Steven N. Peskind

Biography

Education:

• Graduate, West Aurora High School, 1978
• B.A., Tulane University, 1982
• J.D., DePaul University College of Law, 1985

Career:

• Attorney
• Licensed State of Illinois, 1985
• Licensed Federal District Court, 1985

Employers:

• Associate:  Law Offices of David P. Peskind, Aurora, 1985-1988
• Partner:  Peskind & Peskind, Ltd., Aurora, 1988-1996
• Principal:  Law Offices of Steven N. Peskind, Esq. Geneva/St.Charles, 1996 – present  (Currently the Peskind Law Firm)

Kane County Bar Association

• President, 1998-1999
• Vice President, 1996-1998
• Secretary/Treasurer, 1995-1996
• Board member, Kane County Bar Foundation, 1996-1999
• Chair, Delivery of Legal Services Committee, 1997-1998
• Chair, Family Law Committee, 1993-1995; 2001-2002
• Co-Developer, Kane County Family Law Mediation Program
• Co-Developer, “Families First legal Aid Program”

Illinois State Bar Association

• Genetics and Human Reproductive Task Force, 2005 - present
• Family Law Section Counsel, 2000- 2006 Chair : Reproductive Technology Sub-Committee, 2003-2006
• Assembly Delegate,1990-1994; 2001-2003
• New Lawyers Division Section Counsel, 1991-1993
• Bench/Bar Section Counsel, 1992-1994
• Fellow, Illinois Bar foundation

American Bar Association

• Faculty, Family Law Trial Advocacy Institute, 2010
• Member, Family Law Section Publication Board, 2009-2010
• Advisor to the Study Committee on Marital and Premarital Agreements for the ABA’s participation of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (ULC), 2009 - present
• Chair, Law Practice Management & Technology Committee of the ABA Section of Family Law, 2008-2010
• Executive Member, Trial Practice and Techniques Committee of the ABA Section of Family Law, 2008-2009
• Member, Nominating Committee of the ABA Section of Family Law, 2008-2009
• Vice-Chair, Reproductive and Genetic Technology Committee, 2007 – present.
• Executive Counsel, ABA Family Law Section of the Reproductive Technology and Genetics Executive Committee, 2006
• Bar Leadership Institute, 1997
• Vice Chairman, Young Lawyers Family Law Section, 1993-1994

American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers

• Illinois Chapter Board of Managers 2010, Member: amicus curiae committee 2010

• Fellow, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML),  2007– present
• Member,  amicus curiae committee  (Illinois Chapter), 2009-2010
• Member, law practice management committee  (National), 2009-2010
• Member, AAML journal committee, 2009-2010

Honors

• Recognized as “Super Lawyer”, 2008-2010
• Election as one of approximately 2,000 members to the American Law Institute (ALI), 2006–present
• Member,  Scribes (American Society of Writers on Legal Subjects) in recognition of excellence in published legal writing , 2005 – present
• Member, Leading Lawyer Network, selected by other lawyers in the State of Illinois as being one of the top 5% of family lawyers in the state, 2003-2010
• Recognized as one of the Top Family Lawyers in Illinois in April 2005 Crain’s Business Magazine
• Commendations by DePaul College of Law Family Law Center for outstanding contribution to the practice of family law, 2003-2004
• Nominated, “Law and Leading Attorney” in the field of IllinoisFamily Law, 1996

Other Memberships

• Illinois Appellate Lawyers Association
• Illinois Family Law Study Committee, created by the Illinois Legislature by HR 1428, which is reviewing the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act and proposing changes to improve Illinois’ divorce and  family law
• Advisory Board of the DePaul College of Law Schiller, DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center, 2008 – present
• Rush-Copley Hospital Medical Ethics Committee, 2007-2009
• Rush-Copley Healthcare Foundation Board Member, 2006-2009
• Task Force to Review and Recommend Changes to Kane County Custody Rules, Chaired by the Honorable F. Keith Brown, 2004-2005
• University Club of Chicago
• St. Charles Chamber of Commerce

Publications

• Author: Peskind Family Law Insights Blog ( a weblog on a variety of family law topics) found  at: www.PeskindFamilyLawInsights.com
• Author:   Surviving the Tsunami, How to Stay High and Dry in Troubled Times. Published by Voices and Views, The Newsletter for the Commission on Women for the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Vol. 13, No 4, Fall 2008.
• Author: Child Custody Litigation Illinois Institute of Legal Education: Investigation and Discovery; (1998, Supplement 2000, 2004, Supplement 2006), and Jurisdiction for Original Custody and Removal of Child from State of Illinois (2006 Edition)
• Co-Author: Of the House Bill ultimately adopted as the Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act (2005 - 2006)
• Author: Regulating non-traditional childbirth-the Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act Illinois State Bar Family Law Journal Vol. 48, No. 2, January 2005
• Author: Determining the Undeterminable:  The Best Interest of the Child Standard as an Imperfect but Necessary Guidepost to Determine Child Custody. Northern Illinois University Law Review, spring 2005
• Author: The Pendulum has Swung: the Upside-Down World of the Law of Maintenance in Illinois. The Newsletter of the Illinois State Bar Section on Family Law December 2005
• Author: “Mother Knows Best” Judicial Deference and the Child’s Best Interests  DuPage County Bar Journal January 2004
• Author: Who’s Your Daddy?:  An Analysis of Illinois’ Law of Parentage and the Meaning of Parenthood  Loyola University Chicago Law Journal Vol. 35  No. 3 Spring 2004
• Author: Family law Starting points: The Fundamentals of 11 Practice Areas (Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education 1994, 2000, 2004)
• Eckert Revisited: The Supreme Court's Review of Collingbourne and the Second District Appellate Court's application of the law of removal. Illinois State Bar Association Family Law Newsletter, February, 2003
• Author: Effective Presentation of a Motion for Temporary Support (ABA Family Law Litigation Newsletter, Spring 1999)
• Assistant Editor: American Bar Association Family Law Litigation Newsletter 1998-1999

Lectures

• Keynote Speaker:  Oklahoma Bar Association Family Law Section, "Redefining the Practice of Family Law" November 2010

• Speaker: AAML Fall CLE Program Advanced Family Law, 2010 "Removal Update after Collingbourne"
• Speaker: ABA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California: Hot Tips: Why Blog? Incorporating blogging into a family law practice.
• Speaker: ABA Family Law Section, Fall meeting, Montreal, Quebec:  Reconceptualizing the Practice of Family Law in the 21^st Century. (2009)Speaker:   ABA Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois:  “Hot Tips:  Presentation on Law Practice Management” (2009)
• Speaker:   Law Practice Management during Troubled Financial Times (2008 David Peskind Memorial Family Law Seminar)
• Speaker:   Maintenance – How much and How Long?   (Gitlin on Divorce Family Law CLE.  Divorce Basics presented at an Expert Level by Experts. April, 2008)
• Speaker:  10 Things a Divorce Lawyer Needs to Know About Taxation -- A Primer.  (2007 David Peskind Memorial Family Law Seminar)
• Speaker:  Maintenance Roundtable (Kane County Bar Association, 2007)
• Speaker:  Trends in Maintenance Awards 2000 – 2005 (Kane County Bar Association 2005)
• Speaker: Current Issues in Child Custody Law (Northern Illinois University Law Review Symposium, March 2005)
• Speaker: The Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act (Illinois State Bar Association 2004)
• Speaker: Illinois statutory Basis of Parentage (Kane County Bar Association 2004)
• Speaker: The implications of In re Marriage of Collingbourne of child removal cases in Illinois (Kane County Bar Association 2003)
• Moderator: “Dividing Retirement Plans in Divorce” (Kane County Bar Association 2002)
• Moderator: Calculation of Child Support and Maintenance in Family Law Cases  (Kane County Bar Association 2001)
• Speaker: Speech to newly admitted Illinois Attorneys at swearing in ceremony, Elgin, Illinois (May 1999)
• Speaker: Discoverability of Mental Health Records  (Kane County Bar Association (1998)
• Speaker: Extraordinary Family Law Remedies (Kane county Bar Association (1992)
• Speaker: Hearsay in family law cases (Kane County Bar Association 1993)
• Speaker: Contempt Proceedings  (Kane county Bar Association 1994)
• Presenter:  KIDS program (Kane County Family Court) lectures on divorce and its impact on children
• People’s law School  (1990, 1992)

Advanced Education

• Symposium: Genetic Bonds and Family Law; The Challenge of DNA Parentage Testing March 27-28, 2003 New Orleans, La. Presented by the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, University of Louisville Institute for Bioethics, Health Policy and Law, and the Hastings Center
• Family law Advocacy Institute (American Bar Association/University of Houston Law School) Intensive eight-day advanced trial skills course, 1995
• Mediation Institute (40 hour mediation training) 1991

Notable Achievements

Steven Peskind has successfully challenged the constitutionality of the Illinois Parentage Act in a ruling by a Kane County trial Judge. While subsequently overruled by the Illinois Supreme Court, the case (In re John M.) questioned the state’s exclusive reliance on DNA tests as a determinant of parentage. Also, he successfully briefed and argued a case before the Illinois Supreme Court that substantially altered the law in Illinois involving removal of children from the State. In re Marriage of Collingbourne (2003).  Mr. Peskind co-authored the text of the bill that ultimately culminated in the Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act.  He was the Illinois State Bar Association liaison to the Illinois legislature concerning the replacement of the Illinois Parentage Act with the Uniform Parentage Act.

Volunteer

• Attorney pro bono advocate for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) 1995 to present
• Breaking Free: Not for profit education and treatment of substance abuse. (1987-1990) President of Board 1989-1990
• United Way Allocations Committee (1990-1992)

Sponsor

David P. Peskind Memorial Scholarship: Annual scholarship presented by Northern Illinois law school to graduating student exemplifying excellence in Family Law Studies.