Meet Nikitas Fudukos
A spotlight on one of the professional team members who works for you at Nash Disability Law
For Nash Associate Attorney Nikitas Fudukos, family is always close to his heart. Born and raised in Chicago, Nikitas is the proud son of Greek immigrants. If you ask about what his favorite free time activity is, he responds quickly and without hesitation, “I like to spend time with my family.” One of his family’s favorite pastimes is playing board games. “I’m a big fan,” he says with a smile.
That same sense of family extends to Nikitas’ advocacy on behalf of Nash clients. “Work is where most of my energy is focused. Even when I’m not at the office, my client’s cases are on my mind,” he explains.
“As an attorney, chiefly, I represent our clients at hearings. Once our clients have a hearing scheduled, I meet with them to explain how hearings work, what we need to prove to the judge in order to succeed on their claim, and our plan for doing so. I prepare them for their testimony and advocate for them at all times before, during, and after the hearing.”
“What I like most about my job, of course, is that positive feeling that comes when we achieve a favorable finding for our clients,” he offers. “But because there can be a long wait with very little explanation from the Social Security Administration about what is happening, I also enjoy meeting with my clients to explain how the process works and how we can succeed in their claim.”
Before joining Nash nearly three years ago, Nikitas spent eight years helping clients recover millions of dollars in compensation for injuries and disabilities arising from accidents both in and out of the workplace.
His experience in workers’ compensation law, personal injury, medical malpractice, trials—and years of practice in commercial disputes—gives him a strong background to fight for the needs of people who can’t work because of health problems and are applying for disability benefits or appealing denials of benefits. In addition to his advocacy for clients with injuries and disabilities, Nikitas worked as an adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law for several years, presenting a course on the use of technology for trials and litigation.
To unwind, Nikitas likes to take long walks and to read (mostly history). He supports Season of Concern, a not-for-profit organization that offers emergency assistance to all Chicago actors and theater workers who are facing both health-related, or other financial issues.
When Nikitas reflects on what he believes in and what motivates him, he refers to advice Abraham Lincoln offered to General George McClellan in 1862: “I say ‘try’; if we never try, we shall never succeed.”
