The principal attorney in the firm is Michael F. Roe. Mr. Roe is a trial lawyer who has represented clients in over a hundred contested trials. Clients of Mr. Roe appreciate his wisdom, perspective, his straightforward, honest approach to difficult disputes, and his aggressive courtroom demeanor if a matter cannot be settled through active negotiation. Prior to limiting his practice to family law, Mr. Roe was a state’s attorney prosecuting domestic violence cases, and later practiced civil trial law for one of Chicago’s most prominent civil trial firms.
Michael’s work is distinguished by significant experience with high conflict child custody cases, including those that involve the difficult territory of disordered personality traits in child custody litigation. Some of these cases with a higher functioning narcissist of BPD traist can also involve attempts by the disordered or malevolent parent to alienation children from a loving and devoted parent. Parental alienation can be defined this way:
Parental alienation is a theorized process through which a child becomes estranged from one parent as the result of the psychological manipulation of another parent.[1][2] The child’s estrangement may manifest itself as fear, disrespect or hostility toward the distant parent, and may extend to additional relatives or parties.[3][4] The child’s estrangement is disproportionate to any acts or conduct attributable to the alienated parent.[5] Parental alienation can occur in any family unit, but is claimed to occur most often within the context of family separation, particularly when legal proceedings are involved
Michael’s work in the area of high conflict divorce and custody litigation has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, the Daily Herald, the New York Post, and on national radio and television. He has contributed to a book on divorcing a partner with a personality disorder, and has experience managing contested cases with high conflict personalities. He represented a party in the high profile case (Lemak v. Lemak) involving the Naperville, Illinois mother that killed her three children during a divorce, a nationally publicized case with significant psychological and clinical issues. Michael also represented an author (BPDCentral) and expert in personality disorders in a case involving well known TV and media personality Martha Stewart (Martha Stewart v. The National Enquirer). Michael, as well, has extensive experience with complex financial issues in divorce; a recent Illinois Appellate case that made new law in the area of divorce financial assets (corporate valuation and retained earnings) was tried by Michael in Will County, Illinois. Michael is a certified divorce mediator and guardian ad litem for family law cases.
Michael is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of San Diego’s School of Law. He has graduate level training in psychology, and is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Conflict Resolution, the International Academy for Collaborative Practice, and was the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee Chair for the DuPage County Bar Association for 2004-2005. Michael practices family law in Kane, Dupage, Cook, McHenry, Kendall, DeKalb, and has represented clients throughout Illinois and nationally in cases involving divorce and custody with psychological issues, mainly in the area of personality disorders and Parental Alienation.