Breaking Away from Law Firms: Women seeking balance find a solution by setting up their own shops

Chicago Tribune
August 13, 2003
by Connie Lauerman

In her climb up the legal ladder, Rosaire Nottage did it the hard way. She held a full-time job handling grants and contracts while she went to Loyola University Law School at night, then got a job as an associate at a large law firm. She married and had her first child the year she made partner. Two years later she had a second child. Then, with 15 years under her belt at the firm, she left in 1988 to start a small law firm with lawyer Eunice Ward, specializing in divorce. Read the full text

30 Tough Lawyers: You Want Them for You, Not Against You

Chicago Magazine
March, 2002
by James Ylisela, Jr.

One targeted a man running for governor. Another used images of Smurfs to humiliate his client’s accusers. Still another dismantled experts testifying for Vice-President Gore with the Presidency on the line. These three are among the toughest lawyers in Chicago – a select collection of legal talent who have won hundreds of millions of dollars in judgments, sprung countless people accused of crimes, put away crooks and murderers, and litigated some of the most pressing issues of the day. Read the full text

Elite Attorneys Tackle Big-Money Breakups

Chicago Sun-Times
August 6, 2000
by Abdon M Pallasch

“… Nottage … lambaste[s] what they call ‘the good ol’ boys’ of the profession, who they say prefer to settle cases by gentlemen’s agreements behind closed doors at clients’ expense and who resent Nottage’s … willingness to go all the way to trial.” Read the full text

Her Day in Court: Divorce court was famous for its old-boy network. Then Rosaire Nottage arrived.

Chicago Tribune Magazine
July 10, 1994
by Bill Brasher

Rosaire Nottage leans in on her opposing counsel – a guy who usually looks like “L.A. Law’s” Arnie Becker – and rips. “You’ve got the husband, and his business is in the toilet,” says. I’ve got the wife; she’s an idiot, and she believes in a standard of living that never really existed. Now that you know that I know, let’s practice law.” Read the full text

Partners: Rosaire Nottage & Eunice Ward

Today’s Chicago Woman
January 1990
by Anne Rowan

These two attorneys, who finish each other’s sentences, laugh at each other’s jokes, and have a reputation for toughness and team-lawyering, have built a dynamic divorce practice in less than three years.

Their partnership is like a well-oiled marriage. They finish each other’s sentences, laugh at each other’s jokes, and act as cheerleader or critic depending on the other’s need. To the outsider, Rosaire and Eunice seem like girls who grew to womanhood together, lifelong friends. To the insider, they are attorneys, whose reputation for toughness and speed has built a dynamic new divorce practice in town — Nottage & Ward. Read the full text

Splitsville: Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Chicago Times Magazine
Nov/Dec 1988
by Sallyann Jacobson

Nita M. was one of the saddest women I ever knew. A great beauty in her youth, she aged and withered away during a divorce that should have taken one year, but finally took five. The main culprit in the case wasn’t her husband, who had offered a reasonable settlement from the start, but her lawyer, who ran up his fees by misleading her about what she was entitled to and who prolonged her emotional suffering rather than ending the matter so she could heal. Like many people entering a divorce, Nita never informed herself about her rights under the law. She interviewed only one lawyer, and never questioned a word he said or a bill he sent. Read the full text

The Architectural Design of the Law Offices of Nottage & Ward

June, 1988

PRESS RELEASE:

The Law Offices of NOTTAGE & WARD

A private elevator takes one up to the Penthouse law offices of NOTTAGE & WARD, designed by Chicago-based FERNANDEZ & GEORGE Inc. This renovated loop space is loaded with custom details including atrium skylights with architectural elements based on the Villa Derveni in Greece. A subtle palette of ivories and warm greys are reiterated by an ample use of exotic marbles, granites, and stainless steel. All of this is juxtaposed against sleek black leathers and luxurious upholstery, creating an intelligent and tranquil atmosphere for very personal lawyer-client conferences. Read the full text

Lawyers Try New Approach to Announce Their New Firm

Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
May 23, 1988

Amicus curious

If you want to wake up the divorce bar, try sending out an announcement with a dignified photograph.

When Rosaire M. Nottage and Eunice Ward sent out an announcement of the creation of their new family law firm, Nottage & Ward, and included a studio shot of themselves on natural tracing paper, they were not prepared for the response. In the few weeks since the distinctive mailing went out to approximately 700 lawyers and clients, the calls and letters have been pouring in. Read the full text