Did You Know?

Illinois lawyers in general are not taught a ton about running a business. As a result I know a lot of very good attorneys who are terrible at running a law firm.

Knowing how to run a business isn’t a requirement for opening a law firm. So many attorney just wing it and go with what they know. One of the common statements about running a business is, “The customer is always right.” It may be controversial, but that’s a terrible way to run a law firm.

The reality is that the customer is often wrong. If a lawyer isn’t willing to tell you that you are wrong and why, they are doing you a disservice.

For example, we will get a call from people telling me that they want a medical malpractice lawyer and then tell us facts that make clear there’s no case. Maybe the time limit for suing has passed or what happened to them is a known risk or they haven’t suffered any physical harm, but want to sue because something bad could have happened.

We take the approach that a lawyer should be very direct and honest. That includes telling people that don’t have a case that they don’t and why we think that. That doesn’t stop anyone from seeking a second opinion, but at least they’ve gotten the truth.

Some people love and appreciate directness. A lot of people just want to know if they have a case and can accept the truth even if it seems unfair. Other people don’t appreciate it. I get that, but to us being direct is the only way to be.

The alternative is to lie to the customer. A lot of lawyers will tell you that you have a great case, but they are too busy to take it on. Or they will come up with some other excuse that gives you false hope. To me that is much worse than being direct even if it upsets someone to be told that there’s nothing that can be done.

You come to an attorney because they have knowledge and expertise about the law. We try to be as nice as we can be, but if we don’t use our knowledge, honestly, it’s bad for you. So we encourage people to accept that they could be wrong when they think that they have a case.

Final thought. We make money if you have a great case. We want you to have a great case. If there’s any way we can help you be in the right legally, we will do whatever we can to make that happen. And fortunately many people do have good cases and we’ve been able to help tens of thousands of them.

If there’s anything we’ve learned in the last year, it is that life isn’t fair. Some people, usually rich or connected ones, can get away with things that others can not. Different people get different results.

We see that every day in Illinois law in various ways. Just about every day someone asks me a question, gets the answer, and then is pissed because they don’t think that someone should be able to do something. I often say something along the lines of, “It’s not my job to tell you what the law should be, it’s to tell you what it is.”

There are other times that you might be in the right, but it doesn’t make financial sense to bring a case forward. In other words, you’d spend more money than it’s worth. A recent example is an accountant who cost their client a $10,000 penalty. We’d likely spend more than that in expert fees to try and bring a case forward.

Another example that shows that yes, they can do that, even when it’s BS that came from a Lyft driver who called me the other day. He has driven for a while and got a notification that he was no longer allowed to drive for them. Basically a passenger claimed he sexually harassed her, so they ended his access to the platform.

He wanted to sue for defamation as he has no idea what they could be talking about. He says he’d never harass anyone and can’t think of who could have possibly said that as his interactions have all been positive. Lyft won’t tell him either.

He wants to sue the passenger for defamation because he’s lost his job. To do that, he’d likely have to sue Lyft to get the name. Then he’d have to sue the person who allegedly made this up.

Now let’s assume this person is a liar. If they lied for some reason to Lyft, they’d likely lie in court when defending a lawsuit. So you have a he said/they said situation. Unless that person can somehow be proven to not be credible, it’s likely you lose. If they say they felt uncomfortable when you made a generic comment, you likely lose. And of course if they have a witness you’ll almost certainly lose.

So you are out a job and have an uphill battle to win a case. And to bring a case forward, you’ll probably spend thousands out of pocket win or lose. And even if you win, you have to hope the person you are suing actually has money to pay off a judgment.

Is any of this fair if you’ve done nothing wrong? No, but Illinois law and certainly life isn’t always fair. Do people get away with BS? Absolutely. I have no idea if this is a BS case or a mistake or a legit complaint. The point is that in order to pursue “justice” you often have to be willing to spend money with the knowledge you may not get anywhere.

My job as a lawyer is to make sure you understand your options. I don’t want to steal your money by encouraging you to pursue a case that is probably not a winner. If you do that you get screwed over twice or at least feel that way.

We talk to tens of thousands of people every year about various Illinois legal questions. Some turn into full blown blog posts. Others we take and once or twice a year do a “best of the rest” post. Here are some great Illinois legal questions we received in 2025. If you’d like a free consultation with a lawyer in Chicago, please call us any time at 312-346-5320.

Is Common Law Marriage Legal In Illinois?

The answer is no and yes. It’s not recognized if it is created in Illinois, but the State does recognize common law marriages that are formed in another state that considers it valid. The bottom line for most people is that if you want Illinois to recognize your marriage, just do it formally.

Is There Any Way Around The Statute Of Limitations For Medical Malpractice?

The person who asked this also said, “I’m still suffering and it’s not fair because I didn’t know about the time limit.” Unfortunately that does not matter. The only real exception is if the victim has a brain injury that incapacitates them (think being in a coma) and even then it’s not guaranteed. This is why if you think you are a victim of medical malpractice in Illinois it’s important to act ASAP.

My Brother Was Killed In A Car Accident. His Wife Filed A Lawsuit. Can I File My Own?

Wrongful death lawsuits in Illinois are filed on behalf of the estate of the person who died. There can only be one estate and thus only one lawsuit. Since the wife is the primary beneficiary of the estate, it’s her right to bring the lawsuit and benefit from it. The brother, while having a legit personal loss, can not bring his own case.

Are Video Wills Valid In Illinois?

No, but they can be used as supplementary evidence if there’s a will dispute. In other words, don’t rely on them.

Here Is An Illinois Workers’ Compensation Question We Got That Is A Bit Of A Story

I was asked to help unload furniture from a truck. My brother in law had custom furniture built and they had free delivery. The business was there to deliver the furniture, but they were a guy short so they asked my brother in law if he could call someone to help. I was called because they didn’t have anyone else to call. In the process of unloading I got injured. Would I be covered by workers comp?

That is unfortunate, but since you are not an employee, it is not a work comp case. This would have been true even if they offered $50 to help. This is likely no case at all unless the delivery company was negligent in him getting injured.

We love answering Illinois legal questions when we can and it is always free to call us. Please reach out any time.

A recent caller had a question about her Illinois workers’ compensation settlement. Her lawyers were pushing her to take an annuity. That means instead of getting a lump sum settlement where she gets all of the settlement money at once, she’d get paid out over time.

She told me the name of her lawyers, and I had never heard of them. I looked them up, and they mentioned annuities on their website which is really odd. I have no proof, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they got a kickback from setting up annuities or somehow had a financial motivation to do so. This was a smart woman who definitely doesn’t need a structured settlement.

The answer to her question, as to if she had to do this, was a quick and firm NO!!!

Nobody has to take an annuity or structured settlement. Is it a good idea for some people? Sure. If you win a big lawsuit and suddenly have millions coming to you, but prior to that were broke, it might help you not overspend and go broke again. We’ve seen that happen to too many people.

These annuity devices can be a good way to help you stay within your means. It can also help prevent people from coming after you for money once they hear about it. It’s also a great idea for young people who get money before their brain is fully formed and may not make the best decisions.

Side note, if you ever get a settlement whether big or small, I HIGHLY recommend that you not tell anyone about it. And definitely don’t post about it on social media.

Back to our regularly scheduled blog post. If you feel comfortable managing a large sum of money or if you just want it all now, you don’t have to take a payout over time. If you want to waste it all on hookers and blow, I can’t advise that but also can’t stop you.

Most people we come across are smart enough to not waste all of this money or get swindled by others. Your lawyer can certainly make recommendations, but they can’t refuse to go through with a settlement if you say you want all of your money at once.

By the way, no attorney gets their payment over time. They are getting paid all at once. If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for you.

Bonus tip. If you’ve gotten to the settlement point and your lawyer is insisting you take your payments over time even though all of the money is coming in at once, there’s not much we can do for you other than tell you to push back. The time to get a new lawyer is before problems like this begin.

We have helped hundreds of people who have been the victims of sexual abuse in Illinois. Most of those people have been forcibly raped or assaulted in some way. Whatever acts occurred were not consensual in any way.

It’s also possible to have a sexual abuse lawsuit when the sex is consensual. In fact, we have helped people sue a lot of Illinois doctors and lawyers who were sleeping with their patients or clients. but not raping them.

How can you sue a lawyer or doctor in Illinois for consensual sex?

The answer is that if your doctor is actively treating your or your attorney is actively representing you, they have a balance of power over you. In other words, even if it appears consensual, they can manipulate or control you in an unethical way.

So if you are a criminal defense attorney and sleep with your client, there could be at least an appearance that they won’t do the best job for you if you refute their advances or break it off.

The same goes for doctors. It’s most common with psychologists, but it can happen with any medical practitioner. It’s most gross with psychologists as you are talking to them for help which makes you vulnerable with them. We’ve also seen this with plastic surgeons and OBGYN’s.

For all sorts of professionals, there are ethical guidelines about your behavior. Right at the top of the list is that you can’t sleep with your clients.

There’s not an exception because it’s consensual or you both really want it. If you and your attorney want to get together, they should fire you as a client before anything happens. I’ve actually seen that happen in a lot of divorce cases where a lawyer and client get emotionally close. Even in that case, it’s in my opinion inappropriate for them to start a relationship with you. But it’s definitely a lawsuit if they do and continue to represent you.

And if you and your doctor want to date or sleep together, they should fire you as a patient first. And just like with a lawyer, this means that they should make sure you have new representation before anything happens. And for both professions, the new representation should not be in the same practice or firm.

If you have any questions about this or were in any sort of sexual relationship with a licensed professional who you also hired, we’d love to speak to you for free and in confidence. Call us at 312-346-5320 any time.

For 24 years now we’ve been giving people free Illinois legal guidance and attorney referrals. While I can’t always guarantee you’ll like what I have to say, I can promise that you can ask me legal questions and I will tell you the truth. Here are some good ones that we’ve received over the last few months. If you have any questions, give us a call at 312-346-5320 or fill out our contact form.

I’m a convicted felon. My mom died and left everything in her estate to me, and then me the executor. Am I still allowed to be the executor?

In Illinois, felons are not allowed to be the executor of an estate. Hopefully a backup executor was named.

Does not being married matter when it comes to child custody? My ex is saying since we weren’t married I have no rights.

Marriage has nothing to do with Illinois custody laws. Custody is based on the best interests of the child. That relates to safety, health, education, the impact a parent can and does make, your background and many other things. Whether or not you were ever married never comes up in court on these cases, at least not in a legally relevant way.

What is a rule to show cause?

A rule to show cause is an order by a Judge in a case, requiring one of the parties to explain to the Court why a motion or request by the opposing party should not be granted. For example, if you haven’t paid your child support and the other party to the case wants you held in contempt of court (which could mean you’d go to jail, lose your driver’s license or have another punishment), a rule to show cause gives you a chance to justify or explain your side of the story. It’s a serious issue and one you’d typically want to have a lawyer deal with.

Can I be fired by text without reason?

We get a version of this question every week. The answer is yes. Is it classless to fire someone by text? Probably unless it’s a safety issue. Is it legal? Also yes. Your employer doesn’t owe you, legally speaking, any professionalism in their behavior. And they can fire you for any reason unless it’s an illegal one such as terminating you for your race, religion, getting hurt at work or something else protected under the law.

My car got stolen off the street in Chicago. Can I sue the City for not doing anything about the high crime rate?

That would not be a successful lawsuit. In general, nobody is responsible for the criminal acts of other parties. And the City isn’t liable just because it happened in Chicago or they aren’t as aggressive as some people want them to be when it comes to crime.

We hope this advice helps. Please reach out to us any time if you need anything.

By far the most common call we get is from people with Illinois employment law questions. We are able to help a lot of people with compensation issues and some who have been truly treated illegally based on race, religion, job injury, pregnancy, etc.

The reality though is that employers can do a lot of scummy things and get away with it. That’s because while they are being unfair, they aren’t breaking the law and you don’t have a contract (like union workers) that protects you. Here are 30 things that we think suck that employers do anyway.

1. Promoting a friend or relative over you. No law requires the most qualified person to get a job. Nepotism is not against the law, neither is favoring your buddy.
2. Screaming at you. Harassment is illegal only if it’s being done for illegal reasons like your race, sexual orientation, etc. There’s no law against being an asshole. They can be condescending. They can tell you that you are dumb or bad at your job or useless, etc. If it’s not being done for illegal reasons it’s not a case.
3. Changing your shift times. You might have taken a job because it fit your schedule, but if they tell you that you need to work a night shift, they can legally fire you if you don’t.
4. Changing your job duties. A lot of people get hired for one job, but then get asked to do something else. That something else often isn’t a job you want to do.
5. Going back on their word. I’ve had lots of calls from people who said something like, “My boss told me I didn’t have to work Christmas Day, but at the last minute they made me.” That’s shitty and totally legal.
6. Changing your compensation structure. They can’t do it retroactively, but your employer certainly can cut your pay at any time. You can file for partial unemployment if that happens, but that’s about it.
7. Not giving raises, a holiday bonus or throwing a holiday party even when the company is making a ton of money. These things are good for morale and you deserve it, but neither is required by law, even if they’ve always done it.
8. They can micromanage you even if you don’t need the help.
9. Not offering a severance agreement after a layoff. Many companies do this for good will and to make sure they won’t get sued for violating other laws in the future, but nothing requires a severance agreement be offered.
10. Having you do someone else’s work, but not giving you a promotion or raise for it.
11. Being short staffed. With the exception of some medical providers, there isn’t a law that requires most employers to have a certain amount of people present at any time. That can make your job feel overwhelming.
12. Firing you for doing things they always allowed. If your employer always allowed employee discounts, a free shift meal, etc. and then fires you for taking advantage of that, it’s not an illegal termination.
13. Talking badly about you. It’s not nice, but if they are gossiping or saying unkind things, it’s typically legal.
14. Taking away your job after you’ve missed 12 weeks for FMLA. It would be nice if they worked with you, but they don’t have to.
15. Moving the company out of state or far from your home. If they do so and you lose your job or you have a longer commute it’s completely legal.
16. Cutting your hours or taking you off the schedule. There’s no guarantee that you’ll work a certain amount of time.
17. Not giving any privileges for seniority even if they used to. Nothing in Illinois law requires this.
18. Firing you if you miss work because you couldn’t find a baby sitter.
19. Discriminate against you based on your age if you are under 40. That is totally legal in Illinois.
20. Outsourcing any jobs. It sucks to see work go overseas, but your employer can do it.
21. Not paying you for on call time. This is common for EMT’s especially where you need to be able to report within a couple hours notice and don’t get paid in any way for doing so.
22. Having you take a last minute business trip that causes you to miss out on plans including something you’ve already paid for.
23. Not providing security guards or other protection even when it’s clearly needed. While this could lead to a workers compensation claim or other case, there’s no law that requires security guards.
24. Require overtime work. You might not want to do it or have other things planned, but they can make you work overtime if they deem it necessary. Of course they have to pay you for it too.
25. Listen to your phone calls on the company phone. It’s not illegal eavesdropping if it’s done at work.
26. Monitor your company computer activity. There’s no right to privacy there either.
27. Have cameras in the break room, work areas, etc. Another way they can legally spy on you. They can’t put one in the bathroom or changing areas, but that’s about it.
28. Have a dress code for employees that they don’t follow. This happened to me on my first lawyer job. We had to wear suits every day and the nepo baby boss would show up in a sweater. Totally legal.
29. Drug test you. This one feels really invasive, especially if you aren’t working a job that involves heavy machinery or health care, but they can do it.
30. Fire you because they are having a bad day. This is the definition of “at will” employment which means your job is at their will. You can win employee of the month award in the morning and get let go in the afternoon.

Note that if any of these things were done due to protected reasons under the law or other illegal activity, they can be sued for it. But quite often it’s just done because they are terrible employers, and all you can do is take it or look for a new job. If you have any questions about any of this, please call us for a free lawyer consultation any time at 312-346-5320.

We talk to more than 250 people every week about various Illinois legal matters. While we can’t help everyone, most people have sincere, good reasons for calling. They need a work comp attorney or divorce lawyer or legal help with a traffic ticket.

Some people want to know if they have a lawsuit. They might present a situation that isn’t a case, but that doesn’t mean that they have frivolous or ridiculous intentions. They just don’t know what they don’t know and are seeing if they have any legal rights.

We do get some calls that even if the caller sincerely doesn’t know if they have a case or not, most people would recognize right away that the claim is frivolous. Over a year that can add up. Here are some of those situations we’ve heard about in 2024 along with why they are frivolous.

• A caller wanted to sue over the harm that certain pesticides could cause. He hasn’t been to a doctor, doesn’t know who he wants to sue and has no symptoms. He’s just mad these pesticides exist. (This is frivolous because there is no actual harm suffered. It theoretically could be a case if he went to a doctor and they related a serious illness to a chemical exposure).
• We received a call from a former star high school athlete who was kicked off the team 40 years ago after he felt they made him confess to breaking school rules that he didn’t break. As a result he lost out on college scholarship opportunities and spiraled. (It’s far too late to bring this case and you can’t sue a school because they disciplined you about something you confessed).
• A couple wants to sue a school across the street from their house because their new bell system is really loud. (They have no case because it happens during the day and that’s the risk of living by a school).
• A guy rented an apartment that didn’t have great heat. He bought a space heater that ended up burning him when he fell asleep.
• A guy wanted to go for custody in order to deter his girlfriend from going for child support and use that as leverage. We declined to get involved as it’s unethical and as he didn’t even want custody it would be frivolous.
• A woman wanted to sue because she felt “baited” into calling some black women the N-word and is facing repercussions for it.
• Caller wanted to sue Facebook because she feels the ads that are shown on her feed are disgusting and that she shouldn’t be forced to look at them.
• We were contacted by someone who was at work 20 years ago and never filed a workers comp case. She stopped treating for a back injury after five years, her company went bankrupt and now 15 years later she has an infection in her spine that she thinks is due to the work injury. It’s about 13 years too late to bring a case.
• A woman wanted to get child support from her boyfriend who just broke up with her. He is not the biological father and did not sign the birth certificate, but has helped her raise the child for the last three years. He legally owes her or the child nothing.
• A caller wanted to sue their boyfriend of 10 years because they discovered they’d been cheating the last two. Cheating is immoral, but not illegal.
• Person contacted our office after they were fired for having an anger problem. They felt the employer should be required by law to try to help them and work with them.
• Many people who want to bring a frivolous suit are naive. Some unfortunately have mental illness. One woman wanted us to sue the police because they’ve arrested her every day for 45 years.
• A guy with lung cancer who’s used medical marijuana for almost a decade and smoked before that, wants to sue his medical marijuana doctor for not warning him that cancer was a possible side effect.
• Gentleman who “Lost my job to China” back in 2015 wanted to sue his old employer to try and get a severance.
• A woman wanted to sue a store because they sold an item she was interested in to someone else and had asked them to reserve it for her. She didn’t put any money down and no promises were made.
• A caller wanted to sue the Illinois Lottery because they didn’t like the odds on the scratchers tickets.
• Guy bought a house “as is”, didn’t have an inspection and now wants to sue because it’s a money pit that he can’t live in.
• Caller was squatting in a home. Got locked out so he broke in through a window and fell, injuring his leg. Wanted to sue for his injury.
• Woman was kicked out of a movie theater when security thought she was being disruptive when it was really a woman a row behind her. Wanted to sue for a million dollars.
• Person made a very racist video as a teenager in which they used the N word many time. They are now an adult with a job and someone sent the video to their employer who terminated them. Wanted to sue whoever sent it (they don’t know who) for defamation because it embarrassed them.
• Caller wanted to sue Microsoft because he wasn’t able to get the internet to work on his computer.
• A worker was suspended for being high on the job and wanted to sue because marijuana is legal in Illinois.
• A caller wanted to sue the police because there was an error in the police report that was fixed within a day of the error happening. They wanted to sue because they believe, without evidence, that it’s all a conspiracy against them. So they have no harm and no evidence.
• In what may be the craziest of all of these, a job applicant wants to sue the company he applied to work at because they closed their business and didn’t tell him or compensate him for the time he took in looking into that job.
• Man wants to the Judge in his child custody case because he feels they are biased against him. That isn’t allowed. You can appeal their rulings and if they commit misconduct you can report them to the Judicial Inquiry Board. But you can’t sue because you don’t like their rulings.
• In probably the saddest one, a lonely man met a woman online and was swindled out of $20,000 that he voluntarily sent to her. He eventually figured out it was a scam and wants to sue his bank because he can’t get the money back.
• A young man doesn’t have a car and wants to work close to home. He applied to one place and has gone in ten times asking them for an update and they haven’t hired him. Wants to sue because he feels he’s qualified and they should have to hire him since he lives so close.

A key point to take from all of this is that no lawyers are taking these cases. People may want to bring legal action that we’d all consider “frivolous,” but if it never actually happens it’s not really a problem. It’s more a matter of educating people on their rights. That doesn’t mean frivolous lawsuits never happen. But when they do, it’s usually someone representing themselves or an attorney filing a case and later discovering the case isn’t what they thought it was.

People and lawyers (we are people too, right?) are generally good. When you are frustrated by something in life, there’s nothing wrong with asking an attorney’s opinion as to whether or not you have a lawsuit. Lay people shouldn’t be expected to know if they have a case or not. So we don’t ever begrudge someone who reaches out to us. And hopefully we are helping them by explaining why we can’t help them.

When you hire an attorney in Illinois, you are responsible for their fee and their expenses. In an hourly fee case like a divorce, those expenses come out of the retainer fee and are billed monthly or whenever they charge you on a case. It works way differently on cases where you hire the attorney on a contingency basis.

Most Illinois contingency fee agreements are for injury cases like car accidents, workers compensation, medical malpractice, etc. Those contracts will say something to the effect of the attorney will receive a percentage of any recovery that is made (1/3 for malpractice, 20% for work comp by State law). It also will state that the client is responsible to reimburse the attorney for expenses. But how does that work?

The type of case determines how big the expenses are. Illinois workers compensation cases typically have very low expenses, often under $200 and rarely into the five figures.

Medical malpractice cases on the other hand can be very expensive. They are almost always in the mid five figures and if they progress to trial it’s not at all unusual for them to cost into the six figures. Paying experts for their opinion and time can be very costly.

Personal injury cases like car accidents typically fall somewhere in between unless they settle without a lawsuit being filed. The court filing fees alone are usually more than a work comp case costs. If the case involves a serious injury it is probably that multiple depositions will be needed, including those of experts potentially.

The way it works is that when a case settles, the contingency fee is taken out and then the attorney gets reimbursed out of what’s left before paying you. So if the case settles for $90,000 and they have a 1/3 fee, that leaves $60,000. If their expenses are $5,000 and nobody else is owed money like a doctor, you’d net $55,000.

What you will find is that the more lucrative the case, the more likely it is that a lawyer will charge you for expenses instead of eating the cost. What do we mean by that?

Well in workers comp cases, most expenses are for issuing subpoenas for medical records or potentially paying doctors and court reporters for testimony time. In a catastrophic injury case or malpractice lawsuit, you’ll probably see attorneys adding expenses for copying records, postage, mileage, etc. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, but trying to help people understand what really happens. This is why it’s important before starting a case with a lawyer that you ask what will or won’t be charged as an expense. It’s all negotiable. I’d be wary of a a work comp attorney who charges for photo copies, but not a malpractice attorney who does.

A common question we get is, “Do I have to reimburse my lawyer for the expenses if we lose the case?” It’s kind of a trick question. The contract you sign will surely say that you do. The reality is that no attorney we recommend does this. You should certainly ask about this before hiring a lawyer, but this is generally a risk attorneys take when bringing a case and why lawyers can be selective about which claims they pursue. You don’t want to spend $100,000 and not make a recovery.

This can be confusing, but it’s an important topic. If you have ANY QUESTIONS, you can call us FOR FREE and speak with a lawyer at 312-346-5320. It’s always confidential and no commitment.

We get a lot of calls from people who want to have a severance agreement in Illinois reviewed. I get that. It’s a lot of legal mumbo jumbo and can be confusing if you aren’t familiar with what they say. That said, don’t be surprised if a lawyer wants $1,000 or more to review it and offer advice unless you bring forward a case where your employer is acting illegally (more on that below). If you are only getting 5 weeks of severance pay you probably don’t want to pay that. But you do need to be aware of certain things.

So with that in mind, I thought I’d offer some thoughts that everyone who has been fired and offered a severance should know. Think of these as legal tips.

1. Your employer will likely not negotiate the dollar amount they are offering you unless you have some leverage. What’s leverage? That would be evidence that you are being let go illegally like getting fired after complaining about sexual harassment or reporting of illegal activity. If that is the case, you want to get an attorney and should call us for free at 312-346-5320 to discuss your situation in confidence.
2. If you do sign the severance, know that you are giving up your right to sue the company for any reason. So if you think they owe you commissions or vacation pay or you want to sue for wrongful termination, signing will likely end those rights. Don’t sign if you don’t want to do that.
3. Workers’ compensation isn’t a lawsuit and a severance agreement can’t take away your Illinois work comp rights.
4. There is no obligation for an employer to give anyone a severance unless it’s been contractually agreed to. They do it for good will and so they can close the door on any possible issues with you. That’s important for them if they are considering a sale.
5. While they won’t likely negotiate a dollar amount, you can ask for things like making sure they won’t contest your unemployment or that at worst they will give you a neutral reference. You can certainly ask that they agree to give a good one. Companies are much more likely to negotiate on non-financial issues.
6. When you work for a big company and there are a lot of layoffs, they are less inclined to do much of anything as they don’t want to open the door to having to do it for everyone.
7. That said, while theoretically they can pull a severance, it doesn’t hurt to ask for something. Usually the worst case scenario is they say no.
8. It’s not unusual for severance payments to be spread out over a period of weeks or months instead of a lump sum. You can ask for a lump sum, but they don’t have to give it to you.
9. Beware clauses that say the severance will end if you secure new employment. They can ask for that and you can object to it.
10. Beware them putting a non-compete or non-solicitation agreement in your severance package. If you want to work in the same field, agreeing that could limit your job prospects.
11. There is no typical severance agreement dollar amount. What they offer you can be completely different at another company. Some do one week for every year worked. Some pick a random number. There’s often no rhyme or reason.
12. Beware items that may be unique to you. For example, if you got a signing bonus that said you’d have to pay it back if you didn’t work for two years, if they are letting you go, you need to make sure that you won’t owe them that money.

I hope this helps. As always, if you have any questions you are welcome to call us.

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.