Deanna L. Hoyt

After graduating from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Deanna began working at Strauss & Hoyt, LLC as an associate attorney and was named partner in July 2022.

Deanna’s primary practice is in the area of family law and she has represented clients in divorce, custody disagreements, the setting and modification of child support, enforcement of court orders, and guardianship matters. Deanna is an active member of many bar associations and is currently the co-treasurer of the Association of Women Attorneys of Lake County. Deanna is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Women & the Law Committee, Child Law Section Council, Assembly, and was a part of the Inaugural Class of the ISBA’s Leadership Academy. For the 2024-2025 calendar year she will be the Chair of the ISBA’s Women & the Law Committee. Deanna is also a member of the Lake County Bar Association.

Deanna frequently assists as the volunteer mediator in Lake County Self Represented Litigant Courtroom and she also regularly represents clients on a pro bono basis through the Lake County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyer Program. Pro Bono legal work has been important to Deanna since graduating law school and is something she encourages all the attorneys at Strauss & Hoyt, LLC to regularly participate in.

Since 2021, Deanna has been recognized by her peers as a Rising Star in Family Law which is only awarded to 2.5% of attorneys in Illinois.

Areas of Practice

• Family Law
• Guardianship
• Adoption
• Divorce
• Separation
• Premarital Agreements
• Paternity
• Custody & Support

Bar Admissions

• Illinois 2016

Education

• Loyola University Chicago

Bachelor of Science: Criminal Justice and Criminology

• Loyola University Chicago School of Law

Juris Doctor

Professional Activities

• Association of Women Attorneys of Lake County
• Illinois State Bar Association
• Women and Law Committee
• ISBA Central Community
• Child Section Law Counsel
• Lake County Bar Association

Publications

• Transformation in Illinois’ Department of Juvenile Justice, Child Law, The newsletter of
  the ISBA’s Section on Child Law, Volume 33, Number 2, November 2020.
• Promoting Access to Justice Among Self-Represented Litigants, The Catalyst, The
  newsletter of the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Women and the Law, February 2019,
  vol. 24, no 3, and The Docket, The Official Publication of the Lake County Bar
  Association, Vol. 26 No. 5, May 2019.
• Practical Lessons To Learn From Chavis v Woodworker’s, The Docket, The Official
  Publication of the Lake County Bar Association, Vol. 25 No. 11, November 2018.

Testimonials

“My experience with Schlesinger, Strauss & Hoyt, LLC. was top notch. Always responsive and professional. Deanna took care of everything and made an otherwise un-fun process simple and smooth. Grateful for her guidance and expertise.” ~ Katie, January 2023
“I would highly recommend Deanna Hoyt. I hired her and Michael Strauss part-way through my divorce process due to dissatisfaction with my first attorney. As soon as they were hired they learned my case and got it back on track. Deanna is very knowledgeable and she responded in a timely manner with questions I had related to the documents we were working on and the overall divorce process. I felt confident in her ability to litigate, on my behalf, against opposing counsel. My case was complex and high conflict due to the opposing party but she knew how to navigate through those difficult waters. Quite frankly, I believe she continued getting better and better throughout the entire divorce process and I believe she will continue to be a fantastic attorney, a great asset to Michael’s team. If you’re in need of legal representation I would highly recommend Deanna Hoyt.” ~ Client, June 2018