Robert William Fioretti (born March 8, 1953) is an American attorney and politician who served as an alderman in the Chicago City Council for the 2nd Ward, which included portions of Bronzeville, East Garfield Park, Illinois Medical District, Little Italy, Loop, Near West Side, Prairie District, South Loop, University Village, Westhaven, and West Loop. Bob first ran for office because of inequities and disinvestments he saw throughout the City of Chicago and communities of the 2nd Ward. He first won election as alderman in 2007 and was re-elected in 2011. He also served as 2nd Ward Democratic Committeeman for two terms, which is a position in the Cook County Democratic Party.
When ward boundaries were re-drawn after the 2010 Census, the original area in the 2nd ward was divided into several wards, and Fioretti did not run for re-election. Since leaving City Council, Fioretti has unsuccessfully run for several other elected offices.
Background/education
Fioretti was born and raised in Chicago's Pullman and Roseland neighborhoods. He is the son of a Polish-American mother and an Italian immigrant father who moved to Chicago and worked for the Pullman train car company. Fioretti attended St. Anthony's Grammar School and Mendel High School on the South Side of Chicago. He received a Pullman Foundation scholarship to attend the University of Illinois, where he studied political science and served as student body president.
Fioretti earned his J.D. degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law, where he remains a member of the adjunct faculty. He serves on the Law School Alumni Council and the NIU Board of Visitors. He previously served as president of the NIU National Alumni Association from 2000 to 2004. During his tenure as president, Fioretti oversaw the establishment of a Chicago alumni office, the formation of a quarterly alumni magazine, and the creation of the Barsema Alumni Center on campus, created the law student travel overseas program, and helped establish a scholarship endowment program. Fioretti also served as president of the NIU College of Law Alumni Council. He has spoken at graduation lauding NIU as an incredible asset to the state of Illinois education and empowering students to become successful professionals in many fields of endeavor. He regularly mentors law school students and underwrites the annual Helene and Edward Fioretti Memorial Scholarship in Ethics in honor of his parents.
Personal life
Fioretti currently lives on Chicago’s Near West Side, with his wife, Nicki.
Fioretti survived throat cancer, which he was diagnosed with in late-2010. In 2019 Fioretti published, "My Cancer Journey: In Seven Parts." Fioretti described the book by stating, "You now belong to a club where no one wants to be a member. Words no one wants to hear. But there is nothing you negotiate to get out of it once it happens to you. My Cancer Journey chronicles what I, and my wife, Nicki, went through from my diagnosis to treatment, recovery and our new normal today."
Legal career
Fioretti, a long-time civil rights lawyer, is currently a partner in the law firm Roth Fioretti LLC in Chicago, where he practices governmental law and complex litigation. He is a seasoned civil litigator and has litigated a wide variety of cases before federal and state administrative law judges as well as in the state and federal courts. He is a former Senior Supervising Attorney of the General Litigation Division for the Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago, working with Mayor Harold Washington during the time of Council Wars. While there, he was involved in more than 500 civil rights cases, and his personal trail experiences have led to over 100 state and federal verdicts and appellate court decisions. Bob has advised and represented many governmental units. He has been appointed in numerous cases as a Special Assistant Attorney General of Illinois and a Special Assistant State's Attorney.
Long before it was popular, Fioretti fought to free people of color wrongly accused of crimes they did not commit. In 2006 Fioretti was the attorney for LaFonso Rollins, a young African American sentenced to 75 years in jail for rape. Rollins had spent 11 years in prison before being exonerated in 2004 by DNA testing. He was awarded a $9 million settlement in a wrongful conviction lawsuit against the City of Chicago.