Results
Child Custody
-Return of Child Forcibly Taken by Ex-Boyfriend-
A woman’s ex-boyfriend went to Denver, Colorado and forcibly removed their children from their home and brought them back to Cicero, Illinois to live with him without a Court order. Attorney Matthew A. Katz filed an emergency petition under the International Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act, which states that the residence of a child is the place of their location for the prior six months. He obtained a warrant for their return; the Cook County Sheriff was dispatched to the children’s school in Cicero, and they were successfully returned to their mother.
Divorce
-Complex Psychological Needs in Family Litigation-
A family had three children with significant neurological, emotional and cognitive needs, in addition to financial issues and beyond. Their divorce required extensive psychology expert testimony in order to effectively determine the best outcomes for the parents and children. Attorney Nathan B. Hakimi worked in tandem with no fewer than two judges, two psychologists, a GAL, a parenting coordinator, parenting supervisors, two co-counsels, two opposing counsels, a domestic abuse agency, many witnesses, and the divorcing parties themselves, in order to negotiate a resolution on the complex parenting allocation requirements of the distressed family.
Child Support
In 2007 a father who had almost no interaction with his daughter and was paying an exorbitant child support amount came to our firm for help. Katz filed petitions for visitation and to modify child support. Through diligently working with the guardian ad litem (GAL) who had been appointed by Judge Fe Fernandez and through consistent and persistent advocacy before the Court, Mr. Katz obtained regular significant visitation time for dad and modified his child support payment to an affordable amount.
Divorce
-Expedited Settlement of Stalled Divorce-
A CPD Police Officer’s marriage deteriorated after the suicide of his daughter. To make matters worse, the divorce case dragged on in court for years due to inattention of the opposing attorney, a big firm lawyer. Attorney Matthew A. Katz filed a motion pointing to case law that attorneys have an ethical obligation to expeditiously resolve client matters, and not merely to delay. This caught the opposing counsel’s attention, and the matter was resolved in less than three months.
Divorce
-Securing Federal Pension to Sole Property of Husband-
An Amtrack employee, whose divorce had been pending for years, was almost to the point of going into a lengthy trial against his wife and her attorney, when he hired Attorney Matthew A. Katz of KHK Divorce & Family Law. The trial was primarily an attempt to have the wife gain a share in her husband’s federal pension, and to pay her attorneys’ fees. Mr. Katz moved for declaratory judgment arguing the federal pension had legal status of nonmarital property. The case promptly settled without the motion even needing to go to hearing, and without division of the pension.
Tracking Down Elusive Spouses
Attorney Gershon S. Kulek has a knack for tracking down even the most elusive or recalcitrant of spouses. He enjoys great mutual respect with the police, Sheriffs, and investigators who give dedication and sacrifice to enforce the legal system. On innumerable occasions, he has worked closely with them to track down evasive spouses avoiding service of process, witnesses refusing to testify in defiance of subpoenas, husbands escaping paying child support, and having them all taken to Court (literally) to fulfill their obligations. On one occasion, Mr. Kulek situated an unrelated person in the front row of public seating in the Courtroom, while cross-examining a process server believed to have falsified his affidavit; indeed, the server visually described the random stranger, while being asked who the defendant looked like whom he had “served.” Imagine the server’s face when Mr. Kulek dismissed him from the stand, and then called up the real defendant from the back row!
Property Disputes
Collectively the attorneys at Kulek, Hakimi, and Katz have litigated defamation claims; noncompete and non-solicit breaches; trust and probate litigation involving contested wills and intra-family disputes; as well as myriad other claims involving interests in tangible and intangible property. The Attorneys at KHK are also skilled in closing real estate transactions for buyers as well as purchasers, in deals ranging from simple to complex.
Criminal & Immigration
Attorney Matthew A. Katz, who is fluent in Spanish, possesses substantial experience defending multiple types of criminal matters; handling a wide variety of visa, deportation, and other immigration issues; and especially, by virtue of his additional training in social work and psychotherapy in addition to the practice of law, engaging with clients in difficult circumstances under a framework of compassion and empathy.