Russell Knight is the founder of the Law Office of Russell D. Knight, a family law practice with offices in Chicago, Illinois, and Naples, Florida. He is a prolific legal writer and a highly sought-after resource for both clients and peers in the family law community.
I asked Russell what led him to start his own firm.
"I graduated in 2008. I was like on the last chopper out of Saigon when I got a job," he told me. "I worked for a very nice man, and I had a very high opinion of myself at the time. I thought, I bet I could do this. And so I tried, and it kind of worked from the very beginning. I'm not an inside cat. I'm meant to be working for myself."
Over the past 17 years, Russell has built a thriving practice, driven in large part by an extraordinary commitment to legal writing. Starting in 2015, he began producing in-depth articles on Illinois family law written for lawyers and non-lawyers alike — not 500-word blog posts, but deeply researched pieces ranging from 1,500 to 13,000 words, each grounded in statute and appellate case law. Today, his website hosts hundreds of these articles, a library he believes is unmatched by any family law attorney in the country. He reads every appellate decision that comes out each week, updating existing articles and identifying new ones. It is, as he put it, his superpower.
That body of work doesn't just attract clients - it attracts the kind of lawyers he wants to work with.
Russell is deeply invested in the growth and success of his team. He operates a fully remote firm, giving his staff the autonomy to manage their own schedules and lives. But he also provides high-level mentorship and resources that go far beyond standard law firm perks. He pays for his attorneys to attend intensive trial advocacy institutes and even brings in a custom tailor to outfit his team.
"If you're a young lawyer, you don't just want to be good. You want to look good and feel good too," he shared. "If you can think of something that would make someone feel a little more valued or a little more encouraged, I would love to hear it because I'm trying to do that all the time. I hate the idea of pizza in the break room. That is not any kind of life for anybody."
His leadership philosophy is rooted in extreme gratitude and a reliance on what he calls "A-players" - professionals who take complete accountability for their own work. By hiring smart, honest, high-energy people, he eliminates the need for micromanagement.
When I asked Russell to look back on the distance he has traveled since that first small office in Chicago, his answer was characteristically direct.
"It was a lot of fun getting here. I got supported by a lot of good people and I did tireless efforts. Self-improvement is so humbling. When you're looking back at yourself at 35, and you realize I really have moved forward in life. Otherwise, we're all on a Groundhog Day where we're living the same day over and over again. I don't want to live the same day over and over again."
"No one's coming to save you. That's a fact."
Today, Russell's firm is vastly more successful than he ever imagined when he first hung his shingle. He has built a life and a practice that allows him to work from his beach house in Florida while supporting a team of exceptional lawyers.
Are you dealing with a family law matter in Illinois or Florida? Connect with Russell Knight and check out Law Office of Russell D. Knight.