I highly recommend lawyer Michael Craven. He has been instrumental in providing me and my family excellent legal advice over many years. He has a degree in law, masters in tax law and a CPA and gives concise and honest advice.

Michael Craven is top notch attorney and a class act!!!

He is a compassionate straight shooter who delivered on his word!

I witnessed my brother go through 9+ years of an acrimonious divorce. It was tragic. He was forced to rely on silver tongue promises of other lawyers who fell short on their delivery.

It broke my heart to watch my brother’s spirit deteriorate over the years. He lost hope. His previous lawyer allowed the case to fall apart. My brother was in jeopardy of being taken into custody.

That was until he found Michael Craven. Mr. Craven is an excellent lawyer! Michael Craven saved the day! He turned things around and delivered a wonderful outcome!

We are very lucky and grateful to have him represent my brother. I highly recommend him!

I am so grateful for Attorney Michael Craven’s time, expertise and help. He was instrumental in resolving a very difficult divorce issue. He negotiated a favorable outcome. He has given me a chance to rebuild my life.

From the start, he was brutally honest with me, his assessment of my case, the plan of action and what I could improve upon. More importantly, he believed in me. Attorney Michael Craven cared.

My divorce case has been long and complicated. I was up against an unethical opposing attorney and a vindictive ex-wife.

I had hired several attorneys to help me in court over the years. All but one over-promised and under-delivered. This extended my case and made it more complicated as the years went by.

I am so thankful that I found him. I can't express my gratitude enough. If you are in need of an excellent attorney, I highly recommend Attorney Michael Craven.

I hired Michael to handle my divorce. He helped me through a very difficult time with compassion, expertise, and thoroughness. I had a complex financial situation and he was able to navigate it for me with finesse. I would highly recommend him to anybody without any hesitation.

Michael Craven excels at expertise and compassion for his clients . He makes you feel like you’re his only client. He looks at each case individually. You know you are in good hands with Michael Craven. Michael meets his clients expectations. Highly recommend!

Michael Craven was extremely helpful to me during this difficult process. Very responsive, very knowledgeable and very thoughtful on the potential ramifications of different strategies. He was very concerned about what was best for me and my children vs. what was best for his pocketbook. I would highly recommend Michael to anyone needing family law services.

I recently worked with Michael Craven regarding a post-decree matter. I would recommend him to any one due to his compassion and strong knowledge of family law. His ability to navigate the process with me was wonderful. I felt he had my best interests and he ended up obtaining the best possible result.

KNOWLEDGEABLE, RESPONSIVE and HIGHLY REGARDED

I have known divorce and family law attorney Michael Craven for almost 10 years. I’ve worked with many attorneys over the years. Michael is extremely hard-working, concerned for his clients’ needs, ethical, and takes his cases seriously. Anyone is lucky to have Michael Craven in their corner.

Hiring Michael Craven to represent me in my divorce was one of the worse decisions I've made in my life. Not promptly firing him is another.

Shortly after I signed his retainer agreement, communication came to nearly a standstill. I continually had to repeatedly email and call before getting a response. It was extremely difficult for me to find out what was going on with my case -- I rarely knew how little was actually happening, as Mr. Craven didn't return my calls or emails -- at one point I had to contact the managing partner at his firm in order to get a call back to get some basic information right before a court date.

Mr. Craven also repeatedly refused to comply with my repeated directions -- I brought this up over a dozen times -- to file petitions concerning my husband's violations of court orders. This ultimately cost me tens of thousands of dollars.

He was an incompetent and ineffective advocate, to say the least. He never showed any evidence of having a strategy -- we were continually playing defense -- and ultimately I ended up negotiating, on my own, with my husband on a settlement under extreme pressure and duress. I left tens of thousands of dollars on the table in the negotiations with my ex, due to Mr. Craven's unwillingness to act on my behalf during the lengthy process.

Shockingly, Mr. Craven attempted to withdraw from my case 2 business days before my trial date. He even billed me for his associate's time in court for his own motion to withdraw. I was an emotional mess, having to face the prospect of a trial without representation, as I learned that no attorney would take my case without any time at all to prepare. Mr. Craven must have known this, as did the judge, who denied his request.

Then, a few minutes before I was due in front of the judge for prove up, his associate pulled me aside and attempted to intimidate me by forcing me to sign a letter which essentially was a hold harmless letter. He told me that he wouldn't go in with me unless I signed. When I told him that I didn't need his services for prove up and wouldn't sign a letter from a lawyer without legal advice, he quickly withdrew the letter.

Furthermore, I believe that Mr. Craven knew that he had done a poor job representing me throughout the process because of the questions the associate asked me during the prove up. Most of them were about reducing any potential liability on Mr. Craven's part. Tellingly, although it's typical for an attorney to ask their client if they believe they were well represented, the associate didn't ask me this.

There are also numerous questionable billing practices which led me to believe that he was more interested in trying to get money from me than working for me.

When I was making the decision to end my marriage, I was in a vulnerable place. My ex-husband was emotionally and financially abusive, and I now see that Michael Craven, with his decades of experience, recognized this and took advantage of it to enrich himself at my expense, literally and figuratively. He told me what I wanted to hear, followed up on almost none of it, belittled the needs of myself and my children, and left me with no options but to be railroaded into an agreement that formalizes and continues the abuses of my marriage.

A Super Star among us, that’s who he is: Mr. Michael C. Craven.
This Family Lawyer extraordinaire has a demure and kind spirit. Always civil and plainspoken, he is pretty quick-witted too; and, as a CPA and L.L.M., Mr. Craven is sure to sweep.

With a tough case before me and the wind at my back, I stood alone appearance after appearance. I needed a specialist: a Family Lawyer to address issues including an Order of Protection, Parentage and Child Support – all affecting the victim, my 10-year-old son diagnosed at age 3 with an incurable, intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD). From the moment Mr. Craven began representing me I was often impressed, and never disappointed.

Facing an Ex with deeper pockets, professional acclaim and unwavering support from two legal legends, I did tire against their opposition. As a ranked, Illinois Super Lawyer, Mr. Craven helped to secure my son’s safety, and accordingly, my own faith – faith waned by a justice system that was willing to sacrifice a single-parent and her fragile son with special health care needs.

On that fateful day with nothing more than dinky options and even slimmer chances – HE stood with me. In a clincher, Mr. Craven stepped in as the pitch hitter we needed. As a fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, named a Best Lawyer in America© in Family Law, (2015 to present), Mr. Craven strategized for stronger outcomes, and he debated fluid facts. Then, he dismissed fiction and curveballs: by re-framing victory he saved us from defeat. Amidst the heat Mr. Crave remained astute and professional, and he kept our sights on winning.

Seventh inning stretch behind us, Mr. Craven saved more than a victory. Even the judge was impressed. He out-smarted the infielders and the outliers. With this upset, we all were able to run home. SAFE(ly)! I am so grateful to have had Mr. Craven by my side, as my son’s real advocate.

Michael handled our daughters divorce and we are so grateful to him. He answered every one of our daughter's questions and took great care with all the paperwork and representing her in court as well. He is thorough and handled our daughter with kindness and compassion. We could have never asked for a more diligent and caring attorney for our daughter.

Michael represented me in my divorce proceedings and I felt like I was in good hands from the very start. Michael did an excellent job explaining everything in great detail and I was extremely pleased with his attention to detail and thoroughness. I would highly recommend him..

Extensive knowledge of family law with great emotional intelligence. Rare combination! Very prompt, diligent and patient. Would only recommend Mr. Craven to family or friends. I know he would do a great job and take good care of them.

Mr. Craven was wonderful to work with. During one of the hardest times in my life, going through a divorce, he was extremely patient, honest, understanding and knowledgeable. Divorce is worrying and the fear or anxiety can be over-whelming at times especially when children are involved however, Mr. Cravens’ years of experience and knowledge calmed my worries, he addressed my concerns to a more reasonable scenario, and explained in detail all of my options. Mr. Cravens’ approach was level- headed and reasonable as opposed to ruthless which I appreciated as I feel that it gave my case more weight when it came to compromising. After all is said and done, the judge ordered my ex-husband to pay the child support amount I was hoping for in addition to approving the parenting time schedule we proposed! It’s been a pleasure working with Mr. Craven and I am very grateful for his exceptional knowledge in Divorce and Child Custody.

I had a horrible experience with michael representing me. I found him to be aloof and resistant to any sort of aggressive legal strategy. When I pressed him on this approach he threatened to fire me as a client and became quite aggressive.

My case seemed to languish for months with little to no activity. Every single time I would tell Michael or his staff that I wanted to be more aggressive I was told to relax, that they had a tight relationship with my ex spouses attorney and that they would work it out. I NEVER GOT ONE THING ACCOMPLISHED USING THIS APPROACH. All of my goals for the case were blown, I wanted a fast, amicable settlement with little to no confrontation. Instead, I got a trial (over property!) with losses every time we tried to work with them.

Now to be fair, my ex is certainly partially to blame for the slow progress. But I squarely blame michael for being over 19 months into the process and having zero accomplished other than some minor property exchanged (on their terms completely). There was not one substantive discussion about property settlement in 16 months of representation. Not one settlement offer (from us or from them) and not one step forward in solving the case.

I had to terminate michael as my representative and find other more aggressive representation. Buyer be ware here - if you start to hear that "we have a great relationship with your soon to be ex-spouses lawyer" you might want to either get another lawyer or else open your wallet and prepare for a long wait.

Michael Craven has represented me in the past. He was very knowledgeable, honest and compassionate. I recently had to contact him for an unrelated situation. He called me back quickly listened, offered advice and even responded to a letter and several emails I received, which needed attention immediately. When I asked what would something like this cost for his assistance he DID NOT CHARGE ME. I felt relieved! Not only was he responsive and attentive he was not going to bill me. From the goodness of his heart he offered his help and time at no cost since I was a past client. Any other attorney would have taken this opportunity to bill me for their time. I'm glad to have had hired such a wonderful attorney.

I’ve known Michael Craven both personally and professionally for over 20 years. He is extremely ethical, hard working and has always given me sound practical advice. He has the highest professional standards, is easy to work with, and I’ve recommended him to others.

I worked as an intern for Chicago divorce attorney Michael Craven. He is extremely ethical, smart and experienced. He is especially committed to his clients and the outcomes of their cases. They were very happy with him and his results. He has a calming personality and is a hard worker.

Michael is dedicated to his clients and their families. He is a person who has his actions speak louder than his words, and his style and professionalism makes him one of the top Family Lawyers in Chicago. I would highly recommend working with Michael Craven.

Michael is a responsive, smart, effective family lawyer who has an impressive understanding of the law. I would highly recommend Michael C. Craven.