Amanda OliverWeiss-Kunz & Oliver, LLC is pleased to announce that Amanda Oliver, one of the firm’s founding partners, has been recognized by her peers for her intelligence, passion, and success as an auspicious lawyer.

In the Fall of 2020, Chicago Law Bulletin recognized Amanda as one of 40 of the most promising Illinois lawyers.

The exclusive “40 Under 40” list identifies attorneys who are nominated by their peers for both outstanding legal work and giving back to the Illinois community. 

Even opposing counsel had kind words to say.

Marc Fisher, an attorney with Katz Goldstein & Warren who has been on the opposite end of cases with Amanda says that she is a pleasure to work with, kind, and committed to achieving the best outcome for her client. Recalling a contentious case involving children, Fisher praised Amanda for always having “the ability to reach a resolution, no matter how difficult the circumstances. She puts the clients’ interests first and advocates for their concerns, while always maintaining her highly professional composure.”

More than 1500 nominations were received for this year’s regional “40 under 40” recognition. The nominees included attorneys from large law firms, pro-bono lawyers, and state and federal public sector attorneys. The pool of competition was also widespread geographically and included Chicago, Springfield, suburban St. Louis, and throughout the entire state of Illinois.

“There are so many incredible attorneys leading the way in our legal profession, it’s a challenge to narrow down the list,” said Adam Hrejsa, a spokesperson for the publication.

The “40 Under 40” award is different from other young lawyer awards in that it’s not a “pay to play” type of award like many others that can be simply bought. There is no cost to enter this award program.

According to Hrejsa, several different factors are weighed when narrowing the nominees down to 40. These factors include, but are not limited to:

-Career accomplishments

-Diversity of experience

-Volunteer work 

-Awards and Professional recognition 

 Career accomplishments

Oliver’s success can be demonstrated by her accomplishments in the launch and ultimate growth of her firm. 

“When you talk about winning cases in family law, at the end of the day it’s harder to show where a victory lies. True success is demonstrated where a change in the law is a result of our firm’s work that ultimately benefits our clients and the community,“ Amanda Oliver said.

A great deal of Amanda’s success is reaffirmed when past clients refer their friends, family, and colleagues to the firm.

“When a past client refers someone to me to whom they care about, it’s a really good feeling because that speaks to the trust and reputation I’ve developed with my clients. Family law is one of the most personal areas of law. For someone to say I trust you with my family or friend goes beyond saying I think you have the requisite skill set for the job. It says you’re the type of person I want to help my mother, sister, or friend during the most difficult times of their life,” Amanda Oliver said. 

Diversity of experience

Amanda handles complex pre-decree and post-decree divorce and parentage matters, including estate and business valuations, account tracing, all aspects of child custody and parenting time and both prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. She is a graduate of Millikin University (B.A. Political Science/Pre-Law, 2003) and UIC John Marshall Law School (J.D. 2006). Ms. Oliver previously interned with The Children’s Law Center and The Employment Justice Center in Washington, D.C., as well as with both litigation and family law firms in Chicago. Ms. Oliver was also elected to the UIC John Marshall Journal of Computer and Information Law (JCIL).

Ms. Oliver was admitted to the State Bar of Illinois and to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 2007 and is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the DuPage County Bar Association.

Volunteer Work 

When not in the courtroom or preparing for a trial, Amanda serves on the advisory board for the National Basketball Association (NBA) Retired Players’ Association – Chicago Chapter and volunteers her time coaching children’s basketball and teaching preschool Sunday School at her local church.   

Awards and professional recognition 

Amanda Oliver received the 10 Best Client Satisfaction Award from the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys in 2016 and 2019.  Amanda has previously been named to the National Advocates Top 40 Under 40 list, Chicago Magazine’s Top Women Attorneys in 2013, and Super Lawyers’ “Rising Stars” in 2012, 2013, and 2017. She was also named as one of Attorney and Practice Magazine’s Top 10 Family Law Attorney Award in 2019.

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