While attending law school, he served as an intern in the United States’ Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. After law school he served in the Cook County States’ Attorney’s Office for 4 years. He then went into private practice concentrating in criminal defense and civil rights cases. He has tried cases in 11 different states and was inducted into the National Trial Lawyers i
n 2012 which is limited to the top 100 trial lawyers in the United States. Ettinger has defended clients in many high profile cases. He defended Robert Blagojevich in the Northern District of Illinois and after a hung jury, 9 to 3 for acquittal, the charges were dismissed. He was won numerous drug cases in Illinois and other states.