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COMMITTED TO SERVING
THE POWERLESS, VOICELESS, AND MARGINALIZED

About Us

Calvita J. Frederick & Associates was established in 1982 by Calvita J. Frederick as a law practice assisting clients in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.

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Biography of Calvita J. Frederick

Calvita J. Frederick is a native Chicagoan who attended Chicago public schools and graduated from John Marshall Harlan High School and Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois where she pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha and graduated Cum Laude.


While in high school and college, Calvita was the first visibly African American model on the Montgomery Wards’ Pacesetter Teen Board and was also selected for the Marshall Field’s College Board. In addition to appearing in fashion shows around the city, Calvita was chosen numerous times to appear as a teen model in The Chicago Tribune.


Calvita next attended Howard University School of Law where she graduated, Law Review, and received one of the highest paying jobs for law graduates in 1978: staff attorney for the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan.

In 1982, she returned to Chicago and started Calvita J. Frederick & Associates, Attorneys at Law, a general civil practice law firm where she obtained her highest paying settlements in cases against Chrysler Corporation and Aon Corporation. In 1988, Calvita became a licensed real estate broker.


After more than 20 years as a practicing lawyer, Calvita decided to follow her faith and her heart by looking for a more calming and peaceful profession. She never dreamed that preparing her secret recipe teas for family and friends would turn into a full-time career, but that’s exactly what happened.


After continually receiving encouragement to market her teas, Calvita took the plunge and launched Magnolia Spice Teas in 1998. Known for their distinctive homemade taste and all-natural ingredients, Magnolia’s healthy beverages have received awards (e.g., 1st Place Best Ready-to-Drink Sweet Tea at the 2005 World Tea Expo in Las Vegas) and recognition and kudos from the beverage industry and trade and business publications alike, including BevNet, Beverage Aisle, Tea and Coffee, Black Enterprise and the Chicago Defender, Tribune, and Sun Times.


In 2008, Calvita returned full-time to the practice of law and currently focuses her law practice on cases alleging discrimination in employment (based upon race, sex, age, and disability), nursing home abuse, probate, real estate, and family law.


A few of her legal victories include cases against:

  • Blue Cross/Blue Shield
  • Sodexo Operations, LLC.
  • Kaufman Hall
  • Allstate Insurance Co.
  • Chicago Transit Authority
  • Renaissance Park South Nursing and Living Center
  • Holy Cross Hospital
  • E*Trade Bank
  • Tishman Speyer
  • US Bank
  • PepsiCo
  • Lake Forest Academy
  • Jones Lang Lasalle
  • Rock Valley College

  • Fidelity National Information Services (a.k.a. Sunguard)

  • Churchview Supportive Services
  • Gardant Management Solutions
  • Carson Pierre Scott
  • Cintas
  • Chrysler Corporation
  • Garfield Park Conservation
  • Illinois Paper

Calvita is the divorced mother of two adult daughters, Samantha and Simone, and an active member of the Apostolic Church of God. Her advice is to seek God first and fearlessly follow the dream He places in your heart.

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