Michael Helfand

Baseball is back! Hope spring eternal and Cubs fans can dream of winning our first World Series since 2016. And White Sox fans can dream of not losing 100 games.

When I was in law school, a professor pointed out to us how everything around us could potentially be a legal issue. It’s really changed the way I think. With that in mind and in celebration of the new season, here are the top ten legal issues that will happen at and around Wrigley Field this year.

1. Workers’ Compensation – We don’t think of professional athletes as employees, but they are. Injuries are a part of baseball and when a Cubs player gets hurt or a visiting player gets hurt, it can lead to an Illinois workers’ compensation claim. In recent years, players such as Chris Bosio, Jason Adam, Allen Webster and others have filed cases. So have park employees who get injured in a variety of ways.
2. Trespassing – You can bet at some point, some drunken idiot is going to run onto the field. There’s actually a law that can make this a felony after a father and son attacked a Royals coach years ago at Comiskey. Stay off the field.
3. Public Urination – There’s going to be a theme here that baseball games lead to a lot of criminal charges. I used to live across the street from Wrigley and can tell you by experience that there aren’t enough bathrooms for people out in the street. The drunk and desperate ones will pee anywhere.
4. Battery – Baseball should be joyous, but there are a lot of jerks and people who can’t handle their liquor around. I’ve seen double digit fights over the years, usually from opposing fans and Cubs fans getting into it.
5. Prostitution – You wouldn’t think it happens, but it’s definitely out there and around the ball park. While I personally think it should be legal, it’s not and every year people get caught. There are so many tourists and business people that get targeted and often arrested for solicitation too.
6. Counterfeiting – It’s not as common as it used to be, but there are still fake tickets floating around and being sold on the streets.
7. Personal Injury – Getting hit by a foul ball is a risk of being at a game. But getting hit by a ball that a player throws into the stands isn’t. Neither is getting trampled by fans trying to get that ball. And we’ve seen people hit by cars because drivers don’t know how to drive in a crowded area. And of course there is the risk of injuries due to defects in Wrigley itself.
8. Divorce – While I’ve seen a handful of marriage proposals at stadiums, I’ve also seen a lot of (usually drunk) couples fighting in a way that signals the marriage is over. The baseball game might not be the primary cause of a divorce, but you’ll see a lot of evidence of marriages that need to end.
9. Theft – There are people who hang out by the games with one purpose in mind. To steal your stuff. Drunk people and out of towners are easy marks. Even as someone who has been to hundreds of games, I don’t take a lot of cash with me and make sure my phone and wallet are really secure. Getting out of Wrigley is a huge challenge as the corridors are packed tightly. Watch your stuff!
10. Child Endangerment – Taking a kid to a ball game is a great idea. They’ll remember it forever. Hopefully it’s not because you left them at the seats for an hour while you were smashing drinks or getting high.

Hopefully it’s a great baseball season. Go Cubs!

With the caveat that there are exceptions to this, generally speaking in life, if you want to have an enforceable agreement with someone, you get it in writing and you both sign off on it. So if someone says they’ll sell you their car for $5,000 and you say sure, it’s not really an agreement. If push came to shove and they wanted to back out, they could, as could you.

A written contract shows a meeting of the minds. A well-written contract makes clear the rights and responsibilities of each party. It’s why so many housing contracts are really long.

When hiring an attorney, you can’t know for sure you’ve hired them or what they are getting paid without a written contract. In law terms, this is called a retainer agreement. No smart attorney would take on a client without one because it protects them and you. It will lay out what they are going to do for you and what they aren’t going to do for you. Most importantly it will make clear what their fees are. If it’s a contingency case it will tell you what percentage they will receive. If it’s an hourly fee, it should make clear what they can bill for, what it will cost if staff is doing the work, how often you will pay them, etc. It should also outline how expenses will be covered and reimbursed. For example, in Illinois medical malpractice lawsuits, costs can be in the six figures. You need to know upfront if you’ll be asked to pay for it if the case doesn’t succeed.

When agreements with a lawyer are only verbal, it leaves open to interpretation what the charges will be or what you are getting from them. In fact, it leaves open to whether they are even your lawyer at all. If an attorney won’t give you a fee agreement, it really would make me question if they know what they are doing or if they are the right fit for you.

These agreements, unlike housing contracts, don’t have to be long. Most are 1-3 pages and essentially the same no matter who the client is with just names and dates changed. In areas of law like workers’ compensation, the State of Illinois has actually created the agreements that every attorney must use.

One strange thing is that most lawyers aren’t taught how to create retainer agreements in law school. So if you are working with a young lawyer (or really anyone) you’d be wise to make sure it discusses fees or anything important to you.

Bonus tip. I know of one law firm in Chicago that implies in their retainer agreements that they can’t be fired. That is simply illegal and not enforceable. A retainer agreement is a contract, but I’ve never seen one that legally requires you to stick with your attorney if you think they are doing a bad job. And in the same way, a lawyer can also fire a client if they choose. Retainer agreements are contracts, but they only detail what will happen when each party wants to work together. It doesn’t bind you together forever.

Second bonus tip. Many lawyers say that if it’s not in writing, it didn’t happen. Having a retainer agreement should give you peace of mind and you should insist on one.

See also: Are You Really Hiring A Chicago Law Firm?