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Michael Helfand

How An Illinois Defamation Lawsuit Was Worth $28.5 Million

We get calls all of the time for people looking to sue for defamation or slander. Most of those cases go nowhere for a variety of reasons. These include:

  • They waited too long. The time limit for suing in Illinois is one year from when the defamatory statement was spoken or written.
  • Lack of harm. If you can’t prove actual financial damages, your case won’t have enough value. If it’s just your family members or some people on Facebook, the case likely isn’t worth much. It doesn’t make it right, it just means you’d likely have to pay your lawyer up front to bring the suit.
  • A bad defendant. If you were defamed, but it’s by someone who has no money, even if you win, the chances of collecting anything are low. So if you are suing a teenager or poor person, it’s probably a waste of time. Also, you can’t stop a crazy person from being crazy via a lawsuit.
  • Truth or opinion. This is the #1 defense to these lawsuits. You can’t sue someone for telling the truth, even if it’s embarrassing. And you can’t sue someone for expressing a bad opinion about you. In other words, they can say you were terrible at your job. That’s their opinion.

For these reasons and more, it’s very rare to hear about a successful defamation lawsuit in Illinois. The best ones I remember have involved public figures or situations where a newspaper or TV channel has done something egregious.

But recently there was an Illinois defamation trial that was the exception to all of this. A worker at Wells Fargo called the clients of another broker and falsely told them that he had defrauded investors in the past and committed fraud upon his clients. This was a lie.

In doing so, he did this as an agent of Wells Fargo which meant they could be sued too. There doesn’t appear to be any defense to the claims as a jury found for the plaintiff and awarded over $27 million in damages plus attorney fees which will bring the total verdict to around $28.5 million.

This lawsuit was filed in time, harm was proven by lost clients and reputation damage, the defendant is great because it’s a big company and nothing said was remotely factual or an opinion.

This is a legal unicorn. Something like this almost never happens.

By the way, the case took five years to get to trial. That involved a lot of legal work. It’s why attorneys won’t take cases without big damages. These cases take time and if they aren’t going to get a big judgment in the end, it wouldn’t be worth it to spend hundreds of hours on the case. Unless you pay them out of pocket which would cost you thousands, win or lose.

AI And Illinois Legal Help

AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ChatGPT are some of the buzzwords in life that didn’t exist in most conversations as recently as just a couple of years ago. We are ignoring the lessons of the “Terminator” movies and AI is here to stay.

I get hit up from so many companies trying to incorporate AI into my practice. In many ways it feels like the early 2000’s when people were trying to sell websites or online businesses with no real evaluation as to if they are good at their job. People love the shiny new thing and don’t want to miss out.

That’s not to say that AI couldn’t have its uses, but I’d venture to guess that time is down the road. Right now, in my opinion, it seems like taking legal advice from a first year law student.

I recently got my first phone call from someone looking for legal help who had formed an opinion via an AI app and wanted to confirm if it was correct. Unfortunately AI got almost everything wrong. The danger of course is that people are going to rely on these apps and assume that they are getting correct advice.

The law is different in every State and constantly changing. But the bigger issue as far as I’ve seen is that AI relies on you to present all of the relevant facts and can’t be counted on to ask things that an experienced attorney would ask. AI also isn’t likely to recognize other legal issues that you aren’t thinking of that would only be discovered by asking probing questions.

At least once a week for example I talk to someone about wrongful termination or medical malpractice and discover that their best case is actually for workers’ compensation due to a work related injury. Many of those callers will tell me they don’t have a work comp claim, but it’s only when I explain how work comp law actually works in Illinois that they realize they do have that option.

One company has an AI feature that says they will predict the likelihood of success in your case. That seems like the biggest bit of horse crap I’ve ever heard. There are so many factors in every case that a computer can’t know, namely what the other side is going to say. I can tell you why I think I should have custody of my child, but I’m not going to tell you what my ex is going to say because I can’t speak for them. Or I could tell you what happened to me at a hospital, but if you don’t have access to my medical records, there’s no reasonable way to predict if we’ll win the case.

And none of this even considers who the Judge is on a case and how they tend to think. If you think that a computer can indicate what a Judge is going to do, I’ve got some stories of Judges falling asleep in trial or being inebriated or being in a terrible mood for personal reasons that would indicate otherwise.

I think AI at its best right now is a better search engine than existed before, but if it’s used as anything other than a supplemental tool for an attorney, it’s dangerous. Oh and don’t get me started on law firms who use an AI tool for their live chats to help generate leads. That’s just a way to make you less customer service focused and less helpful to the people who need you.

OSHA Complaint Retaliation Lawsuits In Illinois

Despite the reputation of the Government not doing anything (and it’s not a wholly undeserved reputation), there are a lot of great Government agencies. They may not always do what we want or do it as fast as we want, but places like the EEOC, Illinois Department of Human Rights, and others do help a lot of people.

Another great agency at times is OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. They are the people you call when your employer is not following appropriate safety rules or putting your health in danger. You can call them anonymously, and they may come out to your employer and do an investigation.

Filing a complaint to OSHA can be viewed as a form of whistle blowing. You are trying to protect yourself and/or co-workers from injury. And usually you are doing this after you’ve gone to an employer and asked them to remedy the problem.

Most employers are great, but some really are just assholes. I’ve heard some crazy stories over the years about really unsafe working conditions. In one case where people were having trouble breathing due to no ventilation in a facility which would get to over 100 degrees, the “solution” was to tell the workers they could crack open a door. In many cases I’ve seen people have to work without proper safety equipment or on machines that failed inspection tests.

OSHA can come in after an injury, but the goal is to prevent an injury. And while you can remain anonymous, there’s no guarantee that will happen. If your employer finds out and retaliates against you, that can be illegal and a lawsuit in Illinois.

Retaliation can be as simple as making your life miserable by bullying you or giving you unfavorable work assignments. Or quite often it means that you will get terminated. We consulted with one whistle blower who literally was fired a month after being named the top employee once the company discovered they filed an OSHA complaint.

The good news is most people do remain anonymous and don’t get retaliated against if found out. That said, if you have been retaliated against over this we’d love to talk to you to see if we can help. There’s no fee to talk and usually the cases are taken on a contingency basis which means there’s no fee at all unless the case is successful.

If you’d like to speak to a lawyer for free and in confidence, please call us any time at 312-346-5320.

Can’t Find A Cheap Chicago Attorney? Could Be The PITA Factor

When we started our Illinois lawyer referral and legal guidance website in 2001, we promised to be direct, blunt and honest. We feel that is how lawyers should be because clients and potential clients need to know the truth and know that we can help them by being straight with them. Some people love it. I like direct people that get to the point. Not everyone feels that way and some people truthfully don’t like it. That’s OK. We are not for everyone. In fact, we’ve had people choose to not work with us because they didn’t like how to the point we are. That’s also OK.

When talking to a lawyer for the first time, you should be evaluating if that’s someone you feel is the right fit. That includes asking them whatever questions you have about the case, their experience, how they’d approach things etc. You don’t need to become friends with them, but should feel that they are someone you are alright talking with.

A little secret is that lawyers are evaluating you too, especially ones that are experienced and successful. And for many of them, they are using the PITA factor to decide if they want to get involved or not.

What is the PITA factor? It stands for “pain in the ass.” The bigger a PITA you seem to be, the less likely they’ll want to work with you and/or the more likely they will ask you for a lot of money to take the case on.

Take for example a recent caller to my office. He had an agreement with his ex-wife that she’d sign the house over to him in what is a quit claim deed. He’s been paying the mortgage at around $1,100 a month for over a year, but she won’t sign the house over and won’t leave. He wanted to know if he had a case.

I let him know it was a straight forward situation. What the contract says and what their divorce decree says will determine the outcome. The solution, since he’s stopped returning his calls and texts, is to sue her. That forces her to respond and if she doesn’t he gets what he’s looking for. I let him know that the attorneys who handle that type of case would charge him $1,500 up front.

He wanted guarantees he’d win and got a bit aggressive about it. I let him know that nobody honest could give a guarantee because we don’t have all the facts and don’t know her side of the story. She might say there is no contract and he forged her name. She might say that they signed a second document after the one he’s talking about. The divorce decree may have given her the house or ordered them to sell it. Or he could be 100% in the right.

The only way to know for sure is to sue and see how she responds. I get why he wouldn’t want to risk $1500 on attorney fees, but alternatively he’s spending almost that much every month for a house he doesn’t even own or live in.

He kept on being hostile so I ended the call as he was not someone I’d want to work with. Truth be told, lawyers would have more tolerance for someone like this if they were hit by a bus and had a case that could be worth $10 million. But most good attorneys aren’t going to get involved in an hourly fee case with someone who is rude and won’t listen to their advice.

So fair or not, I highly recommend to people that they put on the best impression possible when you first talk to them. You wouldn’t hire a jerk, so don’t act like a jerk. Lawyers are there to help you and while we might not tell you what you want to hear, we will tell you the truth.

Accidental Death Policy Lawsuits In Illinois

When a loved one passes away unexpectedly, the grief and pain can be overwhelming. Unfortunately, grieving relatives sometimes have to deal with an added frustration: the loved one died of an accidental death, had a life insurance policy that covers that, and the insurance company denies the claim.

While life insurance pays out for most deaths, accidental death policies, as the name implies, pay out in cases of an accidental death.

What exactly is an accidental death?

An accidental death is both sudden and unexpected. Some common examples include:
• Motor vehicle accidents (as a driver, passenger, scooter rider, or pedestrian).
• Drownings.
• Fatal falls (from ladders, roofs, windows, balconies, and decks).
• Death from leisure activities (boating, water skiing or jet skiing, snow skiing).
• Poisoning (from gases like carbon monoxide or from medications).
• Work/industrial accidents (heavy machinery accidents, equipment malfunctions, explosions, mining accidents, impact from a falling object).
• Suffocation (choking on food, other airway blockages).
• Firearms (the exclusions are those killed in combat and those who use a firearm for suicide).

This is not a complete list of examples of accidental death. The key is that the death was not intentional (suicide is), expected, or foreseeable (such as an illness).

Of course, life insurance companies make more money by not paying out on accidental death claims. Therefore insurance companies often deny claims when the situation is not cut and dried, or even when it is.

Sometimes relatives/beneficiaries of the deceased receive these rejected claim letters and simply accept it. They think there must be something in the fine print of the policy that prohibits a payout. Or they don’t know how to challenge the denied claim. It can be daunting for an individual to take on a huge insurance company and know how to respond and fight their decision.

That is where an attorney can step in and be a tremendous help, possibly the difference between no payout and tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars. The attorneys we recommend are highly reputable and have decades of experiences with accidental death policy cases. When a strong lawyer represents you, the insurance company immediately know that you mean business and you won’t just “go away” like they wish you would.

You do not have to pay an attorney anything up front. They only get a percentage of the money that they obtain for you and if they don’t make a recovery you owe them nothing.

There are important deadlines to meet in an accidental death policy case. Since time is of the essence, contact us today at 312-346-5320. We help with cases everywhere in Illinois.

See also: Lead poisoning and lawsuits

Foster Care Injuries In Illinois

Most people are aware of the foster care system in Illinois. Foster care exists because the home life for certain children may be dangerous to their physical, mental and/or emotional well-being.

When children’s birth parents or legal guardians are not able to adequately care for them, or they are in danger, the children are removed by social services and placed with foster parents.

Foster parents must be at least 21 years old. They must pass background checks and complete training. They must also be financially stable.

Sadly, the foster parents who are entrusted to provide a safe and stable home for the foster children sometimes fail and are abusive or neglectful.

What are some examples of social services abuse?

Physical abuse: Hitting, kicking or shaking the child, throwing objects at the child, excessive spanking/corporal punishment.

Mental/emotional abuse: Isolating the child, belittling or making disparaging comments to the child, withholding love, being highly critical.

Sexual abuse: Fondling, sexual assault, exposing child to sexual conversations or pornography, indecent exposure.

What are some examples of social services neglect?

Physical neglect: Not providing reasonable food, water or shelter. Not supervising the child adequately and/or leaving the child alone.

Medical neglect: Failure to get the child medical care when needed. Not following doctors orders or failure to give prescribed medication. Neglecting the child’s dental needs.

Mental/emotional neglect: Similar to the examples of abuse listed above. Not fulfilling the child’s need for parental love, support and affirmation.

Education neglect: Not registering the child for school or allowing the child to attend.

How do these sad and traumatizing situations happen?

Social services agencies are often overworked. The case workers may have more files than they can handle. That can lead to poor decision making and bad oversight.

When children are abused and neglected, it is often because the agency did not:
• Complete the necessary background checks.
• Adequately monitor the homes and foster families.
• Investigate reports of abuse or neglect.
• Act when there was evidence of abuse or neglect.
• Consider the families financial or physical challenges when making placements.

How can an attorney help in these situations?

We get involved in bringing lawsuits when children suffer major injuries such as sexual abuse, severe physical harm or even death in some cases. In other words, not every example of abuse listed is a case.

To get justice, an attorney would first complete an investigation of the situation to determine if the social services agency was at fault. If the agency is at fault, filing a lawsuit would be the likely next step. Going after the abusers themselves is a challenge as they usually don’t have any money. So we sue the social services agency for their negligent placement and/or supervision.

If you’d like to speak to an attorney about a possible case, we are happy to provide a free consultation. Note that there are time limits for bringing a lawsuit, so time is of the essence. Call us any time at 312-346-5320.

Illinois Divorce: Who Gets The House?

People contact us when they are looking for an Illinois attorney. Some are considering or pursuing a divorce and want to hire an experienced and reputable attorney to represent them. A question we hear often in those situations is, “Who gets the house?”

It makes sense that this would be on the minds of people about to divorce. Often the house or condo that the couple owns is their largest or most expensive asset.

If both spouses are on the title or it was bought during the marriage, it’s a marital asset. There are three options the divorcing spouses need to consider:

• Sell the house
• Co-own the house
• Agree to a buyout

Sell the House

If neither spouse wants the house, or they would not be able to afford it on their own, they can sell the house and split the profit. To get to that payout, however, there is typically a lot of work to be done. Finding a real estate agent, making repairs, and sprucing up the property involves a lot of work and money. Can the two parties do that work together or will just one spouse take that on?

Another factor to consider is the state of the real estate market. Is it a sellers’ market or are properties being listed for months before they sell?

The two parties will have to pay off the mortgage and any home equity loans. They need to prepare for the capital gains tax on the proceeds.

Co-Own the House

This is probably the least common outcome. We see this with spouses who have children and believe it is best for the kids to stay in the family home and not have to go between two houses or apartments. The divorced spouses either have separate housing and take turns staying at the family house with the children, or they live in different bedrooms/parts of the house.

This can be a permanent or temporary solution (e.g., in place for 2 years before revisiting the situation). Either way, the spouses remain tied to each other financially.

Agree to a Buyout

In this situation, one spouse wants to keep the house and the other agrees to move out and accept a buyout. The tricky part is determining what the fair amount is for the buyout and how that value is given to the spouse.

Sometimes other money or assets are given in a buyout. Sometimes payments are made over time. Occasionally, the spouse keeps the home as a form of lump-sum alimony.

When you and your spouse can’t agree on one of these three options, a Judge may decide for you and usually that will mean forcing a sale of the house.

Going through a divorce is obviously stressful. But having an experienced advocate in your corner who will help you through the process, including the big issue of who gets the house, will make the process easier. And in the long run, you will likely be better off financially than if you didn’t hire an attorney or if you hire one who isn’t good at their job.

For the best divorce attorney for your situation, contact us at 312-346-5320. We help with divorces in Cook County and the neighboring counties of Lake, DuPage, Kane and Will.

See also: Children of divorce can’t choose which parent they live with

What To Say To Illinois Police When They Pull You Over

You’ve heard the old saying that anything you say can and be used against you and that you have a right to remain silent? It’s great advice. And while I’m not saying you have to be a mute, there are clear answers you should give to the four most common questions a cop will ask you when you are pulled over in Illinois.

The first thing I’ll tell you is that you can and should be polite. Say hello, but then let them lead the conversation. The first question will usually be something like:

Do you know how fast you were going?

This is a trick question. If the speed limit is 55 and you were going 80, telling them that you were going 70 is still admitting to speeding. Also, the question implies that you were doing a certain speed the whole time. You can usually honestly say “I was going the speed limit.” It’s not your job or a good idea to confess to a violation. And you don’t know at what point they were referring to.

If they don’t ask how fast you were going, they might say something like:

Do you know why I pulled you over?

Again, it’s not your job to confess. The proper answer is “I do not.” You might admit to something they weren’t thinking of like a broken taillight or speeding.

It’s possible they will then ask you this:

Can I search you and your car?

They can’t do this unless you consent or they have probable cause such as seeing a weapon in the back seat or evidence of illegal drugs. Again, the right answer is a polite no.

Finally, they might ask you:

Where are you coming from and where are you going?

This is none of their business. Some lawyers will tell you to say “I don’t feel comfortable sharing that information with someone I don’t know.” Others would tell you the simple truth of “work” or “home” is fine. Either way, don’t over share.

The bottom line is that the less you say, the better in most situations. It’s not your job to admit guilty or prove innocence. It’s their job to prove you did something wrong.

What To Do About A Terrible Illinois Law

For Illinois lawyers, no matter what area of law you focus on, it is your job to represent your clients based on what Illinois law is. While there are times when “new law” is created through the courts, the reality is that most law is settled even when it has a grey area.

In other words, lawyers aren’t law makers. We don’t make the law. We don’t usually change the law. We deal with the law as it is and advocate for clients based on what it is. If you come to us with good facts, we can help you. If you come with bad facts it will be much harder.

For example, if you are charged with speeding 27 miles an hour over the limit, a good lawyer can usually make it so that ticket either goes away or doesn’t cause you to lose your license. But if you are like the teenager who called me recently and was going 120 in a 55, those are bad facts and getting a Judge to let that kid keep his license would be a big challenge for any law firm.

When you call us (312-346-5320) to speak with an attorney for free, one thing we promise is straight talk, even if that means telling you that you don’t have a case. So about once a week we’ll hear from someone that can’t be helped and they’ll respond by telling us the law stinks and it needs to be changed. They will often ask for our help in changing it.

For example, a woman called me who sadly lost her husband due to what she believes is medical malpractice. The problem is that case needs to be filed as a wrongful death lawsuit. There’s, generally speaking, a very strict two year time limit for suing. She called me about three years after the death. There’s no way for me or anyone to help her.

She didn’t like the answer and I get it. Her explanation as to why she waited so long was that she was grieving. That makes perfect sense to me, but unfortunately the law doesn’t carve out an exception to the time limits for people who aren’t emotionally ready to sue. I wish they did.

It’s not our job to tell you what the law should be or even agree with you on what you think it should be. It’s our job to offer a legal analysis based on what the law is. That’s all we can do.

This woman said to me, “Someone really needs to change that law.” I hear a version of that once a week or so. I often agree with it. So what can you do if you want a law changed?

You have to go to the legislature. Illinois State Senators and Representatives write and make laws. They often do so after hearing from concerned citizens like yourself. Often they aren’t thinking about how an existing law can have unintended consequences.

Does that mean that if you go to them the law will be changed? No. But it is the logical first step and how many laws get change or come into existence in the first place.

Imane Khelif Should Sue In US Courts

The Paris Olympics were awesome. Steph Curry’s gold medal heroics and Simone Biles comeback win were some of the greatest sporting achievements I’ve ever seen. I didn’t watch any boxing, but like many I heard about the manufactured controversy around female boxer Imane Khelif.

The gist is that she’s very muscular and not traditionally feminine looking. She beat a Russian boxer last year and the IBA disqualified her saying she failed some non-specified eligibility test that reportedly they won’t disclose to anyone. Bottom line is she was born a female and is a female. She actually boxed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and it was a non-issue.

A lot of well known people including Elon Musk, JK Rowling, Trump and others posted things online that said or implied Khelif is a man. It led to a lot of harassment toward her, but fortunately didn’t stop her from winning gold.

I read this week an article that Khelif filed a cyberbullying lawsuit, but from what I can tell, that is some sort of criminal complaint as it’s being led by prosecutors. I’m an Illinois lawyer and of course not familiar with French law.

No matter what she’s doing over there, Khelif should consider filing a lawsuit here in the States against anyone based here who defamed/slandered her. There wouldn’t be any criminal charges from that, but certainly could be very significant, as in seven figures, civil remedies available.

Generally speaking these are very hard cases to bring and win. There’s a high standard to show harm, especially when you are a public figure as she is. But when people state blatant and provable lies about you that damage you and are widespread, you have big financial damages and actual winning facts.

Hopefully her lawyers are telling her about this. We see probably ten winning cases of significant value for defamation/libel/slander a year just because most of the times it’s not this egregious or wide spread. There’s a big difference between saying “she looks like a man” which is an opinion and protected speech and stating as a matter of fact that she actually is a man.

So I do hope she sues because it’s a great way to stop people from being reckless online and searching for rage engagement.

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