Michelle Cass
N/A
N/A
Law Degree
Awards
Primary Practice Area
Divorce and separation
Language
English
About
I am a committed family law attorney dedicated to amicable resolutions for my clients when possible, and prepared for litigation when necessary. I listen like a friend, but think like a lawyer. I pride myself on being responsive and available to my clients. To that end, I readily provide candid counsel to my clients about realistic expectations and potential outcomes for their cases with a heavy emphasis on strategy. The attorney-client relationship should be a collaboration, and I particularly focus my practice on empowerment, well-being, and defining the win.
Practices Areas
Child custody
Child support
Divorce and separation
Family
Language
English
Contact
Reed, Centracchio & Associates, LLC70 E. Lake St. Suite 500Chicago, IL, 60601
Office: N/A
Website: N/AReviews
When I hired Michelle as my attorney, my divorce seemed like it was going to be amicable and kind of a slam dunk case. Her rates were reasonable and I felt confident after speaking with her that she would be extremely capable. Things got very ugly after a short time. My ex and I had a young child and while I was only asking for 50/50 parenting time, his mother was not okay with that. She also seemed to be developing some mental health issues. We had run ins with police and dcfs. My son was thrown out of 2 day cares due to his mother's behavior and at one point she was not allowed to see our son for a six month period. Michelle always came through with what I needed, presenting me with all my options, letting me know the risks and possible costs, sometimes being the voice of reason when things got emotional and presented my case before the judge with confidence, poise, and intelligence. I always felt she charged me reasonable rates and sometimes didn't charge me at all when my ex would send her excessive emails that she had to read. She was my attorney for about 3 years and I was never once unhappy with her services. I highly recommend and would use her in the future if I felt I needed her services.
Michelle came highly recommended by a lawyer friend at my most difficult time of life. I was lucky to have Michelle help me navigate through the difficult and complicated legal processes from an no-contact agreement after I filed a restraining order against my ex, to cooperating with my son's guardian at litem to arrange supervised visitations, to the final relocation settlement/ custody/ parenting plan (Allocation judgement) and child support of my child. She has provided sound counsel from the very first meeting. Her knowledge of the family law is amazing. She outlines strategies / options in clear and conscience manner with realistic expectations while keeping me apprised of all the details throughout the stages. She is organized, thoughtful, supportive, and compassionate. No detail is too small for her. She listens to my all concerns then kept me focused on the important things. She is tough in her legal approach when necessary. She always has your best interest in mind. She is also extremely accessible (more so then I ever expected). She is a lawyer, counsellor, therapist, friend, and confidant all in one. I could not have survived the last 2 years without her and is so grateful to have her as my attorney. Thanks to her confidence and legal expertise, my child and I were finally able to successfully relocate out of state to be with my family. I trust her so much that I decided to keep my child's case jurisdiction in Chicago should future dispute occurs because I want to retain her services. You will not regret hiring Michelle should you find yourself lucky enough that she is willing to fight for you.
Michelle proved to be an excellent attorney. She engaged in honest and frequent communication with me. I especially appreciated the fact that I felt she listened to my concerns and provided me with great guidance and advice, which was exactly what I needed. My case involved child support and custody issue, and I am extremely happy with the outcome of case.
Michelle was very professional and friendly from the first consultation. As time went on with the case she was very informative, communicative and transparent about everything that was going on with the case. I had a case where other lawyers told me I didn’t have many options, she was optimistic and came through with big victories for me. I would recommend her to anyone, a GREAT LAWYER.
Michelle was tasked with completing the details of my MSA. She prioritized the issues and with great effort resolved them. Under withering assaults from the opposing side, she proceeded with integrity, professionalism and brilliant responses. In the end, there was AN END. I am so grateful. Thank you doesn’t seem proper acknowledgment, but thank you.
Had the pleasure of working with Michelle on my divorce case. She and her team do great work. Michelle is highly responsive and truly listens and cares for her clients. No hesitation in recommending to anyone looking for a great lawyer!
A friend of mine referred me to Ms. Cass’ expertise. I consulted with her 2 years before I hired her as my attorney. The consultation provided a lot of insight on how I should proceed and when I was ready to move on, I retained her as my lawyer. We discussed my objectives. I wanted a quick settlement with fair outcomes for both parties and a lot of focus on my children’s welfare. She was clear about that and executed exactly as such. All throughout the process, Michelle was responsive, communicative and professional. She was also friendly in the right amount. There were times I really appreciated that. On top of that, Michelle bills in a cost effective way. She would use email as the primary means of communication and would only engage in phone calls or a face to face meeting if absolutely necessary. Overall, I am very pleased with my experience with Michelle and the outcome of my case. I will definitely continue to use her expertise, if needed in the future.
I hired Michelle to assist me on a prenuptial matter. She is professional, friendly, responsive, hard-working, has a strong knowledge of the law and produces high quality work. She was a delight to work with and I would highly recommend her to anyone.
There are few things in life more stressful than a high conflict custody case. I found myself in a very unique and unfortunate position where my son's father, who had been absent a good portion of his life, challenged me for custody, and tried to take back consent to relocate 4 months AFTER I had already moved. I do not know where we would be today without Michelle, and the idea scares me a little. Michelle fought for my family tooth and nail. There were stressful nights where I know we both lost sleep because that's how much she cares. There were plenty of tearful moments in court that she was quick to offer a hug. Besides being a compassionate human being, she is an amazingly smart woman. She had every detail of my case memorized, you could feel that this isn't job a job for her, this is her passion in life. She was always overly prepared for court with her multiple boxes of documents for my case. I always left feeling that she put it all out there and gave her best effort. Michelle was always very quick to reply to any concerns or questions I had, and she also went the extra mile by really taking the time to get to know me. I always felt like she was only a phone call or email away, and this gave me great comfort. After months of her hard work we were able to settle my case, it brings me much joy to tell you that my son remains with me full time, we did not have to move back, and I am now receiving support from the child's father. Michelle was very conscience of court costs, and legal fees. She tried to minimize these for me the best she could by settling instead of going to trail and by having paralegals do some tasks when appropriate since their hourly rate is significantly less. I'm hoping that my days in court are long gone, but if I should ever need legal representation again, I will not hesitate to call Michelle. When you go through hell with someone it creates a bond. Michelle is not just my lawyer, she will always be a dear friend to me.
Michelle exceeded my expectations in the handling of my pre-nuptial agreement. She was diligent and detail oriented in isolating and negotiating the points most important to my circumstances. Not a cookie cutter approach. She is graceful, professional and personable; a rare combination. I hired her after firing my previous counsel and she picked up the pieces effortlessly. I immediately, and throughout the negotiation, felt exceptionally well represented. would hire again in a heartbeat.
When I hired Michelle as my attorney, my divorce seemed like it was going to be amicable and kind of a slam dunk case. Her rates were reasonable and I felt confident after speaking with her that she would be extremely capable. Things got very ugly after a short time. My ex and I had a young child and while I was only asking for 50/50 parenting time, his mother was not okay with that. She also seemed to be developing some mental health issues. We had run ins with police and dcfs. My son was thrown out of 2 day cares due to his mother's behavior and at one point she was not allowed to see our son for a six month period. Michelle always came through with what I needed, presenting me with all my options, letting me know the risks and possible costs, sometimes being the voice of reason when things got emotional and presented my case before the judge with confidence, poise, and intelligence. I always felt she charged me reasonable rates and sometimes didn't charge me at all when my ex would send her excessive emails that she had to read. She was my attorney for about 3 years and I was never once unhappy with her services. I highly recommend and would use her in the future if I felt I needed her services.
Michelle came highly recommended by a lawyer friend at my most difficult time of life. I was lucky to have Michelle help me navigate through the difficult and complicated legal processes from an no-contact agreement after I filed a restraining order against my ex, to cooperating with my son's guardian at litem to arrange supervised visitations, to the final relocation settlement/ custody/ parenting plan (Allocation judgement) and child support of my child. She has provided sound counsel from the very first meeting. Her knowledge of the family law is amazing. She outlines strategies / options in clear and conscience manner with realistic expectations while keeping me apprised of all the details throughout the stages. She is organized, thoughtful, supportive, and compassionate. No detail is too small for her. She listens to my all concerns then kept me focused on the important things. She is tough in her legal approach when necessary. She always has your best interest in mind. She is also extremely accessible (more so then I ever expected). She is a lawyer, counsellor, therapist, friend, and confidant all in one. I could not have survived the last 2 years without her and is so grateful to have her as my attorney. Thanks to her confidence and legal expertise, my child and I were finally able to successfully relocate out of state to be with my family. I trust her so much that I decided to keep my child's case jurisdiction in Chicago should future dispute occurs because I want to retain her services. You will not regret hiring Michelle should you find yourself lucky enough that she is willing to fight for you.
Michelle proved to be an excellent attorney. She engaged in honest and frequent communication with me. I especially appreciated the fact that I felt she listened to my concerns and provided me with great guidance and advice, which was exactly what I needed. My case involved child support and custody issue, and I am extremely happy with the outcome of case.
Michelle was very professional and friendly from the first consultation. As time went on with the case she was very informative, communicative and transparent about everything that was going on with the case. I had a case where other lawyers told me I didn’t have many options, she was optimistic and came through with big victories for me. I would recommend her to anyone, a GREAT LAWYER.
Michelle was tasked with completing the details of my MSA. She prioritized the issues and with great effort resolved them. Under withering assaults from the opposing side, she proceeded with integrity, professionalism and brilliant responses. In the end, there was AN END. I am so grateful. Thank you doesn’t seem proper acknowledgment, but thank you.
Had the pleasure of working with Michelle on my divorce case. She and her team do great work. Michelle is highly responsive and truly listens and cares for her clients. No hesitation in recommending to anyone looking for a great lawyer!
A friend of mine referred me to Ms. Cass’ expertise. I consulted with her 2 years before I hired her as my attorney. The consultation provided a lot of insight on how I should proceed and when I was ready to move on, I retained her as my lawyer. We discussed my objectives. I wanted a quick settlement with fair outcomes for both parties and a lot of focus on my children’s welfare. She was clear about that and executed exactly as such. All throughout the process, Michelle was responsive, communicative and professional. She was also friendly in the right amount. There were times I really appreciated that. On top of that, Michelle bills in a cost effective way. She would use email as the primary means of communication and would only engage in phone calls or a face to face meeting if absolutely necessary. Overall, I am very pleased with my experience with Michelle and the outcome of my case. I will definitely continue to use her expertise, if needed in the future.
I hired Michelle to assist me on a prenuptial matter. She is professional, friendly, responsive, hard-working, has a strong knowledge of the law and produces high quality work. She was a delight to work with and I would highly recommend her to anyone.
There are few things in life more stressful than a high conflict custody case. I found myself in a very unique and unfortunate position where my son's father, who had been absent a good portion of his life, challenged me for custody, and tried to take back consent to relocate 4 months AFTER I had already moved. I do not know where we would be today without Michelle, and the idea scares me a little. Michelle fought for my family tooth and nail. There were stressful nights where I know we both lost sleep because that's how much she cares. There were plenty of tearful moments in court that she was quick to offer a hug. Besides being a compassionate human being, she is an amazingly smart woman. She had every detail of my case memorized, you could feel that this isn't job a job for her, this is her passion in life. She was always overly prepared for court with her multiple boxes of documents for my case. I always left feeling that she put it all out there and gave her best effort. Michelle was always very quick to reply to any concerns or questions I had, and she also went the extra mile by really taking the time to get to know me. I always felt like she was only a phone call or email away, and this gave me great comfort. After months of her hard work we were able to settle my case, it brings me much joy to tell you that my son remains with me full time, we did not have to move back, and I am now receiving support from the child's father. Michelle was very conscience of court costs, and legal fees. She tried to minimize these for me the best she could by settling instead of going to trail and by having paralegals do some tasks when appropriate since their hourly rate is significantly less. I'm hoping that my days in court are long gone, but if I should ever need legal representation again, I will not hesitate to call Michelle. When you go through hell with someone it creates a bond. Michelle is not just my lawyer, she will always be a dear friend to me.
Michelle exceeded my expectations in the handling of my pre-nuptial agreement. She was diligent and detail oriented in isolating and negotiating the points most important to my circumstances. Not a cookie cutter approach. She is graceful, professional and personable; a rare combination. I hired her after firing my previous counsel and she picked up the pieces effortlessly. I immediately, and throughout the negotiation, felt exceptionally well represented. would hire again in a heartbeat.
When I hired Michelle as my attorney, my divorce seemed like it was going to be amicable and kind of a slam dunk case. Her rates were reasonable and I felt confident after speaking with her that she would be extremely capable. Things got very ugly after a short time. My ex and I had a young child and while I was only asking for 50/50 parenting time, his mother was not okay with that. She also seemed to be developing some mental health issues. We had run ins with police and dcfs. My son was thrown out of 2 day cares due to his mother's behavior and at one point she was not allowed to see our son for a six month period. Michelle always came through with what I needed, presenting me with all my options, letting me know the risks and possible costs, sometimes being the voice of reason when things got emotional and presented my case before the judge with confidence, poise, and intelligence. I always felt she charged me reasonable rates and sometimes didn't charge me at all when my ex would send her excessive emails that she had to read. She was my attorney for about 3 years and I was never once unhappy with her services. I highly recommend and would use her in the future if I felt I needed her services.
Michelle came highly recommended by a lawyer friend at my most difficult time of life. I was lucky to have Michelle help me navigate through the difficult and complicated legal processes from an no-contact agreement after I filed a restraining order against my ex, to cooperating with my son's guardian at litem to arrange supervised visitations, to the final relocation settlement/ custody/ parenting plan (Allocation judgement) and child support of my child. She has provided sound counsel from the very first meeting. Her knowledge of the family law is amazing. She outlines strategies / options in clear and conscience manner with realistic expectations while keeping me apprised of all the details throughout the stages. She is organized, thoughtful, supportive, and compassionate. No detail is too small for her. She listens to my all concerns then kept me focused on the important things. She is tough in her legal approach when necessary. She always has your best interest in mind. She is also extremely accessible (more so then I ever expected). She is a lawyer, counsellor, therapist, friend, and confidant all in one. I could not have survived the last 2 years without her and is so grateful to have her as my attorney. Thanks to her confidence and legal expertise, my child and I were finally able to successfully relocate out of state to be with my family. I trust her so much that I decided to keep my child's case jurisdiction in Chicago should future dispute occurs because I want to retain her services. You will not regret hiring Michelle should you find yourself lucky enough that she is willing to fight for you.
Michelle proved to be an excellent attorney. She engaged in honest and frequent communication with me. I especially appreciated the fact that I felt she listened to my concerns and provided me with great guidance and advice, which was exactly what I needed. My case involved child support and custody issue, and I am extremely happy with the outcome of case.
Michelle was very professional and friendly from the first consultation. As time went on with the case she was very informative, communicative and transparent about everything that was going on with the case. I had a case where other lawyers told me I didn’t have many options, she was optimistic and came through with big victories for me. I would recommend her to anyone, a GREAT LAWYER.
Michelle was tasked with completing the details of my MSA. She prioritized the issues and with great effort resolved them. Under withering assaults from the opposing side, she proceeded with integrity, professionalism and brilliant responses. In the end, there was AN END. I am so grateful. Thank you doesn’t seem proper acknowledgment, but thank you.
Had the pleasure of working with Michelle on my divorce case. She and her team do great work. Michelle is highly responsive and truly listens and cares for her clients. No hesitation in recommending to anyone looking for a great lawyer!
A friend of mine referred me to Ms. Cass’ expertise. I consulted with her 2 years before I hired her as my attorney. The consultation provided a lot of insight on how I should proceed and when I was ready to move on, I retained her as my lawyer. We discussed my objectives. I wanted a quick settlement with fair outcomes for both parties and a lot of focus on my children’s welfare. She was clear about that and executed exactly as such. All throughout the process, Michelle was responsive, communicative and professional. She was also friendly in the right amount. There were times I really appreciated that. On top of that, Michelle bills in a cost effective way. She would use email as the primary means of communication and would only engage in phone calls or a face to face meeting if absolutely necessary. Overall, I am very pleased with my experience with Michelle and the outcome of my case. I will definitely continue to use her expertise, if needed in the future.
I hired Michelle to assist me on a prenuptial matter. She is professional, friendly, responsive, hard-working, has a strong knowledge of the law and produces high quality work. She was a delight to work with and I would highly recommend her to anyone.
There are few things in life more stressful than a high conflict custody case. I found myself in a very unique and unfortunate position where my son's father, who had been absent a good portion of his life, challenged me for custody, and tried to take back consent to relocate 4 months AFTER I had already moved. I do not know where we would be today without Michelle, and the idea scares me a little. Michelle fought for my family tooth and nail. There were stressful nights where I know we both lost sleep because that's how much she cares. There were plenty of tearful moments in court that she was quick to offer a hug. Besides being a compassionate human being, she is an amazingly smart woman. She had every detail of my case memorized, you could feel that this isn't job a job for her, this is her passion in life. She was always overly prepared for court with her multiple boxes of documents for my case. I always left feeling that she put it all out there and gave her best effort. Michelle was always very quick to reply to any concerns or questions I had, and she also went the extra mile by really taking the time to get to know me. I always felt like she was only a phone call or email away, and this gave me great comfort. After months of her hard work we were able to settle my case, it brings me much joy to tell you that my son remains with me full time, we did not have to move back, and I am now receiving support from the child's father. Michelle was very conscience of court costs, and legal fees. She tried to minimize these for me the best she could by settling instead of going to trail and by having paralegals do some tasks when appropriate since their hourly rate is significantly less. I'm hoping that my days in court are long gone, but if I should ever need legal representation again, I will not hesitate to call Michelle. When you go through hell with someone it creates a bond. Michelle is not just my lawyer, she will always be a dear friend to me.
Michelle exceeded my expectations in the handling of my pre-nuptial agreement. She was diligent and detail oriented in isolating and negotiating the points most important to my circumstances. Not a cookie cutter approach. She is graceful, professional and personable; a rare combination. I hired her after firing my previous counsel and she picked up the pieces effortlessly. I immediately, and throughout the negotiation, felt exceptionally well represented. would hire again in a heartbeat.