Bernadette McNicholas is an experienced and successful attorney, having practiced law for over 27 years. Bernadette founded her solo law practice in 1987, initially representing clients in the areas of criminal defense, personal injury, probate, traffic, collections, partition suits, worker’s compensation, real estate closings and domestic relations and she has tried both jury and non-jury civil trials to verdict. Since 2003, Bernadette has concentrated her growing practice in the area of domestic relations, successfully representing clients in a myriad of domestic relations matters, including property distribution, allocation of debts, child custody and parenting time, child support, maintenance, debt allocation, college contribution, contempt and enforcement, parentage, orders of protection, prenuptial agreements and appellate matters. In 2014, Bernadette joined Kamerlink, Stark, Powers & McNicholas, LLC as a partner, merging her thriving law practice with the firm.   

Bernadette has a solid reputation amongst her colleagues and the domestic relations judiciary as being prepared and thorough in her representation of her clients. Bernadette is a knowledgeable, detail-oriented litigator and she applies her knowledge, skills and experience to every one of her cases, focusing on obtaining the very best results for her clients. Bernadette educates her clients about their rights and obligations as they pertain to domestic relations matters and she deftly guides her clients through the court process. While Bernadette is a proficient litigator, she has also trained through the Collaborate Law Institute and she practices in collaborative law.

Bernadette received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago (1983), majoring in criminal justice. She then earned her Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law (1986). Bernadette was also admitted to practice law in the United Stated District Court Northern District of Illinois and she is additionally licensed to practice law in the State of Arizona. Bernadette is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. She has previously participated in the Court Facilitation Program through the Chicago Bar Association, Matrimonial Law Sub-committee and she previously served on the Illinois State Bar Association Judicial Evaluation Committee.