Attorneys

During his years of practice since 1969, Mr. Hopkins has specialized in formulating creative tax plans for clients. Over the decades, he has also had a substantial impact on improvements to laws affecting divorcing spouses.  From 1980 to 1986, Mr. Hopkins chaired the ABA Tax Section's Domestic Relations Tax Simplification Task Force, which spearheaded the divorce tax reforms to the Internal Revenue Code that were enacted in the mid-1980s.  From 1986 to 1992, he chaired an Illinois inter-bar Task Force that revamped the Illinois Domestic Violence Act.  Mr. Hopkins also chaired a Chicago Bar Association Subcommittee that drafted the 1997 law in Illinois known as "The 'Leveling of the Playing Field' in Divorce Litigation Enactment." Mr. Hopkins has served as chair of the Illinois State Bar Association Family Law Section Council and the CBA's Matrimonial Law Committee, as well as a member of the CBA's Board of Managers and the Chicago Bar Foundation’s Board of Directors.  He has been a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers since 1981 and has been selected by peers for inclusion in the 2003-2009 Illinois Leading Lawyers and in the 2005-09 Illinois Super Lawyers.  He has also been selected for inclusion in “Best Lawyers in America,” Naifeth and Smith (2010).  Mr. Hopkins is a frequent author and speaker, having presented numerous papers in the divorce taxation area at bar association seminars and tax law institutes.  He is a graduate of Duke University and Columbia University Law School.

Education

Columbia University, J.D. (1969)

Duke University, B.A. (1966)

Admissions

Illinois (1969)

U.S. Tax Court (1971)

Memberships

Member,  Illinois Family Violence Coordinating Council (1994-1997)

Chairman,  Matrimonial Law Committee (1988-1989)

Member,  Chicago CBA Board of Managers (1992-1994)

Chairman,  Illinois State Family Law Section Council (1989-1990)

Chairman,  Joint ISBA/CBA Task Force on Illinois Domestic Violence Act (1986-1992)

Chairman,  American ABA Domestic Relations Tax Simplification Task Force (1980-1984)

Chairman,  Section of Family Law: Taxation Committee (1993-1995)

Member,  Board of Directors, Chicago Bar Foundation (1998)

American (Section of Taxation: Chairman, 1982-1984, Domestic Relations Tax Problems Committee) Bar Association (1982-1984)

American (Section of Family Law: Chairman, Taxation Committee) Bar Association (1993-1995)

American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers

Board of Directors,  Chicago Bar Foundation (1998)

Study Committee on Mediation of Child Custody, Support, and Visitation Disputes (1990-1992)

Awards and Honors

Best Lawyers in America, Naifeth and Smith (2010)

Illinois Super Lawyer (2005-2010)

Leading Lawyers Network – Leading Lawyer in Family Law

Authorships

Premarital Agreements Under Illinois Law, Income Tax Land Mines' in Divorce and Separation

Tax Aspects of Dissolution of Marriage,Tax Planning Under Section 71

Divorce Taxation: Planning Possibilities and Pitfalls and Matrimonial Practice and the Illinois Domestic Violence Act