Marlene E. Siedlarz

Marlene E. Siedlarz received her Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law. She also holds a degree in Political Science, cum laude and with high departmental distinction from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  While obtaining her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Ms. Siedlarz also received minors in History and Women’s Studies. 

While in law school at the University of Illinois College of Law, Ms. Siedlarz served as the vice president of the International Law Society and was a member of the Myra Bradwell Association of Women Law Students. She also participated in the Prisoners' Rights Research Project and was a teaching assistant for the International Human Rights Clinic during her final year of law school. Marlene also served as 1L orientation leader and as LLM peer adviser. She was the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the CALI Excellence for the Future Award during her second year. Ms. Siedlarz was also a volunteer and is a certified counselor for the Rape Crisis Services, a not-for-profit organization addressing the needs of assaulted individuals.

Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Siedlarz joined an international consulting firm of Deloitte & Touche, LLP as a tax consultant. She practiced in the area of inter-state taxation. While at Deloitte, Marlene also worked with members of other groups including the Sales and Use Tax group. She was also involved in a number of projects with the Creative Tax Solutions group, where she worked on a project creating state tax incentives for small business. Marlene was also a member of the Diversity and Mentoring Committees. 

Following Deloitte, Marlene completed research projects with the Center for International Human Rights at the Northwestern University School of Law. At the Center, Marlene provided pro bono assistance to low income and vulnerable populations. She was involved in a number of high profile cases, such as Zheng v. Gonzales, which was covered by the New York Times. Marlene was also part of a group that won asylum for a young Iraqi woman seeking refuge in the United States. Marlene also worked with LLM students and participated in a project on amending the U.S. Criminal Code.

Since 2007 Ms. Siedlarz has been practicing in the area of matrimonial law, representing clients in all aspects of family law, including dissolution of marriage proceedings, custody, child support, orders of protection, division of marital assets, post and pre nuptial agreements, grandparents’ visitation rights as well as maintenance and division of retirement accounts.  She is a compassionate attorney who takes time to get to know her clients on a personal basis in order to achieve the best possible outcome in their cases. 

Attorney Marlene Siedlarz is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and she also speaks fluent Polish.