Reno R. Renzetti

Practice Summary

This is not the Yellow Pages. This is also not a website that’s full of flashy features or spinning icons. However, this is a website that will give you insight into what other lawyers may not share with you – honest information about the process of a divorce in our court system. “With other offices, you may meet with a firm’s figure-head attorney that will never handle your case” “If I meet with you, I will personally handle your case from start to finish” Many first-time clients are anxious about meeting with an attorney regarding divorce. Some people are worried their spouse will find out. Some people think that they cannot meet with an attorney until a case is filed. Some people even think that meeting with an attorney means they must file a case. All not true. First, as far as the outside world is concerned, our meeting never took place. These meetings are covered by the attorney-client privilege and nothing discussed in this meeting may be discussed by the attorney with anyone else. The meeting, and phone calls, with our office are secret and confidential. These meetings also give you a sense about your future comfort level with a particular attorney, often underestimated during the hiring process. Second, most initial consultation meetings take place with husbands or wives who are not currently involved in a divorce case, and in some instances will not file a divorce case until months later. Educating yourself on the divorce process and your options often results in couples coming to an agreed resolution, versus a long ugly divorce proceeding. Having been the product of a divorced family myself, I know all too well that these cases can be emotional and complex and very difficult. Unfortunately, our divorce system works like an assembly line, with the Judges and attorneys processing the information with little concern for your emotions. Many of you or your family’s concerns matter little. Many divorce cases turn into horror-stories. Everyone knows someone who can recount such a story. These cases take years and can financially ruin families. Although all attorneys have also handled similar horror-stories, you will never hear this information from most attorneys. The sad, unspoken, truth in the divorce court system is that once a client fails to keep up with attorney fee payments, attorneys routinely withdraw from their case. Also routine is the speed by which the Judges allow such withdrawals. My website includes articles and information designed to give people in Chicago-land a better understanding of family law issues and assist them in selecting a lawyer to best serve their needs. Doing your homework may also help you narrow the issues in your case, save you on overall attorney’s fees, and possibly reduce the time your case is in court. In some instances, a meeting may lead to options toward an uncontested resolution of all issues. Many attorneys neither offer nor discuss the possibility of an uncontested flat-fee option. Our office will discuss this option with you, and if it applies to your case, can offer you a complete start-to-finish uncontested divorce for $1100.00 plus court costs. If this turns out to be a viable option for you, this type of divorce will be both economical and expeditious. The typical timeframe from start to finish is 30-45 days or sooner, total. I always advise potential clients to meet with other attorneys. After doing so, most are shocked by the size of the retainers required. Routinely, they find $3000, $5000, and $10,000 required retainer payments before the attorney will even represent them. Our office trusts our clients more than that, and because of this, we only require a $1000.00 retainer payments and trust that our clients will keep current on their invoices and or make monthly good-faith payments toward their balances. Those attorneys or firms that charge the $5,000 and $10,000 retainers to all clients routinely handle these cases in a manner that leads me to let you know about another unspoken truth: That such attorneys often take the large retainer payment from the client, “front-load” their work to “burn through” this initial retainer. The client is now required to replenish another large retainer. What will this attorney do if the client cannot quickly make another large retainer payment? Withdraw from their case. Some of the largest and best advertised attorneys engage in this technique. Not our office. We know about this because we have met with these clients after having retained such attorneys. However, having given you some untold truths, another truth is that it is nearly impossible to predict the total cost of your divorce case during an initial telephone call or at an initial meeting. Our office promises to give you the best estimate we can give, after we learn of the issues in your particular case.