Michelle A. Lawless

Attorney Michelle A. Lawless is the founder and owner of The Law Office of Michelle A. Lawless, LLC, in Chicago, Illinois. A top-rated lawyer with more than 21 years of total legal experience, Ms. Lawless provides exceptional counsel and support to clients throughout the greater Chicago metro and surrounding areas who are going through a divorce or have some other serious legal issues affecting their families.

Devoting her practice exclusively to family law, Ms. Lawless delivers the highest level of representation to those she serves, and she has gained a reputation as a fierce advocate who works hard to help her clients pursue the favorable results they expect and deserve as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. To that end, she prefers to use mediation and collaboration in lieu of stressful and expensive court battles.

Along with handling all aspects of her clients' divorces, Ms. Lawless also handles parentage issues, post-divorce matters and prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. At all turns, she provides results-oriented counsel with the utmost empathy and integrity, and she works hard to ensure her clients' rights and best interests are protected throughout all legal proceedings.

Honored for her professionalism and service, Ms. Lawless has earned consistent recognition from The Best Lawyers in America©, and the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys named her one of the 10 Best Attorneys in Illinois for Outstanding Client Service each year between 2017 and 2019. She has also received a Leading Lawyers designation as well as a Top 100 Women Consumer Lawyer designation from Leading Lawyers Magazine.

A 1996 graduate of Indiana University, Ms. Lawless obtained her Juris Doctor in 1999 from St. Louis University School of Law. She also holds her certification as a divorce financial analyst and divorce mediator as well as a collaborative practitioner, and she is a fellow with the prestigious Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois. 

A leader in her field, Ms. Lawless has written extensively and conducted many lectures and continuing legal education seminars on a variety of family law topics. She is also a member of the Illinois State Bar Association Family Law Section Council and the American Bar Association. She is also past chair of the Chicago Bar Association Domestic Relations Committee, and she serves on the Indiana University Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council and the Holy Trinity High School Board of Trustees.

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