IICLE Online

Gemma B. Allen
Gemma B. Allen
Gemma B. Allen is Cofounder of Allen & Glassman, Chartered, in Chicago, where she represents clients on matters spanning the entire range of family law issues. Ms. Allen has been repeatedly selected by her peers as a member of the Leading Lawyers Network, SuperLawyers, Best Lawyers, and Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating. She was named by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of Chicago’s 100 Most Influential Women. In 2017, Ms. Allen won awards from Chicago Business Journal and Enterprising Woman magazine for her business success and commitment to volunteerism and mentoring. She was also named by Chicago Woman as one of 50 Fabulous Women Over 50. Ms. Allen earned her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and her B.S. from Loyola University of Chicago magna cum laude.
Nidhi Desai
Nidhi Desai
Nidhi Desai is a Partner with Desai & Miller, in Chicago, where she focuses her practice on assisted reproductive technology. She worked closely with Illinois House Representative Barbara Currie in a successful legislative effort to enact the Gestational Surrogacy Act. Desai is the Assisted Reproductive Technology Director of the American Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, and she sits on the Board of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s Legal Professional Group. Desai is also a Board Member of the Chicago Coalition for Family Building. She earned her B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis and her J.D. from Loyola University of Chicago.
Joy M. Feinberg
Joy M. Feinberg
Joy M. Feinberg is a Partner with Davis Friedman, LLP, in Chicago, where she practices family law. Ms. Feinberg has been a recipient of the Samuel Berger Award and has been included in the list of Illinois Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers. She is a member of the American College of Family Trial Lawyers and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Ms. Feinberg received her J.D. from DePaul College of Law and her B.A. from the University of Illinois.
Annette M. Fernholz
Annette M. Fernholz
Annette M. Fernholz is Owner of the Law Offices of Annette M. Fernholz, P.C., in Chicago, and focuses her practice in the areas of family law and family law appeals. Ms. Fernholz is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Appellate Lawyers Association, and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from Chicago Kent College of Law.
Mitchell B. Gordon
Mitchell B. Gordon
Mitchell B. Gordon is a Founding Partner of Bradford and Gordon, LLC, a family law practice in Chicago, and has extensive experience conducting settlement conferences and drafting marital settlement agreements, parenting agreements, and prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. Mr. Gordon was named a Litigator of the Year by the American Institute of Trial Lawyers in 2020 and has been recognized for more than ten consecutive years by Illinois Super Lawyers magazine as one of the Top Young Lawyers in Illinois and as one of the Ten Best Attorneys in Illinois for Client Satisfaction by the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys. In 2011, he was honored with IICLE’s inaugural Rising Star Award. He has been quoted as a legal expert in Money Magazine, Fast Company, VICE News, and Good Morning America, among others, and has appeared as a legal commentator on NBC, Fox, and other local, national, and international news networks. Mr. Gordon received his B.A. from the University of Iowa and his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Emily J. Rapp
Emily J. Rapp
Emily J. Rapp is a Partner at McSwain, Nagle, Giese & Rapp P.C., in Wheaton, where she concentrates her practice in family law. Rapp is a member of the Kane County Bar Association, the DuPage County Bar Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association. She earned her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Jan Russell
Jan Russell
Jan Russell devoted her 35-year career to issues related to domestic violence and parental child abduction. Before retiring, Ms. Russell was the Senior Policy Counsel/Violence Against Women at the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, where she was responsible for evaluating and monitoring policies and programs related to domestic violence and sexual assault as well as the implementation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act. Previously at the Chicago Police Department, she started the nation’s only in-house program to provide direct services to victims of domestic violence abused by a member of the department and served with that program for 16 years. Ms. Russell previously served as the founding director of the Illinois Council Against Parental Child Abduction and the Family Issues Specialist at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. She is the principal author of Illinois’ child abduction statute. She has trained more than 25,000 professionals on issues related to domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abduction, including for the Chicago Bar Association, the National College of District Attorneys, the International Chiefs of Police, and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She is certified as a law enforcement trainer by the Illinois Law Enforcement Standards and Training Board. She served on an Illinois State Bar Association task force to rewrite the Illinois Domestic Violence Act and wrote a book on the Act. Ms. Russell graduated with honors from Roosevelt University and IIT/Chicago-Kent College of law.

Gemma B. Allen

Nidhi Desai

Joy M. Feinberg

Annette M. Fernholz

Mitchell B. Gordon

Emily J. Rapp

Jan Russell

Family Law: Child-Related Issues in Dissolution Actions (ARCHIVED 2018 EDITION)