DeVriendt & Associates LLC

Our Attorneys

Judith A. DeVriendt

Judy has been a licensed attorney in Illinois since 1990. She started her career at the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted cases ranging from traffic to death penalty cases. As an exceptional litigator, she was quickly promoted to Felony Courtroom Supervisor and Chief of the Auto Theft Unit. Judy realized that her true passion lied with family law and subsequently left the State’s Attorney’s Office to pursue a career in private practice with the law firm of Michael Ettinger & Associates. She has been practicing family law ever since. Judy began her own firm in 2001 in Joliet, IL.

A life-long resident of Will County, Judy is very familiar with Joliet and all of the surrounding communities. Prior to becoming an attorney, Judy was a paralegal for a family law firm. She also has first hand knowledge of the struggles families face when going through a divorce. As a single parent of two small children, Judy worked during the day and went to school at night. Judy graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in political science and then went on to obtain her Juris Doctorate from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

Judy served on the Joliet Junior College board of trustees from 2001-2007, and is currently the president elect for the Joliet Junior College Foundation Board. She is an active member of Zonta, a global organization of executives and professionals working together to advance the status of women. Judy also served as President of the Will County Women’s Bar Association for 2 terms.

Taylor L. Struckmeyer

Taylor has been a licensed attorney in Illinois since 2014 and joined DeVriendt & Associates, LLC in 2015. She graduated from the DePaul University College of Law in 2014. While in law school, she participated in the Housing and Community Development Legal Clinic, providing a legal literacy curriculum to residents of one of Chicago’s largest low-income housing providers. She received the Dean’s Certificate of Pro Bono Service for volunteer work (concentrated in Will County) and served as a mentor to incoming law students.

Taylor graduated with honors from Illinois State University with a degree in Political Science. While at ISU, Taylor was a member of the Model UN program and represented Illinois State in New York during the 2011 Model UN conference. She also volunteered with the Pre-Law program, assisting students in the law school application process and acted as the Secretary for the Student Foundation.

Prior to joining DeVriendt & Associates, LLC she clerked for a family and criminal law attorney in Will County and served an externship with a Judge in the Family Law Division in the Will County Courthouse. While working in the Courthouse, she also assisted litigants not represented by counsel in reaching settlement agreements with their former partners and co-parents.

Taylor  is committed to representing litigants in Joliet and the surrounding areas.