Roland R. Cross

Partner

Roland R. Cross is a Partner at Brown, Hay + Stephens. He focuses his practice on education law, employment law, family law, juvenile law and the rights of minors, and mediation. He has represented clients in state and federal court, as well as before various state and local agencies.

As an education law attorney, Mr. Cross has provided legal counsel to school districts, families, students and employees in a wide range of matters and disputes. He has also represented school districts and other public bodies in collective bargaining and in disputes related to collective bargaining agreements.

Mr. Cross also has extensive experience as a family law and juvenile attorney. He has represented parties in divorce cases, paternity disputes, custody and visitation disputes, removal disputes, child support disputes, and grandparent visitation cases. He has also represented adults and minors in disputed guardianship cases where parents and third parties have had disagreements over where children should reside.

As a mediator, Mr. Cross has provided mediation services to central Illinois families for more than a decade. Mr. Cross believes that parents and other parties should make every effort to resolve custody and visitation issues rather than submitting these matters to the court for expensive and sometimes unpredictable litigation. Mr. Cross received his mediation training prior to the Illinois Supreme Court’s mediation requirements and has successfully mediated complex custody and visitation issues between parents, parents and grandparents, and parents and other third parties. Mr. Cross approaches mediation with a careful eye focused on the children and with the goal of developing realistic agreements that will last over time.

Roland R. Cross received his B.A. from Denison University; he received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia; and he received his J.D. from St. Louis University.

He is the Past Chair and a current member of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Education Law Section Council and a member of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • Illinois, 2001

EDUCATION

  • Saint Louis University School of Law, St. Louis, Missouri (J.D., Honors: Excellence Award - 2001)
  • University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri (Ph.D. - 1998)
  • University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri (M.A. - 1989)
  • Denison University, Granville, Ohio (B.A., English - 1987)