Jose M. Ortega did his undergraduate studies at Pontificia Universidad Católica where he obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree. He studied law at Loyola University of Chicago and obtained his Juris Doctor degree in 1999. Jeffrey A. Soufal attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree. He then studied law at the DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, where he earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1994.