Marie Sarantakis

Marie Sarantakis is a prominent family law attorney, bestselling author, and nationally recognized divorce coach. She has appeared on the long-running daytime television program “Divorce Court”, Fox News Radio, and in Chicago Magazine.

Marie is licensed to practice law in Illinois, Texas, and Wisconsin. She concentrates her legal practice exclusively in family law. In 2024, Marie received distiction from the Greek America Foundation by being recognized with the prestigious 40 Under Forty Awards and was inducted into Wilmot Union High School's Hall of Fame. In 2023, the Illinois State Bar Association named Marie ‘Young Lawyer of the Year’. She was also recognized as one of the Top Forty Young Attorneys in the United States by the American Bar Association (as a 2023 On the Rise Award recipient). Marie has been named a Rising Star by Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers and featured in Chicago Magazine for five (5) consecutive years. She has earned numerous other recognitions in the legal industry, some of which include, being named one of the Top Ten (10) Family Law Attorneys in Illinois by Attorney & Practice Magazine, Ten (10) Best Attorneys in Illinois by the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys, and a Fellow of the National Association of Distinguished Counsel.

Marie has earned the designation of a Certified Financial Litigator (“CFL”) with the American Academy of Certified Financial Litigators. She is also trained as a mediator (by the Center for Conflict Resolution), arbitrator (by the DuPage County Bar Association), guardian ad litem/child representative (by Chicago Volunteer Legal Services), and collaborative law practitioner (by the Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois).

Marie is very active in the legal community having published over thirty (30) articles in legal publications and taught over seventeen (17) continuing education seminars to Illinois attorneys. In addition to her own Amazon best-selling book, “How to Divorce a Narcissist and Win”, she has also authored a chapter on orders of protection for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education’s “Family Law: Dissolutions of Marriage Court Proceedings” instructional handbook for attorneys. Marie has been appointed to numerous bar leadership committee roles, including but not limited to, Vice Chair of the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Family Law Committee, Chair of the Northwest Suburban Bar Association Ethics Committee, and the Board of Governors of the West Suburban Bar Association.

Prior to starting her own practice, she interned for Justice Thomas Kilbride of the Illinois Supreme Court, the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office, and the Kenosha County Public Defender’s Office. Marie earned her Bachelor of Arts degree (manga cum laude) from Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin and her Juris Doctor degree (cum laude) from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois. During law school she received CALI Excellence for the Future Awards receiving the highest grades in her class for white collar crime, constitutional law, and evidence. She was also recognized with the inaugural Anthony J. Fornelli Emerging Leaders Award from the Justinian Society of Lawyers. During her undergraduate studies, Marie was a Wingspread Fellow of the Johnson Foundation, Clausen Scholar, and received a Patterson Leadership Award from Lake Forest College. Marie attended high school at Wilmot Union High School and in 2024 she was inducted into the Wilmot Hall of Fame.

Outside of work, Marie enjoys automobiles, cooking, and traveling with her German Shepard, Athena.