accordian for a number of years (although now many will know that little gem of information!)

 

WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU’RE NOT GOOD AT?

Something that I am not good at is assembling furniture or items that come in boxes. I am terrible at reading the manuals and putting together projects that require more than a couple of parts.

 

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?

What makes me laugh is watching funny animal and kid clips on YouTube.

 

IF YOU COULD VISIT ANY PERIOD IN TIME, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

If I could visit any time period I would visit the Renaissance period because it would be fascinating to see the development of so many of the cultural achievements, including those in art, literature, philosophy, and politics. Plus, seeing the clothes would be interesting too!

 

WHAT IS THE MOST INTERESTING PLACE YOU’VE BEEN?

One of the most interesting places I have been is the Old City in Jerusalem when I was in law school. I spent several weeks studying there as part of a summer program and it was awe inspiring to visit the Old City and walk around it knowing how much history is behind it.

 

DOES YOUR NAME HAVE A SPECIAL MEANING?

The meaning of my full name, Ljubica, is a derivative of the word for Violet. My name in English translates to Violet.