Donald C. Schiller, respected attorney, active member of both the legal and academic communities, and beloved husband, father, brother, uncle and grandfather, died peacefully at his home in Highland Park, IL. on October 18th, 2024, following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Don is survived by his wife Eileen (Fagin), sons, Jonathan (Susan) and Eric, grandchildren Jessie and Ben, his brother Honorable Stephen Schiller (Joann) and brothers in law, Steven and Michael. He was proceeded in death by his parents Sidney and Edith Schiller, parents in law Morris and Fay Fagin and sister-in-law Nancy Fagin.

Born on December 8, 1942, in Chicago, Don’s love of the law began after his bar mitzvah when he began to study Talmudic law for a year at Hebrew Theological College. Shortly thereafter, he met his future wife of sixty years, Eileen, as they started dating while attending Amundsen High School together on the city’s Northside. Don would go on to attend Lake Forest College. Don’s parents would not permit him to marry until he had finished at least one year of law school, so he enrolled in law school in 1963 before finishing his undergraduate degree and Don and Eileen were married in 1964. In 1966, he graduated from DePaul University’s College of Law. Following graduation, he started his law practice and joined with his father, Sidney Schiller, who was a prominent attorney. Before long, Don became well known as a family law attorney.

By 1977 Don’s professional stature had grown as he simultaneously served as Chair of both the Chicago Bar Association’s Matrimonial Committee and the Illinois State Bar Association’s Family Law Section. He was already considered by many as the “go to” lawyer in the field of family and divorce law. He went on to serve as President of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), Chair of the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association (ABA) and as a member of the Board of Governors the ABA.

Along with Joseph DuCanto, Don founded Schiller DuCanto & Fleck LLP in 1981 with the vision of creating a firm that would be internationally recognized as a model for the practice of family law. The firm has grown to become one of the largest in the United States that limits its practice to family law.

Don’s love for his law school alma mater, who honored him in 1998 with a DePaul University Distinguished Alumni Award, was a constant presence in his life. It culminated in 2003 when the College of Law named their family law center the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center. As a co-founder, he wanted the center to provide specialized training for students in the field of family law. His advocacy focused on family law reform, and he was instrumental in shaping the landscape of divorce law in Illinois, including the creation of the state’s no-fault Dissolution of Marriage Act.

Don was once described as a “gentleman in a volatile profession.” And that revered respect earned from friend and foe alike over decades of practicing matrimonial and family law awarded him all the profession’s highest accolades. From being the first to be named as Chicago Lawyer of the Year for Family Law in 2009 to having both “Super Lawyers” and “Leading Lawyers” surveys name him as one of the Top 10 lawyers in Illinois.

In 2011, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (Illinois chapter) presented Don with its prestigious Judge Samuel Berger Award given to one who exemplifies integrity, courtesy, knowledge of family law and possesses an extraordinary ability to solve human problems. 

Don’s peers selected him for major professional responsibilities, which are too numerous to list and included: National Chair of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers’ Continuing Legal Education Committee Diplomat of the American College of Family Trial Lawyers, an original Member of the Matrimonial Network (the thirty most prominent family law attorneys in the United States), Member of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, and a Co-founder and faculty member of the ABA Family Law Trial Advocacy Institute. He was also a member of The Economic Club of Chicago.

He was also a well-known published author and lecturer in the field of family law. He taught divorce law at the University of Chicago Law School for over 15 years.

Don’s more than 58-year professional career, and probably his greatest legacy, besides his family, is the number of attorney’s he’s hired, mentored and guided that still work at Schiller, DuCanto & Fleck LLP.

He will be remembered for his elegance, energy, competitiveness and loyalty-- qualities that he brought to his life as a husband, father of two, grandfather of two, brother and uncle of many, friend, and lawyer.