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Practice Limited to Family Law |
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Does your firm specialize in family law? |
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Do law schools, like medical schools, provide for law post-graduate studies in certain areas of law, such as family law? |
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What specialized training do the lawyers at Gitlin, Busche & Stetler receive? |
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Does the firm represent more men or more women? |
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What communities does the firm serve? |
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Does the law firm cater to a particular economic class? |
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Does the firm take pro bono cases? |
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| Q: |
Does your firm specialize in family law? |
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Illinois does not allow lawyers to claim any specialty, except for the specialties of copyright and admiralty law. Illinois does, however, allow lawyers to declare that the practice is “limited to” or “concentrated in” certain areas of law. Gitlin, Busche & Stetler declares on its stationery, business cards etc. that its practice is “limited to” family law.
Other states, including California, much like the medical profession, allow lawyers to specialize after they pass qualifying tests and the law in most such states also requires the lawyers to stay current in their specialty by taking courses. Illinois will eventually recognize specialties because the recognition of specialties protects consumers. Medical consumers are protected when they go to a brain surgeon, instead of a general practitioner, for brain surgery. Similarly, consumers of legal services deserve protection.
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| Q: |
Do law schools, like medical schools, provide for law post-graduate studies in certain areas of law, such as family law?
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| A: |
Yes, a sprinkling of law schools are doing so now, but my examination of the offerings is that they cannot provide a sufficient basis for the lawyer to be recognized as an expert in that field.
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| Q: |
What specialized training do the lawyers at Gitlin, Busche & Stetler receive?
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| A:: |
The first six months of a new lawyer’s practice at Gitlin, Busche & Stetler is spent studying family law, including the reading of the three volume Gitlin on Divorce, A Guide to Illinois Matrimonial Law, which is considered the leading textbook on Illinois divorce law. It has been cited by the courts of review of Illinois 28 times as being authoritative. In addition the firm’s lawyers write for publication. Writing for publication requires the skills of research, analysis and writing. |
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| Q: |
Does the firm represent more men or more women? |
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We do not keep track of clients by gender, except a number of years ago we went back to the prior year and determined we had virtually an equal number of men and women clients. |
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What communities does the firm serve? |
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The firm’s office, being located in the county seat of McHenry County, Illinois, Woodstock, clients mostly come from McHenry County, but the firm also regularly represents clients in Lake, Boone, Kane, Winnebago and DuPage Counties. We also represent clients in Cook and Will Counties if circumstances of the case warrant it.
In the area of surrogacy law the firm receives inquiries nationally and internationally.
Usually if we represent a client in a county other than McHenry County we employ the services of a local lawyer to handle routine court appearances. |
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Does the law firm cater to a particular economic class? |
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No. Each lawyer in the firm has a different hourly rate depending on the experience, ability etc. level of the lawyer. The lowest hourly rate is competitive to the low end rates charged in McHenry County and Northern Illinois. Gitlin, Busche & Stetler represents clients in complex cases. Joe Gitlin is 1 of 23 Illinois family law lawyers listed in Best Lawyers in America with only 3 of those lawyers being outside of Chicago. The National Law Journal named Joe Gitlin as one of the nation’s top 43 divorce lawyers. |
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| Q: |
Does the firm take pro bono cases? |
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Yes. Gitlin, Busche & Stetler takes such pro bono cases as are assigned to it by the pro bono committee of the McHenry County Bar Association. The firm, on its own, and without referral from a pro bono agency, has taken legally interesting and highly challenging pro bono cases. Joe Gitlin has received awards for his pro bono services from the Illinois State Bar Association, the McHenry County Bar Association and Prairie State Legal Services. The firm also regularly contributes money to Prairie State Legal Services. |
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