September 26, 2005

The Chicago City Council is in the habit of naming stretches of streets (or even single street corners) for people in the news. The latest one is Chicago attorney Marshall J. Auerbach. Auerbach, the ''Dean of Illinois Divorce'' (he is credited with drafting the current Illinois Divorce Law in 1977), was recognized with an honorary street sign on Friday, September 23, 2005 by the city of Chicago. In the picture to the left, Auerbach stands in front of his new intersection in the Chicago Loop. The intersection, formally known as "Marshall J. Auerbach Place" is located at the northwest corner of West Randolph Street and North Dearborn Street.

The northwest corner of Randolph and Dearborn in downtown Chicago is now Marshall J. Auerbach Pl., an honorary designation bestowed by the Chicago City Council on an attorney who wrote Illinois' divorce law. Auerbach (J.D. '55), a Chicago attorney, said, "I like divorce law because it cuts across a number of areas of the law. A divorce can involve contract, tax, trust, partnerships and litigation law." Auerbach was a partner at Jenner & Block from 1972 to 1980, where he created and chaired the matrimonial area. While there, Auerbach took on pro bono work to change and codify all the marriage and divorce laws of the state into one bill. The work took him months going through every section that dealt with marriage, annulment, dissolution of marriage, legal separation, child support and custody, spousal maintenance and attorney fees. It was the first major revision in more than 100 years.

The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act became law in October 1977. It changed the tone of divorce law in Illinois because "the system of distributing property upon dissolution of marriage was radically changed," Auerbach explains. Divorce is never easy, but Auerbach believes the bill helped shift the focus from the emotional issues to one of dividing property. "Under the old system, whichever spouse was in title to the property was awarded the property at the time of the divorce," he said. That was changed to give judges more leeway in settlements with the concept of marital and non-marital property as part of a scheme of equitable distribution of property. "And the legislature agreed to no-fault divorce as it pertains to maintenance "what used to be alimony" and child support and custody of children, as well as the division of property. Under prior law, for instance, a party found guilty of adultery could be punished in those areas by the court," he added.

Auerbach has made numerous presentations on the divorce law for judges and fellow lawyers, and authored articles and reference materials on divorce, including the 2001 publication Divorce Advocacy School: Developing Powerful Discovery Skills, a course book for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education.