Illinois Lawyer Referrals and Legal Guidance
Cook County Divorce and Family Law
Findgreatlawyers.com is a free service, run by Chicago lawyers, to help you find an Illinois attorney for any Illinois legal matter including divorce and family law. We are not a service to find a free lawyer, but rather you can call us and ask our staff attorneys any questions that you have and if needed get a referral to a lawyer that fits your needs. We help everywhere in Illinois including Cook County. If you want a referral, please call us at (312) 346-5320 or (800) 517-1614 or fill out our contact us form and we will contact you. We trust and recommend many family law attorneys in Chicago and the suburbs of Cook County as well as all of Illinois. For more information about divorce and family law in Cook County please read on.
Divorce and family law refers to any court proceeding involving the ending of a marriage (divorce) or anything relating to issues like child support, child custody, paternity, etc.
In Cook County there are five potential courts where a case could be heard depending on where you live in the County. The five courts are the Daley Center, Skokie Courthouse, Rolling Meadows, Markham and Maywood. The Daley Center is the main Cook County family law court and is in Chicago at 50 W. Washington St. Unlike the suburban courts that have only one or two family law judges, there are a few dozen at the Daley Center.
The original court location is determined by the person that files the case. Unlike many other areas of law, in Cook County even if the person who files the case sets it at a suburban court house, the other party can have the case transferred to the Daley Center by filing a District transfer form along with their appearance. An appearance is in simple terms the act of showing up in court. It usually requires a small fee. Once a lawyer files an appearance on your behalf they have permission to show up in court for you without you being present.
For example, if you live in Schaumburg and want a divorce, you could file the case at the Rolling Meadows court or at the Daley Center. If you file at the Daley Center, that is where the case will take place. If you file at Rolling Meadows when your spouse files an appearance on the case they can either agree to keep the case at Rolling Meadows or ask for a transfer to the Daley Center. If they ask for this transfer it will be approved.
Because any case can end up downtown, before you hire a divorce or family law attorney for a Cook County case you should make sure that your lawyer goes downtown for their cases. You should also check to see if the lawyer charges for travel time. This isn’t normally an issue if the law firm is based in downtown Chicago, but can be an issue if your lawyer is based in the suburbs.
In addition, when hiring a family law attorney for Cook County, we strongly recommend that you find someone who dedicates at least 50% of their practice to those types of cases. That won’t guarantee you a result, but certainly increases your chance for success.
If you have any questions about Cook County child support, custody, divorce, paternity or any other area, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time.
Since 2001 findgreatlawyers.com has helped tens of thousands of people with their Illinois legal matters. Find out why we are the trusted resource that people turn to for Illinois lawyer referrals and legal guidance.