C.E.L. AND ASSOCIATES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Attorney and Mediator
- Member of the Exclusive Professional Women 's Networking Group
Ellen Barron Feldman graduated from Smith College in 1978, majoring in government. She received her law degree from Indiana University School of Law in 1981. For 15 years, she practiced commercial litigation in Chicago with two small and one large firm. In addition to trying cases, arguing motions and making other appearances before Illinois State and Federal courts, she volunteered in the schools and her community. She served on executive boards and a School Advisory Council at several Wilmette schools, participating in decision-making with administrators, teachers and school board members.
Ellen started volunteering in 2006 at The Lilac Tree in Evanston, a nonprofit organization assisting women and men through the process of divorce. She completed Family and Divorce Mediation Training through DePaul University Center for Conflict Resolution in May, 2005 and Advanced Family Mediation in June, 2005. She has been appointed to the 19th Judicial Circuit Family Mediation Program list of court-approved mediators for Lake County, Illinois and frequently volunteers as a mediator in Lake County. She is a member of the Chicago and Lake County Bar Associations and the Association of Women Attorneys of Lake County.
Ellen is a member of the Exclusive Professional Women's Networking Group ("EPWNG") and has been integral in the success of EPWNG, both past, present and into the future. She is also a member of North Shore LAW, a group of women attorneys who have joined forces for marketing, collaboration and referral purposes.
Katie McAteer graduated from the University of Illinois in 1996 with a B.A. in Sociology. After working at a community mental health center in Chicago, she returned to U of I in 2000 to get her Juris Doctor and has practiced law for almost twenty years. She received her family and divorce mediation certificate in 2020. Katie is passionate about mediation because she has personally experienced the emotional and financial devastation of a contested divorce in court. She is now happily divorced and lives with her two teenagers, 3 cats, and one dog in Arlington Heights.
I truly believe that, when possible, mediation is far and away the best method for resolving the issues related to the dissolution of a marriage and custody of minor children. Based on my traumatic experience in the Cook County Domestic Relations system, the main benefit I see of mediation is the level of control over their lives the parties can retain.