The Law Office of Matthew M. Williams, P.C.

Focus and practice areas

The firm works inside one field: family law and divorce. A firm that draws that line tends to know its corner of the law well. It handles divorce, legal separation, and annulment, along with the disputes that tend to arrive when a marriage ends.

The matters the firm handles

Beyond the end of a marriage, the firm takes on child custody and visitation, child support, and spousal support, which Illinois law calls maintenance. It also works on property division and paternity, and it handles guardianship matters. Couples who want to settle terms before or during a marriage can turn to it for prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and it handles civil unions as well.

Family law touches a person's most personal ties, and the firm's list of services tracks the moments when those ties change. A prenuptial agreement is drawn up before a marriage, while property division and maintenance come into play as one ends. Paternity and guardianship reach past the couple to the children and dependents involved. A firm that covers this full range can carry a client through a case as its needs shift.

The firm offers collaborative law and cooperative law alongside standard litigation. Both methods ask the parties to settle their differences through negotiation and to keep the matter out of a courtroom. In my opinion, offering these options points to a firm that is comfortable with more than one route to a resolution, and that flexibility can matter when a client wants to keep things civil.

The attorney at the head of the firm

Matthew M. Williams owns the firm and carries the title of senior attorney. He has practiced law in Northern Illinois for more than 20 years, and he limits his work to family law and divorce. As a reviewer, I read that kind of narrow focus as a sign the attorney has worked through many versions of the problems family clients bring.

A background that shapes the work

Williams brings a background that reaches past the law degree. He holds a degree in psychology, and before he practiced law he spent five years working with abused children and adolescents who faced psychiatric and emotional disorders. That experience has a clear bearing on custody and family cases, where a child's wellbeing is the main question in front of the court. He also has training in collaborative and cooperative law, the two settlement methods the firm offers.

The psychology training lines up with the settlement work the firm favors. Collaborative and cooperative law both ask the parties to talk through their disagreements with lawyers guiding the process. A lawyer who has spent years reading how children and families react under stress has useful instincts for that kind of room.

The firm's own materials say Williams handles each of his cases personally. For a client, that means the lawyer whose name is on the door is the one reading the file and appearing in court. At a small firm, that is a meaningful commitment, since it sets an expectation the client can hold the firm to.

The rest of the team

Two other names appear on the firm's roster beside the owner. Corrine M. Hannigan is an associate attorney and works out of the Aurora office. Michelle A. Barrett is the firm's paralegal, the person who often keeps the documents and scheduling of a family case moving. A three-person team is small, and at that size a client tends to reach a familiar voice on each call.

The way the firm presents its people fits its overall approach. It names each member of the team, and it puts the owner's experience and background at the front. For someone comparing family lawyers, a team named in plain terms is easier to weigh than a page of titles with no people attached.

Offices and the counties served

The firm runs two offices, one in Aurora and one in Yorkville, both in Northern Illinois. Two locations give clients a choice of where to meet without a long drive. The Aurora office sits about a mile off Interstate 88, which keeps it within easy reach for people coming from the surrounding towns.

Its work reaches across four counties: DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, and Kendall. That footprint covers a wide stretch of the region west of Chicago. Clients in family disputes often value a lawyer who already knows the local judges and clerks, and coverage across four counties suggests the firm has spent time in several courthouses.

How the firm approaches new matters

The firm works by appointment, so clients arrange a first meeting ahead of time. It offers an initial consultation for people weighing their options, and it accepts credit cards for payment. These are small practical points, and they lower the friction of making a first contact during a hard stretch.

The material the firm publishes stays practical and centered on the client's situation. In a field where cases touch children and the family home, that plain approach carries weight. The owner limits his practice to family and divorce work, and clients across DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, and Kendall counties can meet at either the Aurora or the Yorkville office.