An experienced divorce trial attorney who also teaches lawsuits to professionals at a nationally popular trial institute, Brendan Hammer is among Schiller DuCanto & & Fleck LLP’s shining stars in household law. Called as one of Crain’s “The majority of Influential Minority Attorneys in Chicago,” Hammer brings a special, psychologically advanced method to matrimonial and household law lawsuits.
Hammer concentrates on complex and high dispute divorce and custody litigation on behalf of high net worth clients and their spouses. Frequently, Hammer is generated after mediation or settlement shows unsuccessful, and where lawsuits has actually ended up being the last resort.
In a field where lawsuits is normally really reactive, Hammer has both the patience and understanding that divorce is not “normal” litigation. While going straight against the grain may appear the obvious option in this type of litigation, Hammer’s technique is one that centers on patiently applying a greater mental and psychological intelligence which can then permit higher maneuvering. Rather of pertaining to a stalemate or deadlock in his litigation, Hammer has actually found much higher success in either taking strategic psychological inflection points to then craft creative solutions or making use of tactical openings that can also assist the procedure progress and continue to progress.
” The litigator’s ultimate goal is to achieve the client’s subjective goals as rapidly and as painlessly as possible,” says Hammer. Hammer has been able to fine-tune his technique for many years due in big part to his substantial courtroom experience and continued success in family law. After a decade and a half of successful litigation on a few of the area’s biggest and most intricate cases, Hammer has actually established a deep understanding of the numerous various relationship dynamics at play in a divorce– and he brings a really human element to a procedure that is often so quickly villainized by remembering and acknowledging that while a marital relationship may legally liquify, that does not imply that it just disappears over night, it simply develops into a different type of family relationship.
Hammer stresses that litigation isn’t just litigating and questioning witnesses, however helping to prepare a household for life after divorce, particularly when children are included.
” Assisting people concur to do what is child-centric and in the child’s benefit is constantly the best lawsuits method,” says Hammer.
Hammer constantly bears in mind that customers on both sides of lawsuits are still in some degree of contact which each celebration at one time took pleasure in a high level of intimacy. Hammer believes that it is the job of a competent lawyer to comprehend deeply the intricacies of the partners’ relationship functions and their interpersonal dynamics in order to have the ability to utilize that understanding to the client’s greatest advantage.
Although an exceptional litigator, Hammer is likewise well-practiced in alternative dispute resolution such as mediation. The personal privacy and party-control of alternative resolutions also permit “a more artisanal and bespoke resolution,” says Hammer. And such procedures can be a fantastic alternative for personal privacy and discretion-concerned parties. In these alternative resolutions, Hammer’s experience as a litigator really assists his clients, because he knows well the real-world standards of how a judge would respond. His success and experience in both arenas work in tandem and complement each other, and Hammer’s own practice rather well.
Hammer is in need and works on or consults in cases outside of Illinois also, particularly in complex and intricate out-of-state custody and relocation cases, which is a testimony to both his huge scope and unrivaled value as a divorce attorney.
In addition to his experience as a litigator, Hammer likewise makes use of his own personal experience of going through a divorce with his ex-wife (who is likewise a divorce lawyer). Hammer and his ex-wife were included in a 2019 New York Times post on how they were able to keep a friendly relationship and continue co-parenting post-divorce. His own experience assists to inform how he practices, and Hammer understands the frustrating emotions divorce can induce and he’s understanding to it, having actually lived through it himself. However Hammer also knows that a serene and cooperative future is possible– he’s living proof of it.
Another crucial part of Hammer’s success originates in his own everyday meditation and mindfulness regimen, which he has actually been personally practicing for the last 25 years. The point of a meditative or mindful practice is to help peaceful your mind so that you can enable yourself to experience and non-judgmentally observe your sensations, surroundings, ideas, and feelings in a state of higher awareness and then let those emotions, thoughts, and sensations fluctuate away.
In his legal practice, Hammer has discovered that his meditation practice helps him peaceful down the sound and bitterness of legal proceedings and enables him to focus and hone in on the essential heart and signal of a case.
” It brings and opens an area for greater creativity, greater calm, and greater focus– as a litigator, that’s vital,” says Hammer of his meditative practice.
Hammer is a huge supporter for meditation and mindfulness as a kind of self-care. He remains in such support of meditative practices that Hammer lectures and presents often on the topic to legal coworkers and serves on the Advisory Council of the David Lynch Structure, a company dedicated to bringing meditation to at-risk neighborhoods throughout Chicago.
Hammer studied law at DePaul University, but before that, he pursued studies in the performing arts during his undergraduate years at Indiana University, which has remarkably helped notify and guide his legal practice also.
In his years in household law, Hammer has actually discovered lots of parallels and resemblances between litigation and the carrying out arts. Both require persuasion, a little stagecraft, an ability to understand, and the need to determine what will resonate authentically with an audience.
If the courtroom is another type of stage, then Hammer’s role is to be the narrator and writer on behalf of his client. And it is his experienced and nuanced delivery of this story that frequently can be the aspect that eventually convinces the judge.
” Effective advocacy is being able to enter that role as writer and provide for a customer,” says Hammer.
Hammer is adamant that when deciding to start divorce proceedings, a client must veterinarian their prospective attorneys extensively. By vetting and establishing an understanding of how a possible attorney might approach different components frequently associated with divorce– such as property, finance, and children– you can help identify if the lawyer’s track record, experience, and technique will line up with how you wish to proceed as well. Hammer likewise advises that entering into the vetting process with clearly specified objectives and having a number of hypothetical concerns prepared will make the procedure of lawyer choice and vetting more educated and a bit less complex.
While in the procedure of getting separated, Hammer motivates litigants to be active co-participants in the proceedings and not to totally outsource everything to attorneys. He also recommends not to get bogged down in the minutiae: not letting the little problems get in the way of the larger ones. And above all, keep open and sincere communication with your lawyer, and own your past to look towards a much better future.
Hammer is positive that his unique approach, stressing an emotionally sophisticated lens on the internal characteristics of divorce, is what causes efficient and effective litigations, where it’s not practically winning, but about how and when you win too.
The Schiller DuCanto & & Fleck LLP Lake Forest office lies at One Conway Park, 100 North Field Drive, Suite 160. For additional information, call 847-615-8300 or check out sdflaw.com.