Case Results and Summaries
In re Marriage of Goesel, 2017 IL 122046 (November 30, 2017). Illinois Supreme Court (as amicus curiae).
Appeared as amicus on behalf of the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. The Supreme Court held, resolving a district split in the Illinois Appellate Court, that attorney fees that are earned are not subject to the “disgorgement” provisions of interim fee statute in pre-judgment dissolution of marriage cases. The Court largely adopted the amicus brief as its opinion.
Related case: In re Marriage of Altman, 2016 IL App (1st) 143076 (July 27, 2016). First District Illinois Appellate Court. This Appellate Court case was one of the lead-ups to Goesel. I represented the attorney who was disgorged of his earned fees and the judgment was reversed. Altman created the district split which was ultimately resolved by Goesel, and the Supreme Court in Goesel followed the reasoning in Altman.
Sharpe v. Westmoreland, 2020 IL 124863 (September 24, 2020). Illinois Supreme Court. (as amicus curiae)
Appeared as amicus on behalf of the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. The Supreme Court held that a partner in a civil union has standing as a “stepparent” to seek visitation and parental responsibilities under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. The Court found that civil union partners possess the same rights as married spouses regarding child-related issues, reversing the Illinois Appellate Court that denied standing to a deceased partner’s civil union partner.
In re Marriage of Crecos, 2021 IL 126192 (May 20, 2021). Illinois Supreme Court.
Represented a Highland Park ex-husband in a highly complex post-judgment case. In this chapter, the Illinois Supreme Court resolved a decades long split in the Illinois Appellate Court regarding when a post-judgment order may be appealed.
In re Marriage of Tronsrue, 2025 IL 130596 (May 22, 2025). Illinois Supreme Court.
Represented an ex-husband now residing in Florida, an Army veteran who receives a line-of-duty disability benefit. In his divorce judgment, he agreed to pay his wife half of the disability payment, despite such disability being in violation of federal law. Nearly 30 years later, he challenged the division as void. The Illinois Supreme Court held that federal law does not prevent veterans from voluntarily agreeing to share their disability benefits with a former spouse as part of a divorce settlement.
In re Marriage of Braunling, 381 Ill.App.3d 1097 (April 21, 2008). Second District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented a Lake Zurich husband in a divorce case involving a prenuptial agreement. The prenuptial agreement contained what amounted to a typographical error which, if enforced, would have effectively nullified it. We sought “reformation” of the agreement—to modify the contract’s terms to conform to what the parties intended. This Illinois Appellate Court decision construed when the statute of limitations for seeking reformation of a prenuptial agreement starts to run.
In re Marriage of Akula, 404 Ill.App.3d 350 (August 25, 2010). First District Illinois Appellate Court.
This was an international child custody dispute over whether Illinois retained jurisdiction to enforce its judgment or whether India properly assumed it after both parties and their child relocated there. It is a significant Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act case about the recognition and deference afforded to the substance of judgments entered by foreign countries in resolving international jurisdictional disputes, even countries that are not signatories to the Hague Convention.
In re Marriage of Iqbal, 2014 IL App (2d) 131306 (May 6, 2014). Second District Illinois Appellate Court.
This case concerned the validity of a prenuptial agreement which purported to resolve issues related to child custody and the best interests of this Naperville family’s children. This case added to the important line of cases that, under Illinois law, parties cannot bypass the court’s authority to determine the best interests of their children in a private agreement.
In re Marriage of Lyman, 2015 IL App (1st) 132832 (February 2, 2015). First District Illinois Appellate Court.
Defended a Barrington ex-husband against his ex-wife’s petition to vacate their dissolution judgment where she alleged a multi-million fraud claim regarding the husband’s business interests. Petition was dismissed and affirmed by the Illinois Appellate Court. The case is significant in that it demonstrates the difficulty in overturning a marital settlement agreement a party faces especially when given the initial opportunity to engage in extensive discovery and then waiving the right to further discovery in the agreement.
In re Marriage of Igene, 2015 IL App (1st) 140344 (June 26, 2015). First District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented the husband who had concealed from his wife that he had been married several times before this marriage. The parties had gone through a religious ceremony without a marriage license, and, at that time, the husband was still married to another woman. He then divorced the other woman and legally married the wife in this case. When the wife learned of his past, she petitioned to declare the marriage invalid based on fraud (an annulment). The Illinois Appellate Court reversed the annulment, finding that there was no fraud because a person’s misrepresentations about prior marital history are not grounds to invalidate a marriage.
In re Marriage of Shen, 2015 IL App (1st) 130733 (June 30, 2015). First District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented a Hoffman Estates wife in an appeal from her dissolution judgment and post-judgment maintenance orders. This case has many issues but is one of the most often cited cases in the context of permanent maintenance cases. Importantly, the case ratified the idea that if a spouse cannot maintain the marital standard of living independently, permanent maintenance should be awarded. The case is also significant for its holding that if a permanent maintenance payor has sufficient assets from which to continue to pay, the dependent spouse need not lower her standard of living. The husband in this case left his regular employment to pursue a career as a massage therapist when he had this permanent maintenance obligation. This case also deals with the important notion of permanent maintenance payors who become voluntarily underemployed.
In re Marriage of Asta, 2016 IL App (2d) 150160 (June 27, 2016). Second District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented the Richmond based wife who owned an electric company worth several million dollars which was characterized as marital property by the Lake County circuit court. On appeal, the court reversed the characterization of the company’s shares as marital property where the wife had inherited the shares after her father’s death. The court held that the company remained non-marital property despite the various complex financial transactions during the marriage, including the company taking loans which were collateralized by marital property.
In re Marriage of Peradotti, 2018 IL App (2d) 180247 (September 14, 2018). Second District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented a Long Grove father in his contested child custody and marital property proceedings. The Appellate Court reversed the Lake County circuit court’s denial of his motion for substitution of judge which resulted in the vacatur of the parental allocation and dissolution judgments and a retrial on all issues. The case details the strict procedural guidelines regarding a motion for substitution of judge for cause.
In re Marriage of Kimberly R., 2021 IL App (1st) 201405 (August 11, 2021). First District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented a Glenview father whose wife sought relocation of their special-needs minor child to Tennessee. The Appellate Court affirmed the denial of the wife’s request, despite her allegations of domestic violence and having been granted leave to relocate with her older child from a previous relationship.
In re Parentage of K.E., 2022 IL App (5th) 210236 (January 14, 2022). Fifth District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented a White County mother in her appeal from a parental allocation judgment which awarded the father equal parenting time despite her allegations of physical and emotional abuse. The Appellate Court reversed the judgment and ordered a new trial, finding that the circuit court had improperly admitted a evidence deposition and ordered a new trial on all parenting issues.
In re Marriage of Harnack, 2022 IL App (1st) 210143 (June 1, 2022). First District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented a Northfield ex-wife in her long-running attempts to collect millions of dollars of CBOE stock owed to her pursuant to her dissolution of marriage judgment. This appeal affirmed a finding of indirect civil contempt, enforcement of the asset division, and an incarceration order against the ex-husband over his defense that it was impossible for him to comply with the judgment after the shares were moved into offshore trusts.
In re Marriage of Trapkus, 2022 IL App (3d) 190631 (June 8, 2022). Third District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented a Moline father in a case addressing the modification of restrictions on parental responsibilities under Illinois law. The Appellate Court reversed the trial court’s order removing mutual distance restraints and scheduling restrictions, establishing that clear statutory rules must be followed to modify such provisions.
In re Parentage of A.H., 2023 IL App (1st) 190572 (August 17, 2023). First District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented a Chicago man in his parentage case which addressed international child support enforcement under principles of comity, court ordered child support trusts, and procedural litigation sanctions. The First Appellate Court affirmed the majority of the trial court’s judgments enforcing a Thai child support order and establishing multi-million-dollar child support trusts while modifying certain trust provisions.
In re Marriage of Leifke, 2026 IL App (3d) 240438-U (January 5, 2026). Third District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented a California resident on appeal after the DuPage County, Illinois circuit court terminated her permanent maintenance award despite her ex-husband’s undisputed ability to keep paying. The Appellate Court reversed the trial court’s order that had unilaterally set a termination date for the wife’s maintenance award, reinforcing that an obligor’s capacity to pay and the marital standard of living remain the focal points of permanent maintenance modification cases. The decision addresses permanent spousal maintenance, the good-faith obligation to seek self-sufficiency, and the limitations of transforming indefinite support into fixed-term support.
In re Marriage of Bornhofen, 2023 IL App (1st) 221194-U (December 19, 2023). First District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented a South Barrington husband in his wife’s appeal from their dissolution judgment where the primary dispute was the valuation of his closely held corporation. The Appellate Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment adopting the husband’s expert business valuation and rejected the wife’s attempt to introduce flawed comparative industry data. The decision addresses closely held business valuation, expert testimony credibility, and asset allocation in a marital dissolution proceeding.
In re Marriage of Botero, 2023 IL App (1st) 221576-U (May 30, 2023). First District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented a Chicago man in his appeal from an extension of a plenary order of protection against him. The Appellate Court reversed the trial court’s judgment extending the protective order, ruling that a court cannot prolong an order of protection based solely on old, historical behavior without considering newly presented facts. The decision focuses on the strict evidentiary rules governing the extension of a plenary order of protection.
In re Marriage of Stephenson, 2020 IL App (2d) 170827-U (April 3, 2020). Second District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented a Barrington woman in an appeal from her McHenry County dissolution judgment. The decision addresses prenuptial agreements, high-net-worth spousal maintenance including a $55,000 monthly award, discovery disputes, and separate tort claims within a divorce.
In re Marriage of Goodman, 2019 IL App (2d) 170621-U (March 18, 2020). Second District Illinois Appellate Court.
Represented a Riverwoods husband in a high-stakes appeal from the parties’ dissolution judgment. The case addresses spousal surveillance as it relates to collecting evidence on cohabitation as a defense to a $65,000 monthly maintenance award, marital asset characterization of multi-million-dollar corporate retained earnings, and property allocation.