Divorce - that horrible experience that everyone hopes to avoid, but continues to plague more than half of us – leaves a trail of broken dreams, sadness, and financial upheaval.

Divorces that end up in court fights are worse and often have a devastating effect on the family unit for decades.

Our job is to settle your divorce before you have to go to court.

We want to get you the settlement you want in the shortest time possible; and we want to keep the process simple, painless, and inexpensive.Divorce lawyers and judges unanimously agree that over 90% of all divorce cases settle before they reach trial. Many settle on the courthouse steps just moments before the case is called, and many settle at other advanced stages. Too often this happens after the parties have spent more energy and money than they ever imagined they would. The goal should be to reach a resolution early on – before the frustration and cost get out of hand.

We think it is shameful that society has not put more emphasis on settling divorce disputes earlier rather than later. For most of us, this is hardly an unrealistic proposition.

The trick is in knowing how to get your soon-to-be ex to compromise.

And this is where we come in. There is no rule that says you and your soon-to-be ex have to wait until the end of the case to begin compromising with one another.

90% of the time, your spouse will accept a compromise settlement at the end of the case, so why don’t we focus our energies on persuading them to do it early-on?

Why do we continue to spend our energy and money preparing for a trial that, nine out of ten times, is never going to happen?

The answer is simple. Until recently, we did not have the benefits of Cooperative Divorce Law, Divorce Mediation, or Collaborative Divorce Law available to us. We do now and they are just what the doctor ordered.

All three are non-court, settlement approaches to divorce. They are effective, speedy, and considerably less expensive than our traditional, adversarial divorce legal system. They are not for everyone, but they do work wonderfully for most people.

This website explains them in detail and we urge you to consider using one of the three at the very start of your ordeal. There is little downside and quite a bit of upside.

We wish you and your family every success and good fortune.

We welcome hearing from you and we invite your questions. There is no obligation. No one will ever know that we spoke or what we discussed. Everything you say is privileged, confidential, and completely classified. We do not maintain a mailing list and will not contact you unless you ask us to.

Calling us is easy. Ask for Richard or Kari (Oak Brook 630-928-0600 or Chicago 312-235-0100), or email us at rk@illinoislegal.com or kc@illinoislegal.com.

If we are in court or in a meeting when you call, one of us will personally get back to you as quickly as possible. We are extremely discreet with callbacks and reply emails. Just leave your name and a secure email address or personal cell phone number.

Richard and Kari are staunch advocates of the non-court approach to divorce, and are also active and seasoned litigators with over 60 years of combined trial experience in the Illinois divorce courts of Cook, DuPage, and Kane counties.