McDermott, Will & Emery
                       227 West Monroe Street, Suite 3100
                          Chicago, Illinois 60606-5096
                                  312-372-2000

                                                                  March 30, 2000

Board of Directors
Apropos Technology, Inc.
One Tower Lane, 28th Floor
Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois 60181

         Re:   Registration Statement on Form S-8; 5,600,000 Common Shares
               to be issued pursuant to Apropos Technology, Inc. 2000 Omnibus
               Incentive Plan and Employee Stock Purchase Plan of 2000

Gentlemen:

         You have requested our opinion in connection with the above-referenced
Registration Statement on Form S-8 (the "Registration Statement") of Apropos
Technology (the "Company"), to be filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, to register 5,600,000
Common Shares of the Company, $.01 par value (the "Common Shares"),which may be
issued pursuant to the 2000 Omnibus Incentive Plan and the Employee Stock
Purchase Plan of 2000 (together the "Plans").

         We have examined or considered:

                  1.       A copy of the Company's Amended and Restated Articles
                           of Incorporation.

                  2.       The By-Laws of the Company.

                  3.       Copies of resolutions duly adopted by the Board of
                           Directors.

         In addition to the examination outlined above, we have conferred with
various officers of the Company and have ascertained or verified, to our
satisfaction, such additional facts as we deemed necessary or appropriate for
the purposes of this opinion. In our examination, we have assumed the
authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals, the conformity to
the original documents of all documents submitted to us as copies, the
genuineness of all signatures on documents reviewed by us and the legal capacity
of natural persons.

         Based on the foregoing, we are of the opinion that all corporate
proceedings necessary for the authorization, issuance and delivery of the Common
Shares under the Plans have been duly taken and upon acquisition pursuant to the
terms of the Plan, the Common Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and
nonassessable. Members of our firm are admitted to the practice of law in the
State of Illinois and we express no opinion as to the laws of any jurisdiction
other than the laws of the State of Illinois and the laws of the United Stated
of America. This opinion




is furnished to you solely for your benefit in connection with the filing of the
Registration Statement and is not to be used, circulated, quoted or otherwise
referred to for any other purpose without our prior written consent.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, we hereby consent to the references to our firm
in the Registration Statement and to the filing of this opinion by the Company
as an Exhibit to the Registration Statement. In giving this consent, we do not
hereby admit that we come within the category of persons whose consent is
required under Section 7 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules
and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder.


                           /s/ McDERMOTT, WILL & EMERY