Michelle practices in several areas of family law which include allocation of parental responsibilities (child custody), appeals, child support, dissolution of marriage (divorce), domestic violence, judgment enforcement, orders of protection, paternity, post-decree (post-judgment) matters, pre-marital or post-marital agreements.

Michelle provides a free consultation to determine whether your needs are best served with legal representation. If your case is already pending and the other party has an attorney representing him/her, you are likely at a disadvantage if you do not retain legal counsel. If you think you may not be able to afford a lawyer, but the other party can, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage statute (750 ILCS 5/101 et seq.) may allow your attorney legal grounds to request contribution towards your attorney’s fees, either in part or in whole, from the other party, whether the other party is your spouse, partner or the parent of your child(ren). Michelle can help walk you through your options so that you are afforded adequate legal counsel to represent your interests. Also, depending on the complexity of the issues in your case, having an understanding of what your rights are and what you may be entitled to under the current law can be difficult if you do not have legal representation. Michelle can also provide you with a financial snapshot of your case given the incomes and debts of both parties. This can be a helpful tool to understanding what you and your spouse, partner or parent of your child(ren) are entitled to in your case. Contact her today to schedule a consultation so that you can make an informed decision regarding legal representation given the issues and circumstances of your case.

It violates Illinois Supreme Court Rules for one attorney to represent more than one party in a family law matter. However, if the major issues between the parties are not contested, it is feasible to have one party be represented by an attorney to draft the necessary paperwork and legal documents for the other party to review and approve in order to get the matter final and to judgment. If any issues become overly complex or contested while the case is pending, the party without legal representation can always consult and hire his/her own counsel at any time. Remember, in family law matters, the more the parties agree and attempt to resolve issues between the two of them without the need for lawyers and court intervention, the more you can save financially.

Bottom line, every case is different. However, if you have a child(ren), their best interests should always be at the forefront. If the circumstances indicate that the child(ren)’s best interests are not being served and depending on factors such as the age of the child(ren), the needs of the child(ren), the living arrangements for the child(ren), and the medical, educational and emotional circumstances of the child(ren), a child representative or guardian ad litem can be appointed by the Court to represent the child(ren) and their best interests. The allocation of the costs of the child representative or guardian ad litem depend on the financial circumstances of the parties and are determined by the Court. But cost should not be the deciding factor if you are concerned the best interests of your child(ren) are not being served in your case. Michelle knows when a child representative or guardian ad litem should be involved given the facts and circumstances of the particular case.

In any pre or post decree case where there are financial issues that arise, the parties fill out and exchange financial affidavits and supporting financial documents. This gives your attorney, the other party (and his/her attorney) and the Court a financial overview of the income, living expenses, debt, assets and insurance information for both parties. During Michelle’s consultation, she provides you with this blank Financial Affidavit to fill out so that you can have ample time to collect and provide the information that the Court will require of both parties. Should you contact her for a consultation, you can print, fill it out and bring this form with you to aid in providing a more thorough explanation of the issues involved in your case.

If you are getting divorced or going through a child support proceeding, you are entitled to get full and complete discovery from your spouse, partner or parent of your child(ren) if you so choose. Likewise, the reverse is also true. So you may be required to answer a series of questions relevant to the case, commonly known as matrimonial interrogatories. You may also be asked to produce documents relevant to your financial circumstances to an allocation of parental responsibilities (child custody issues), or to parenting time issues. These are commonly known as requests to produce. Michelle helps to narrow down the issues that may be contested in your case and make the process of answering and producing formal discovery easier on you. She helps obtain documents you may not have access to through  subpoenas and thoroughly reviews the documents you provide to ensure they relate to the specific request. Divorce or support cases should not be overwhelming. Representation by skilled legal counsel, like Michelle, helps the process be less emotionally taxing on you.

Michelle is experienced in many areas of civil litigation, including personal injury, wrongful death, automobile accidents, breach of contract, employment and business law. Michelle provides a free consultation to evaluate the individual circumstances of your case and determine how to best serve your legal needs.

You should be prepared to bring any paperwork or documentation that relates to your claim, such as records of injury, damages, reports from investigators/law enforcement, employment or business records, and your contract, if applicable. But don’t worry if you can’t locate or don’t have any documents to accompany you at your consultation. Michelle will gather as much information from you as possible that relates to your claim. She will assess your claim with the information she has and honestly tell you the likely outcome and likelihood of success. Michelle will walk you through the litigation process step by step and keep you informed and aware as your litigation progresses.

Not all claims necessarily end up in Court. Some can and may be resolved through other legal tactics and strategies that could result in just as favorable an outcome as it would with litigation. However, Michelle has extensive litigation experience and knows when a claim should be filed in Court, even if other tactics are implemented before filing. Michelle will fight for you and your claim to the fullest extent of the law.

All civil claims are different and have different time lines in which they progress due to the nature and complexity of the case. However, because most civil claims need to be filed within a statute of limitations, you should not delay in seeking out qualified legal counsel once your injury or damage(s) have occurred. Once a case is filed, the time line it takes to get to trial, if it does not settle, depends on the complexity of the issues. The process of a civil claim begins with filing the complaint, the other party then files his/her appearance and answers the claim, the discovery process begins and possible pre-trial motions are litigated. All of these procedures can occur before your case gets to trial. The litigation process should not be intimidating or confusing for you, which is why Michelle keeps you involved and advised throughout the duration of your case. She ensures there is more than ample communication with clients because staying informed means feeling secure in your representation. Contact Michelle today to discuss your claim.

Michelle has vast experience representing small and mid-sized businesses in the City of Chicago and throughout Cook County with licensing and litigation issues, including license applications, appeals, suspensions, revocations, administrative hearings, building code compliance, contract review, commercial litigation and debt collection matters. Michelle provides free consultations to evaluate the needs of your business and how to best serve your business’ legal needs.

You should be prepared to bring any paperwork or documentation related to your business and/or case, such as citations, notice(s) of hearing, complaint(s), letter(s) from the City, County or law firm, reports from investigators/law enforcement, application(s) or contract, if applicable. But don’t worry if you can’t locate or don’t have any documents to accompany you at your consultation. Michelle will gather as much information from you as possible that relates to your business’ issues/case. She will assess the issues/case with the information she has and honestly tell you the likely outcome and likelihood of success. Michelle will walk you through the process individualized for your business’ needs, keep you informed and aware through every step of the process.

It depends on your relationship to the business and the type of proceeding. For license applications, appeals, license suspension or revocations, Michelle will assess the need for a representative of the business to be present at such a proceeding and will inform you of when and where you need to be, if you need to be there. For administrative proceedings, if the proceeding doesn’t require a personal representative to appear, Michelle will ask you to be available for a consultation before any resolution can be reached on your business’ matter. For court litigation, if the Judge presiding over your matter requires your appearance, you will need to appear. However, if Michelle has filed her appearance in your case, you will likely not have to appear but are always welcome to and should be involved in the proceedings to the fullest extent you can be. With over 13 years of experience representing businesses before the City, County, and in civil court matters, you can be assured that Michelle knows how to fight for your business and determine how to best serve your business’ legal needs. She also ensures there is ample, effective communication with clients because staying informed means feeling secure in your representation. Contact Michelle today to discuss your business’ needs.

Michelle has years of experience representing criminal defendants in both State and Federal Court cases, including complex felony, drug, misdemeanor, traffic and DUI, appeals and expungments. Michelle provides free consultations to evaluate and assess your criminal matter.

You should be prepared to bring any paperwork or documentation related to your case, such as your bond slip, complaint(s), inventory slips, administrative letter(s), traffic citations, DUI paperwork (Notice of Statutory Summary Suspension, Warning to Motorist), certified copies of the disposition of your case (post judgment cases), and any other documents given to you following your arrest or bond hearing, if applicable. But don’t worry if you can’t locate or don’t have any documents to accompany you at your consultation. Michelle will gather as much information from you as possible that relates to your case. She will assess your case with the information she has and honestly tell you the likely outcome. Michelle will walk you through the process of how your criminal matter with proceed and keep you informed and aware through every step.

Michelle will meet and consult with the family member(s) or friend(s) who are authorized to seek out legal representation by the incarcerated individual. Following the consultation, Michelle will reach out to the incarcerated individual by visiting the jail and discussing the case and possible representation directly with him/her. She will answer questions as if the meeting took place in her office setting. It is so important in criminal cases for the attorney to have frequent and effective communication because the client needs to be informed and included in every step of the case, starting with the arrest, continuing through the discovery process, to pre-trial hearings through trial and post trial proceedings, if any. If you have questions about your case or a case for your family member or friend, contact Michelle today to schedule a consultation.