Jeffrey L. Paustian

Jeffrey L. Paustian was awarded his Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2000. After graduation, he was a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Justice Tom M. Lytton of the Appellate Court of Illinois, Third District, where he analyzed pending appeals and assisted Justice Lytton in legal research and participated in drafting the judge’s orders and opinions. In September 2002, he returned to the Chicago area and since that time he has practiced in the area of family law. Before joining the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving℠, Ltd.,, he worked at two small family law firms successfully handling highly complex family law cases involving custody, visitation, calculation of support, valuation and division of marital estates, valuation of business interests, and all financial aspects related to a case. He has also successfully handled several sophisticated appeals.

Jeffrey received his Bachelors of Business Administration degree in Accounting from the University of Iowa in 1990. Prior to receiving his law degree, he passed the CPA exam and worked for major corporations as an internal auditor performing compliance audits, and as a trust administrator in the administration of high net worth personal trusts and the estates of minors, disabled adults, and decedents.

Jeffrey is licensed to practice law by the Supreme Court of Illinois and brings his diverse financial background, knowledge and experience to the firm in complex financial-related matters for the firm’s clients.

Case Victories:

• Jeffrey obtained custody for a father who had been falsely accused of sexually abusing his children; the court found that the mother had coached the children and ordered supervised visitation for the mother. The trial court also required the mother to pay the portion of the father’s attorney’s fees and costs related to the false sexual abuse allegations because the mother refused to accept any responsibility for her actions.
• Jeffrey won an appeal of the trial court’s erroneous change of custody from a father to a mother when the trial court made a gender-biased decision without conducting a formal hearing on the best interests of the child. The Appellate Court of Illinois, First Judicial District, found that the trial court failed to hear any testimony and failed to properly receive any evidence into the record.
• In a case involving complex tax and financial issues related to the husband’s corporation, Jeffrey successfully argued that even though the wife was not involved in the operation of the husband’s business, the wife should be responsible for a portion of a significant income tax liability triggered by a retroactive change in accounting method utilized by the business. The court allocated a portion of the tax liability to the wife because she had taken advantage of the benefit of the business income earned and the assets accumulated as a result thereof.
• Jeffrey successfully limited the amount and time period of a maintenance/alimony award where the husband earned a substantial income and the wife had never worked outside the home during the marriage. The wife refused to seek employment commensurate with her education. The trial court limited both the amount and duration of alimony because the court found that the wife’s refusal was unreasonable and the court believed a modifiable award would guarantee substantial future litigation and provide the wife with no incentive to obtain adequate employment.