Lawrence S. Starkopf

Lawrence S. Starkopf earned his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law. After graduation he was admitted to the Illinois State Bar, Supreme Court of Illinois and the Federal Bar in 1975. He began his legal career in the Cook County Public Defender’s Office at the Juvenile Detention Center, where he represented and defended juvenile offenders and children who were neglected, abused and abandoned. A significant number of these children came from fatherless homes. After leaving the Public Defender’s Office he began a career in Matrimonial Law and has continued to do so for the last 50 years. Lawrence has litigated many complex and significant cases that impacted the evolution of matrimonial law in the State of Illinois. A few examples of his cases that defined the practice of matrimonial law are set forth below.

1. He litigated the trial and the appeal to the Supreme Court of Illinois, one of the first cases that defined how the court distinguishes between marital and non-marital assets, with the issues of contribution, dissipation, transmutation and valuation.
2. He litigated the trial and the Appellate Court appeal of one of the first cases that led to creating the procedure for the valuation of businesses as well as the factors to be considered in such evaluations
3. He litigated the trial and the Illinois Supreme Court appeal of the  first  case that set the standard that payment of college expenses are child support and therefore, are limited to contribution to college expenses to be incurred in the future and reimbursement for past expenses incurred cannot be sought.
4. He litigated the trial and Illinois Supreme Court appeal of one of the first cases that helped set the factors a court is to consider in seeking a bifurcated Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage.

Mr. Starkopf has lectured on matrimonial law, and is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, and is a Leading Matrimonial Lawyer.

Certifications:

• Licensed in the Illinois Supreme Court 1975
• Licensed in the Northern District of Illinois 1975