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Illinois Divorce – The Stages You Will Go Through

To some people, divorce can be as hard to deal with as a death. After all, it is a death of a relationship, so it does make sense that the stages of grief for the time during and after a divorce are similar to those of the death of a loved one. However, what happens when one person is less affected by those stages?

The first emotional stage of divorce is denial. “We’re not broken, just bent” are the lyrics to a popular song that comes to mind when speaking about denying the end of a marriage. This is what happens when one person denies the marital issues and believes wholeheartedly that they can work it out. During this stage, the party in denial may do things to hinder a divorce going forward like refusing to accept service of legal documents, or denying the issues to friends and family members which brings us to the next stage.

Anger and resentment is the second emotional stage in a divorce. This is by far the worst stage. Once a person has gone through the denial stage, an anger takes over. You may remember this stage if you ever saw the movie “Waiting to Exhale.” In this scene, Angela Bassett rips all of her soon to be ex-husbands belongings down from the closet, wheels them out to the front yard in a wagon and dumps the items into his car. She then sets everything on fire. When the fire department shows up and says “I’m sorry ma’am, you are only allowed to burn trash in your yard,” she calmly lights a cigarette and says, “It is trash” and walks away. Yes, the blind rage of realizing you have been left behind in a divorce can cause a person to do some pretty insane things.

The third emotional stage of divorce is bargaining. This can be a very dangerous stage because the emotional whirlwind is just starting to catch the person being left, and those emotions can start to bring the person down. During the bargaining stage a person may be prone to say things like “I can change if you don’t leave me” or “I’ll agree to whatever you want me to do, just don’t leave.” This stage is especially hard because it exposes a person’s confidence or lack thereof. This makes it very easy to take advantage of the situation. A person might do things like request full custody, raise alimony or child support, or even hand over the keys to family home all in an attempt to rectify whatever the problem was to make the divorce happen.

The fourth stage of emotions is depression. Once a person’s lack of confidence is exposed during the anger and bargaining stage, they become raw. Everything about the situation hurts. They may lock themselves in a bedroom and cry for a few weeks, or they may result to using drugs or alcohol to help ease the pain. Both of these can be very bad during a divorce proceeding as they may also be doing things like ignoring the children and other household responsibilities, simply because it is just too hard to cope with.

The fifth and final stage of emotions during a divorce is acceptance. This is the clarity stage. The stage where the person looks in the mirror and says, “I’ve got this and I deserve to be happy.” During this stage, if the divorce hasn’t been finalized, the person may look at their ex and decide to truly stand up for themselves. They may take back that family home or even see through clear eyes that full custody is simply not reasonable. Another way a person may express the final stage of acceptance is by changing their hair or appearance, losing weight, perhaps even sticking a toe back into the dating pool.

Divorce is one of the hardest things adults will have to go through. It is not only difficult because of the emotional trauma caused in this situation but also because you have to be able to find the balance of your own feelings not affecting the children. If you are stuck in a sticky divorce and need legal help, the best thing to do is to contact a local attorney who specializes in divorce and family law. Call us at (312) 346-5320 if you’d like to just ask questions or get a referral.

Are You Really Hiring A Chicago Law Firm?

When I was younger, I assumed that if you hired a lawyer, you were also hiring everyone that they worked with. Why else would a group of people share an office together and represent themselves as one big firm if it wasn’t the case?

What I’ve learned is that a lot of times, law firms are essentially a group of individuals under one banner, but not really a partnership. It’s similar I’ve learned to a lot of doctor groups in that they essentially “eat what they kill.” In other words, it’s not a collaboration, but instead they make money off the cases that they work on. So they end up with a motivation to work on certain cases over others because their hard work only pays off if they collect a lot of money.

I’ve know this about doctors for a while, but only recently learned this is also true for lawyers. It came to my attention when a top Chicago personal injury attorney left his firm for another firm of great reputation. I wondered why he would make what is at best a lateral move and that’s when I discovered that he wouldn’t really be working for the new firm as much as he would be trying to make more money off of the cases that he generates.

It’s financially sensible for the attorneys and doctors, but not so great for the clients and patients. For doctors, while the ones I know still talk about cases with their “partners” when asked, they also don’t worry about anything other than their own patient list. The same holds true for lawyers, but I think it’s worse in those cases. Let me explain.

Lawyers get paid a salary and also a percentage on the cases they bring in and the cases that they work on. If you are a personal injury lawyer and have a case that you think is worth $3 million, that means the lawyer fees would be worth $1 million. If you bring in more lawyers to work on the case, it’s better for the case and better for the client. But to do that, you have to give up a good chunk of your fee. In other words, by doing what is best for the client you might cost yourself $100,000.00 or more.

I’m sure in some of these fake partnerships there are lawyers who do the right thing every time. I’m also sure that there are many who don’t. There are a lot of stories around town of law partners who hate each other, but stay together because their firm name has brand value which they don’t want to lose. Before you hire a firm, especially if you have a major injury case or something complex that will require multiple lawyers like a truck accident, verify who will be working on your case and if the firm is really a firm.

Illinois Car Accident Law – When You Are Being Sued

We typically only help people who were injured in car accident cases, so I’m going to start out with the caveat that we can’t help you find an attorney to defend you and what I’m saying is general advice.

Now that I have the geeky lawyer disclaimer stuff out of the way …

If you get in to a car accident and are at fault (usually known because you get a ticket) or someone else thinks you are at fault, they or their insurance company typically has two years to sue you for personal injury and five years for property damage with some exceptions.

You might get in to an accident and not hear anything on the case for almost two years. Then suddenly a sheriff will appear at your door and serve you with a summons that says you are being sued. It might make you freak out, especially if you’ve never, like most people, been involved in a lawsuit before.

So what should you do?

If you had insurance on the day of the accident, you should call them ASAP and let them know about the lawsuit. It doesn’t matter if you are no longer with that insurance company. If they covered you on the day of the accident, they cover you for the lawsuit.

For 99% of insured people the next thing to do will be just wait. Usually the case resolves itself between the lawyers. You don’t have to hire your own lawyer, the insurance company will provide one for you. They may not be as accessible as you’d prefer, but they will be there for your deposition if that happens and anything else big that comes up.

If you don’t carry a lot of insurance and/or you badly injured someone, you might want to get your own lawyer in case the claim goes above your policy limits. That said, in most cases we see, the policy limits are usually it and they won’t go after your personal assets. No guarantee of that of course.

If you didn’t have insurance on the day of the accident, you are on the hook for everything and may have your license suspended if you don’t pay. That includes having to pay a lawyer by the hour to defend you which can be cost prohibitive if you lose and of course any judgment or settlement against you. So the moral of the story is that if you don’t have insurance, you better get some. And remember, if you are driving someone else’s car, you are probably not covered under their policy or your own.

Illinois Law When Your Cell Phone Gets Spammed

Your cell phone rings, you look over and see the dreaded “unknown caller” show up on caller ID. Thanks to a recently written opinion, those phone calls to your cellphone will no longer be allowed at all. In addition, it enables the go ahead to pursue class action lawsuits against those companies who break the law.

Back in 1991, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act was put into place (TCPA). The TCPA made it illegal for people to receive robo calls to their landline phone numbers without prior consent. However, as a stipulation, the FCC regulations allow for tax-exempt organizations such as political surveys, etc. to continue making those prerecorded calls. In 1991, the use of cell phones was slim to none. According to InfoPlease.com (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0933563.html) there were only 7,557,148 cell phone subscribers in 1991 opposed to the current approximately 262 Million users. Needless to say, the call to apply this law to cell phones wasn’t needed in 1991 the way it has been needed today.

Currently, there is a huge population of Americans who no longer have a landline home phone, and primarily use their cell phones. In the recently handed down opinion, the FCC exemptions do not apply, but the rules for a landline do apply for a cell phone.

This all was brought to light thanks to the more than one million people who received telephone calls from people claiming to be Political Opinion of America, in an attempt to show their non-exempt status. During these calls, people were offered a free cruise. They would only have to pay for the taxes and port fees and gratuity. However, if they wanted an upgraded cruise experience, they simply needed to tour a timeshare facility. After listening to the recorded calls, it is evident that this had nothing to do with Political Opinions and everything to do with soliciting new business for a timeshare company.

There are certain factors to the TCPA everyone should be aware of. One of which is that it is prohibited to auto dial, or prerecord non-emergency calls to cell phones unless the caller has prior consent from the person receiving the call. TCPA violations can be a big deal. Violations provide damages of $500 per violation, and if it can be proven that the violation was willful or knowingly done, the damages awarded could be up to 3 times the original amount. Meaning, these calls simply are not allowed to your cell phone without prior consent.

If you believe you have a TCPA violation there are a few things to keep in mind, the burden of proof will lie on you to prove your lack of prior express consent. Other infractions include excessive phone calls (more than four calls a day from the same debt collector), the use of an auto dialer or computer dialer, calling you at work or revealing a debt to a third party are all part of violations.

If you believe you have a TCPA violation, the best thing to do is speak to a competent attorney to discuss your options. If you’d like our help in finding an attorney with a track record of success in these cases, call us at (312) 346-5320 or fill out our form on our website.

Illinois Probate Law – When The Caretaker Gets It All

In 2015, Illinois signed a new portion of the Probate Act. This new portion was designed to be a tool to help avoid elder abuse situations. However, this new portion of the law opens the door for meaningful transfers to possibly be voided too. How does this new law affect your estate planning and end of life documentation planning?

When most people think of elder abuse, they think about the awful videos online showing elderly men and women in nursing care being physically neglected or abused. Most people don’t automatically think of the mental abuse that happens often at the hands of the caretakers for the elderly.

A good example of non-physical abuse is a caretaker taking advantage of Aunt Sally by manipulating her into adding themselves to Aunt Sally’s will, in an attempt to gift or transfer property to the caretakers upon Aunt Sally’s death. This example is exactly why the new law was put in to effect; to prevent those transfers from happening.

The new law states that if a caregiver is transferred or given property that is valued at over $20,000, it is presumed that the transfer is void if contested by a family member. There are some major issues with that. Say for instance Aunt Sally has been with Ray since her husband died 35 years ago, but they never legally got married. Aunt Sally’s son has contested that Ray be able to receive the gifts and transfers she wanted Ray to have according to her estate planning documents and will. Because the house and other assets are valued above $20,000, Ray will have to fight Aunt Sally’s son in court to prove that there was nothing fraudulent about the transfer of property. To add a little salt to that injury, if by some weird chance the court does rule in favor of Aunt Sally’s son, Ray will also be held accountable for both his attorney fees as well as Aunt Sally’s son’s attorney’s fees.

So who is considered a caretaker? The answer may surprise you. Of course, if the person receiving the transfer or gift is a family member defined as a spouse, child, grandchild, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, first cousin or parent, they are then considered simply a “family member”. However, a trusted friend, neighbor, boyfriend or girlfriend, or teacher is considered a “caretaker”, there invoking the rule. The doorway is opened by the family member “status” of the person who is receiving the gift.

There are many ways to go about spotting if this rule will be an issue, and how you can prevent this rule from being an issue when preparing your will and estate planning documents. One of those things you can do as a preventative measure, is interviewing Aunt Sally privately to find out if she is feeling bullied into the decision to transfer the property to the caretaker. This interview could be taped or recorded to memorialize the interview. At minimum, an attorney should document notes of the interview that summarize the facts and circumstances as to why Aunt Sally wants to leave her house or other valuable property to her caretaker instead of her son. There is a document that can be drafted by an attorney called a “Certificate of Independent Review” which will state at the time of creating the documents with Aunt Sally, the attorney took specific consideration and acknowledgment that leaving her house to Ray could be seen as fraudulent, but it in fact was not. She 100% stood behind her decision at the time the documents were created. Another third option, would be for the attorney to have Aunt Sally sign an affidavit that states her circumstances and intentions from her point of view.

As you can see, this new “presumptively void transfers” law isn’t just the heavy hitting tool that lawmakers thought it would be. This new law can potentially deem legitimate gifts and transfers void as well. Attorneys and others who prepare estate planning documents need to be aware and plan the careful documentation to protect the wishes of your loved one, as well as the integrity of the will.

If you would like to contest a will, there are time limits for doing so. If you need help in finding the right lawyer for your case, call us any time at (312) 346-5320 or click here to email us.

The most important part of an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit

I’ve experienced the sudden death of people that I care about greatly and I’ve talked to thousands of people like you who have lost a loved one through an accident or medical malpractice.

When someone you care about passes away, especially if it’s sudden, it’s hard to think straight. You have people to call. You are devastated. Funeral arrangements need to be made.

You might be thinking about a lawsuit, but based on my experience not everyone is thinking about how to win that lawsuit.

While every case is different, the most common mistake people make is failing to have an autopsy. You can suspect why someone died or know in your heart that something went wrong, but if you can’t prove it then you will have a hard time winning your case.

For example, let’s say your husband went in to the doctor with severe pain in their leg and no history of an accident or injury. The doctor gives him pain meds. Two days later he’s back in the office because the pain has gotten worse and moved. It’s a classic sign of a blood clot. Yet we are involved in cases where the doctor has not done any further tests to rule out a blood clot or embolism. Three days later your spouse drops dead.

You might be told it was likely a blood clot, but without an autopsy it would be very hard to prove it. It’s your job to prove what happened at trial and if you can’t do that you won’t win your case.

In a car accident case the need for an autopsy isn’t always as great or so it seems. But when you are dealing with a death you can increase your damages by showing that they were otherwise healthy and had a long life expectancy by performing an autopsy.

Many times a hospital will volunteer to have an autopsy performed. Other times they will tell you it’s not necessary, especially if it might prove that their doctors messed up. You have a right to get a private autopsy and the Illinois wrongful death law firms that we recommend have experience it getting these set up for you.

I certainly get that an autopsy is the last thing you are thinking of at a time like this, but it truly can be the difference between knowing in your heart that something happened and actually being able to prove it in a court of law.

If you have questions about Illinois wrongful death law or would like our help in finding a lawyer, fill out our contact form or call us at (312) 346-5320. We help everywhere in Illinois.

Illinois Car Accident Law – Why Is The Claim Denied?

If you are in a car accident in Illinois that is clearly not your fault, you might be stunned when the insurance company for the other party or even for you, denies your case without reason. It shouldn’t happen, but does all the time.

The paraphrased question I get all the time is “How can the insurance company deny my claim?” Let’s look at some of the most popular reasons.

– This is how insurance companies make money. They have done studies that in a nutshell say that if they can wrongfully deny three out of ten claims and get away with it, it will save them hundreds of millions of dollars. So when you’ve been rear-ended at a stoplight they will tell you with a straight face that it was your fault somehow. If they frustrate you in to doing nothing, they win. And that’s their plan.
– They are a sub-standard insurance company. You’ve seen the awful TV commercials where companies promise you insurance no matter how bad your driving record is. These operations are as terrible as some of their drivers. They won’t return phone calls, they’ll tell you insurance was cancelled when it wasn’t, they’ll offer only pennies on the dollar, etc. You almost have to sue when they are involved because otherwise they take the approach that it doesn’t cost them money to ignore the case.
– You don’t have an injury or it’s really minor. It’s actually harder to get a settlement when there is only property damage to a car than when there’s a major injury. The insurance company knows that lawyers in Illinois who handle car accident cases work on a contingency basis (meaning they only get paid if they win), they won’t usually get involved in very minor or car damage cases only. That’s quite honestly because there is not much money to be made in those situations.
– You were at fault. Sometimes you think you did nothing wrong, but the truth is there are facts which show you were at least 50% at fault such as turning left in front of a car that is speeding toward you. If there is any reason to deny your case even the good insurance companies will do so.
– Y<strong>our coverage has lapsed or the other driver wasn’t insured. It could be that the other party was at fault, but they weren’t covered under the vehicle that they were driving. Remember, these lawsuits and claims are against the driver who is at fault so you might be forced to sue them directly.

There are other reasons of course like your file getting lost or them waiting on a police report, but these are the big ones. If you’d like to ask us questions about a car accident or want an attorney referral, call us for a free consult at (800) 517-1614 or fill out our contact form and we’ll call you. We help everywhere in Illinois.

Hiring The Right Illinois Truck Accident Lawyer

You’d think that who you hire to represent you in a legal matter can make a difference, but it’s not unreasonable to think that most lawyers would get something close to the same result. Unfortunately that line of thinking is wrong.

The best lawyer for your case could actually not only be the difference between winning and losing; it could also be a difference of millions of dollars. There is no better example of that in trucking accident cases in Illinois.

We recently received a call from a woman who sadly lost her husband in a trucking death when he was hit by another semi truck driver. She was looking for probate help, but we began to discuss the reason her husband passed away. Sadly he was hit by a driver who fled the scene.

The lawyer she was going to hire told her the “great news” that she could collect on the uninsured motorist’s policy from her husband’s employer. That amount is believed to be one million dollars and no doubt that is a lot of money. But the case could be worth many millions more.

It doesn’t sound like this lawyer handles a lot of truck accident cases because he was going to leave it at that. I recommended that she talk to a Chicago trucking injury law firm who has a long track record of investigating and handling these tricky cases. Right away they hired an investigator to access security footage of the weigh station that this woman’s husband had recently stopped at. If the truck driver who hit him followed the law and also stopped we can likely find out who it was.

The point of this is that instead of settling for the policy, they now likely will be able to go after the driver. This will likely lead to a difference of many millions of dollars. Truck accident law firms with real experience also have an ability to find out who really owns a truck and go after them. Many trucks are falsely owned by shell companies as a way of hiding the true owner and reducing their legal liability. If you can’t find them, you can’t sue them. There is a way of untangling their lies, but if you don’t know how to do it or won’t put in the effort, you are no good to the client.

Bottom line is that no matter the area of law, a good attorney leaves no stone unturned and tries to get the best result for their client. Those are the type of lawyers we recommend. If you’d like our help in finding the best attorney for your cases, call us at (312) 346-5320 or fill out our form to the right. It’s free and confidential.

Is Legal Zoom Giving Legal Advice?

It’s a pretty well settled principle that non-lawyers can’t give legal advice in Illinois. I think it makes sense to most people as you want to have some belief that the advice they are getting is for sure correct. It’s a way of protecting the public and also preventing false information from getting out there.

Legal Zoom is a heavily marketed company that I’ve always understood to be a place where you can try to print off legal forms to do things yourself. It was founded by one of OJ Simpson’s defense attorneys and I assume it’s successful with all of the money that it spends on advertising. Next to erectile dysfunction and daily fantasy games, it feels like Legal Zoom is the third most common advertiser.

They can sell legal forms even if much of what they sell can be downloaded for free on the internet. Apparently some of what they provide is the opportunity to have forms reviewed by a lawyer (which seems to defeat the whole purpose), but they also provide instructions on the forms themselves.

If those instructions are written by lawyers in the state that they apply to then they seem permissible. On the other hand, if there are any non lawyers who own legal zoom, they might be illegally receiving compensation for giving legal advice.

Whatever the situation is, the big problem I have with anyone relying on written advice is that it doesn’t consider your unique situation. This came up recently when a woman called me after downloading divorce forms from this site and reading about what to do with them. According to her they said that there is a two year waiting period to get divorced in Illinois if you have kids.

Technically what she read is correct. The problem is that she read it to mean that she can’t get divorced any time soon. What she didn’t read or didn’t understand was that the waiting period can be waived by both parties to allow for a quicker divorce. She also didn’t understand after reading their advice that the waiting period applied to divorces based on irreconcilable differences. She could plead something else and get divorced sooner even if her spouse didn’t want the divorce to happen.

Look, I’m in favor of anything that can make the legal system cheaper and more accessible for the general public. It’s one reason I created Funded Justice. But what I don’t like is when people get more confused or sold something that they don’t really need.

Legal Zoom needs to decide if it is or isn’t a law firm. If it is, it needs to start acting like one. If it’s not, then it needs to be really careful about the guidance it provides. They may be doing more harm than good. If you’d like to speak with one of our licensed attorneys, call us at (312) 346-5320 or fill out our contact form.

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and Illinois Injury Cases

Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) can occur when the blood vessels and nerves between your collarbone and your first rib become pinched or compressed. This set of nerves specifically is responsible for upper body movement and muscle control. It is a very serious injury and requires both a doctor who knows how to treat the disease and if it’s part of a legal matter, a lawyer who has experience with such a serious and somewhat unique injury.

These nerves and blood vessels can be injured by various physical traumas, car accidents, even some on the job injuries like repetitive motions, lifting and reaching overhead. TOS can also occur from doing computer work, sitting at a sedentary position, and from working a typical desk job. TOS affects people of all ages and gender. There are also some studies that show being mildly overweight can also affect the aggravation of TOS.

Some symptoms of TOS are:
• Pain in your neck, shoulder arm or hand
• Numbness in for arm and fingers
• Weakness in your hand
• You may also have a hard time lifting objects above your head and have a limited range of motion.

Treatments can range from pain management to physical therapy. The worst possible treatment could also include surgery. This surgery is very complicated as it could include removing a rib or a few sections of ribs to reroute blood vessels. Most symptoms of TOS will greatly be reduced with simple medication and physical therapy if treated early. Because TOS is a progressive syndrome, it may begin with a small irritating pain once in a while, but can quickly escalate to unbearable pain.

If TOS was caused at work, or aggravated because of your job, you may have a claim for workers compensation. All medical costs, and payments while you are out of work recovering might be available depending on your case. If it’s also common for people to get TOS from car accidents.

We have been dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome cases for 20 years and have a state wide network of attorneys with a track record of success in these difficult cases. If you would like our help in finding the best lawyer for your case, call us at (312) 346-5320 or complete our contact form. We help everywhere in Illinois.

Talcum Powder & Ovarian Cancer Lawsuits

For years and years, the most common way for a parent to help prevent diaper rash on their baby girl is to use Johnson and Johnson’s baby powder or other talcum powder. However, a startling new link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer has thousands of women concerned about their health.

In 1982, more than 30 years ago, Johnson and Johnson became aware of the possible link between ovarian cancers and talc, after a study was published by a California doctor. The study from 30 years ago shows that out of the 215 women who were in the study, and effected by ovarian cancer, 42.8% regularly used talc powder. (see full study here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7083145) Another study was conducted in 1992, which showed that out of the 235 women affected by ovarian cancer, 49% used or were exposed to talc powder to their genitalia for hygiene purposes. This study in 1992 concluded that, “The greatest ovarian cancer risk associated with perineal talc use was observed in the subgroup of women estimated to have made more than 10,000 applications during years when they were ovulating and had an intact genital tract.” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1603491).

With data supporting the major increased risk, instead of including a disclosure on the label, Johnson and Jonson instead chose to go after a new market for increased revenue and profit. The new market was targeting African American and Hispanic women.

To date there are thousands of lawsuits accusing Johnson and Johnson of not labeling their products with the possible risks and dangers associated with talc. In a recent lawsuit, a court in St. Louis awarded the family of a woman who died of ovarian cancer, $72 million in damages for failure to disclose the risk associated with talc powder. Another 2016 lawsuit against J&J awarded $55 million in damages to a woman who used their product for over 40 years; thankfully, her ovarian cancer is now in remission. In 2013 a court in South Dakota found J&J negligent in not addressing the risks as well, however no damages were awarded. In one case filed in Illinois, Barbara Mihalic claimed that, “Johnson & Johnson failed to warn consumers of the risks associated with the use of Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder for feminine hygiene purposes in the female perineum.” This case however was dismissed in its entirety for varying reasons. (http://www.leagle.com/decision/In%20FDCO%2020151229825/Mihalich%20v.%20Johnson%20&%20Johnson).

With the hundreds of millions of dollars spilling out over these lawsuits, and Johnson and Johnson found guilty of negligence, they still refuse to acknowledge any link between their product and ovarian cancer and state that they will appeal the judge’s decisions in each and every case. Johnson and Johnson representatives state that the decision goes against 30 years of studies that support the safety of cosmetic talc.

With every lawsuit that ends with a loss, Johnson and Johnson loses their ability to try to stop the hemorrhaging of funds. An unrelated case yielded a total loss of 2.2 billion dollars because “the company’s practices recklessly put at risk the health of some of the most vulnerable members of our society – including young children, the elderly and the disabled.” according to the US Attorney General, Eric Holder. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/business/johnson-johnson-to-settle-risperdal-improper-marketing-case.html?_r=0).

It is time for Johnson and Johnson to be held accountable for all of these missteps, and for not recognizing and acknowledging major health concerns with their products. If you have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and have used talc powder on a regular basis, you might have cause to bring legal action. We are working with top Chicago product liability attorneys who are bringing these lawsuits and have a track record of great success. There is no cost to bring the case unless we win. If you would like a free consultation please call us at (800) 517-1614 to discuss a possible case.

Illinois Overtime Laws Are About To Dramatically Change

President Obama and the Department of Labor have officially made a new overtime rule that will change the way employers will be able to pay their employees. The Labor Department has not made a rule or increase like this since 2004. This new rule means a huge bump in income for millions of people, and will go into effect starting December 1st.

For years, your boss could claim you were a “manager” and get away with paying you meager wages, as well as forcing you to work ungodly hours. Retail “managers” in particular were getting the raw deal. Some retail managers were working 60+ hours a week and only making a salary of $30,000 or less because as a “manager” the employer didn’t have to pay overtime. The rule for over a decade was if a “manager” made at least $23,660 per year as a salary, the employer could benefit from not having to pay time and a half for each hour worked over 40 in any given week. This new rule boasts the minimum requirement to $47,456 or more.

What this new rule means is that if you make a lower middle class or in some places average or below salary of $47,456 or below, you will be entitled to receive time and a half pay for each hour you work over 40 in a given week.

There are few ways an employer may try to weasel out of abiding by this new rule. One way would be cutting or limiting your hours to the regular 40 hours per week maximum or less. An employer may use this new rule as a reason to cut employees to part time as to not have to provide health care or other benefits as well. Another way an employer might try to skate away from this new rule, depending on how much your salary is, would be to bump your salary up to the $47,476+ amount to avoid paying time and a half. If an employer did that, they could still classify you as a “manager” and you would still be subject to working 40+ hours a week as required; with no overtime pay. However, depending on your job duties, that may not apply either.

The other major changes in the rule include the following: for those who receive a bonus or commission, the employer can use up to 10% of those bonuses and commissions to satisfy the minimum salary of $47,476. An example would be if your annual salary is $40,000, but you receive two bonuses per year of $5000 each, your salary + bonus would equal $50,000, which is over the salary threshold, making you not eligible to receive overtime pay. Also included in the major changes of the rule, requires future automatic updates to the salary threshold to occur every three years beginning in 2020.

Because of the drastic change, it is recommended for employees who are classified as salaried, making under $47,456 to keep meticulous records of their time worked. For some who haven’t had to punch a time card, this could be a drastic change. However, in the end those records could mean the difference between winning and losing a pay dispute with the labor board over unpaid overtime wages.

How To Get Out Of Jury Duty

So you’ve been picked for a jury and don’t want to serve.

If you want to know how to fake your way out of jury duty, you need to hit the back button. The reality is that most people who get called for jury duty won’t get picked. If you do get picked, most juries only last a couple of days. If you are a believer in America then you have to suck it up and serve on a jury because that’s part of our system. You may not like it, but you take the bad with the good. Also, someone’s life hangs in the balance so you should give them a fair shake.

All that said, don’t freak out if you are called for jury duty and “can’t” do it. If you are a single mother and have nobody to help you with the kids, you’ll likely be excused. If you run a company and it’s essential that you be there, you’ll likely be excused. If you can show that your family will suffer serious financial harm if you miss too much work, you’ll likely be excused. If you are a student and would have to miss a ton of class (not a couple of days for any of these people), if you have a vacation planned, if you are taking care of a sick relative, if you are running for public office, if you know any of the lawyers or parties involved, if you have a serious medical condition, if you are a new mother who is breast feeding or if you are famous, you probably won’t get picked.

Lawyers and scientists tend to not get picked because some attorneys don’t want those who know the law or how to examine evidence to have too much influence.

Beyond that, it’s your civic duty, so stop whining about it. If you think that you can show up and act weird, biased, etc. and just get out of it, you are fooling yourself. The Judges deal with this crap every time they have to pick a jury and they’ll gladly keep you for a couple of days in response to your lies. There is a difference between saying you can’t serve on a murder trial because you don’t believe in the death penalty and pretending you are nuts or can’t be impartial.

It may be a nuisance, but it’s your civic duty (sure beats mandatory military service) and it can actually be interesting. So just go and serve and do your best. You’d want good people to do the same for you.

Suing A Dating Website For Sexual Assault

Dating is almost like a dirty word at any age. Especially in the fast paced swipe-right-or-left-to-meet-your-match society we live in today. Every single person is looking for the magic answer on how to find your perfect partner and truth be told it doesn’t exist. Nor is any avenue truly 100% safe. However, a few dating sites are being held accountable for not having safer policies.

If you were to sign up for a profile for Match.com today, it would cost you approx. $30 if you wanted to use the service for a month. Once you have paid the fees for the duration of time you would like to be a member, they make it very easy for you to scope out all of the people who fit your interest criteria. You complete your profile, likes and dislikes and maybe even throw in a deal breaker or two, decide on the picture that makes you look the best and bam… almost instantly you receive your first message from a possible suitor.

The butterflies and excitement take over as you set up your first date before you realize, wait a second… I didn’t have to give any sort of documentation to prove who I am, my background, and criminal history. If I didn’t, then the other person didn’t have to either. Reason being, services like Match.com do not filter out information posted on their website. They don’t run background checks, and they don’t check for accuracy in information.

However, one thing has changed thanks to a lawsuit that came to a settlement recently. The basic story to the lawsuit is that Jane Doe #1 went out on a date with a man she met on Match.com, who ended up allegedly sexually abusing her. After the alleged attack, Jane Doe #1 found that the man still had a profile running on Match.com. Jane Doe #1 alerted Match.com to the allegations. Match.com did nothing and allowed the man to continue using its services.

Jane Doe #2 met the same man through Match.com two years later, and he sexually attacked her as well. Two years later the man was convicted of criminal sexual abuse and unlawful restraint for his attack on Jane Doe #2. Jane #2 then sued Match.com for failure to remove the man’s profile, monitor his use, failure to notify police or warn other users about him. Her attack could have been avoided if Match.com would have done some sort of blocking of the man’s use of the site.

Through this lawsuit, it was found that more than 1200 complaints from straight violence to rape, were filed in a 2-year time frame with Match.com. While Match.com may not have to go through and check who is lying about being married, or who has a criminal past upon first registration, they do have to now verify any and all complaints made to make sure they uphold the safety of its users.

All of us know, dating is scary enough without having to worry about cases like this one. While it still doesn’t provide fool proof safety, it certainly helps at least a little bit to know there is a check in place. Safety on the internet is something that will never come with 100% certainty, so the best option is to always look out for yourself before agreeing to meet anyone in person that you have been speaking to online.

Illinois Workers’ Compensation – When To Settle

We talk to hundreds of people every year who have Illinois workers’ compensation claims. While they all have unique situations, we do get a lot of similar questions. The most common one is what is my case worth?

That’s a good question and one we are happy to answer if we can. The truth is though that in most cases it’s too early to tell. If you were lifting at work last week and felt a pop in your back, there is no way to tell you what your case is worth when it’s time to settle. You might just have a strain. You might have a herniated disc. It’s possible your injuries will resolve themselves with muscle relaxers and physical therapy. Other workers will get better with an epidural steroid injection. Some workers will need a laminectomy. Others will need a fusion, maybe two. You will hopefully be able to return to your old job, but it’s possible you won’t.

All of these things can affect what the case is worth. So the range of what your case could be worth a week after your injury is somewhere between a couple of thousand dollars and many hundreds of thousands of dollars or possibly even in to the seven figures over a lifetime of payments. Some work comp law firms will tell you that your case is worth a ton even though they have no idea. They do this to get you excited and convince you to sign up with them even though they are lying. They just deal with their lies later on.

The bigger issue for injured workers is making sure that you don’t discuss settlement too soon. When you settle your case, you end your right to medical treatment at the expense of the insurance company and also lose your rights to weekly payments. If you have a herniated disc or torn ACL or other major injury, you could probably get $50,000.00 from the insurance company to settle quickly. They would do that because they know they’d likely have to spend 2-3 times that or more on your medical care. So while it seems like a good deal to you, you would actually be drastically short changing yourself. The only winners in that case are the insurance company and your lawyer who got a quick buck for selling you out.

There is nothing of course more important than your health so you shouldn’t even consider settling an Illinois work injury case until you are discharged from medical care and back to work or told you are as good as you are going to get and have gone through vocational rehabilitation. Put it to you another way. Would you rather have 50k and nobody to pay for your medical care or time off work now or in one year get 200k plus all of your bills and lost time compensated?

This can be tricky and even frustrating. We get that. If you would like a free consultation with one of our lawyers, call us at (800) 517-1614 or fill out our contact form. We help with work injuries everywhere in Illinois.

Hiring An Illinois Lawyer & Getting A Girlfriend

I always tell people the truth in a direct manner when they ask me if they have a case. That’s true even when I tell them that I don’t think they have a case. It’s not usually what someone wants to hear, but it’s the best way to run a business. I guarantee honest advice, and if I hem and haw or act all wishy washy then I’m not helping anyone.

A recent caller begged me to take her medical malpractice lawsuit. I of course would be thrilled if she had a good case because those cases, while rarely successful, can be worth a lot of money. In this case though, she got an infection after a C-section which is unfortunately a risk of having almost any surgery. It’s not a case I feel comfortable that I could win.

I told her why I, or any attorney I know, wouldn’t likely win this case and made very clear that there is nothing more that we could do. The next five minutes were her asking, “But what about this,” and “What about that?” and essentially trying to talk me into being her lawyer. It didn’t change a thing.

When you hire a lawyer it’s kind of like getting a girlfriend or a boyfriend. While you can be interested in someone, if they aren’t interested back then things won’t work out for you in the long run. And you certainly don’t want to beg.

I’ve run this law firm for over 15 years and talked to over 300,000 people. I can’t count how many times I’ve talked to someone who hired a lawyer who just hates practicing law so they become very disinterested in the case. You wouldn’t want that in a significant other and you shouldn’t want it in a lawyer.

The most important quality an attorney can have is experience with your type of case. A close second is a passion for getting you the best result possible. If they don’t care about you and aren’t going to fight for you then your chances of success greatly decrease.

We started our service to help you find the right attorney for your case because people deserve to have someone with passion in their corner. There are many bad lawyers out there, but many more good ones. We only recommend law firms that we would suggest to family members or friends. So while we can’t promise you a result, we can tell you that our recommendations will be better than any blind date you’ve ever been on.

If you would like our help in finding a lawyer, call us for a free consultation at (312) 346-5320 or complete our contact form. We are experienced attorneys who will speak with you for free and do whatever we can to help you.

See also: Does Your Illinois Lawyer Think He’s Better Than You?

Can I Sue For False Advertising?

The world that we live in today is surrounded by advertising. From the billboards on the freeway to the internet; even my child’s school newsletter had advertising in it. It’s something we can’t get away from. With some form of advertising lurking around every corner you turn, how do you know what is real and what is not? What can you do if you think you have been a victim of false advertising?

False Advertising is defined as, “Any advertising or promotion that misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities or geographic origin of goods, services or commercial activities” (Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 1125(a)). Failure to disclose, flawed and insignificant research, and product disparagement are the three main acts companies can carry out to make themselves liable to a possible false advertising lawsuit. What does this mean in actual English? Basically, it is illegal for any company to state false, misleading or deceptive statements about their products.

Sales people are out to “close the deal.” In doing so, sometimes they use high-pressure sales tactics or even “bait and switch” advertising both of which can also be examples of false advertising. For instance, you see an advertisement for a new printer and the store is also offering a cartridge of ink with any printer purchase. Yet, when you arrive to purchase the printer, they are out of the “free” ink cartridges, causing you to have to purchase the ink cartridge at a much higher price after all. This may be a “bait and switch/while supplies last” scam.

Kellogg’s Kashi Brand recently got in trouble to the tune of $4 million in Florida and an additional $5 million in California, for claiming their product was “All Natural” when in fact their products contained GMOs. Class action lawsuits were filed in each state, and to resolve these lawsuits, Kellogg’s Kashi Brand settled. Red Bull will no longer “Give You Wings” after a class action lawsuit was filed for false advertising in New York. $13 million dollars went to unhappy customers of Red Bull who claimed they saw no difference in their concentration or reaction speeds as the advertisements stated. In another case of false advertising, a lawsuit filed in California against Chipotle is still pending; the woman who filed the lawsuit says that Chipotle was not accurate in their advertising “non-GMO ingredients”

Lawyers in Chicago who we work with on cases have sued Subway for their “foot long” not really being 12 inches or tire irons being advertised at 41 inches but really being 39 inches.

If you think you might be a victim of false advertising, there are a few things a good attorney will ask prior to accepting your case. Do you have a copy of the original advertisement? Whether the advertisement was in a newspaper, magazine, on the internet or TV it is important to have an original printed or recorded copy. When possible, pictures of the product or damage caused by the companies false advertisement is helpful. Lastly, do you know of other people who were harmed by the product or companies claims? If so you may be able to file a class action lawsuit.

There is no up front cost to hire an attorney to pursue one of these cases. If you think a business is ripping their clients off and would like to talk to a lawyer about false advertising, call us any time at (800) 517-1614 or fill out our contact form to the right of this page.

See also: Find a Class Action Lawyer in Chicago Illinois

Illinois Divorce When You’re Married To A Doctor

When people call us looking for an Illinois divorce attorney recommendation, we have a basic set of questions that we go through before learning about what is unique about their case or any special concerns they have. These questions can lead to more questions and also some advice.

It’s normal for us to ask how long you’ve been married, if you have kids, how old they are and what you and your spouse do for a living. The reason we want to know what your job is has to do with the fact that it could affect the type of lawyer you need. If you get a 401(k) or a pension, you need an attorney that knows how to handle a QDRO (qualified domestic relief order) which in plain English is how those benefits get divided up.

If you or your spouse owns a business and it was started during the marriage, that also can affect the type of lawyer that you need. Any business started during the marriage is a marital asset and without a prenup you own half and your spouse owns half. This makes sense when we think of someone who has started a restaurant or any other type of traditional business. It doesn’t always seem as obvious when your spouse is a doctor.

In 15 years of helping people find the right Illinois divorce attorney for their case, many spouses of doctors don’t realize that they are married to someone who owns a business. But when you support someone through medical school and/or residency and they leave you right before or after they start making a real living in private practice, the courts in Illinois have recognized that has value and as a supportive spouse you are potentially entitled to a great part of their income.

When doctors go in to private practice they are in most situations becoming a business owner. In fact, many doctors’ offices are really just a group of doctors who call themselves partners, but in reality just share office expenses. Their pay is usually dependent on how much work they produce. It doesn’t seem like a business in the traditional sense, but whether their career is just taking off or they’ve been doing it for a while, it’s a business. If it started during the marriage, it’s a marital asset.

When you divorce a business owner, whether it’s a doctor or anyone else, if the business is successful or has great potential to be, you need to hire a divorce attorney who handles forensic accounting as part of their case work. That means that they have experience in determining what a business is really worth. Your spouse might say that they only made $100,000.00 for example. But a closer look might show that they had one time expenditures of a half a million (e.g. if you start a radiology group there are many machines you’d need to buy) or some other number. Forensic accounting show the true value of a business which helps figure out what you are owed.

Even if the business was started before the marriage, knowing how to properly value a business can help determine what child support payments or maintenance (often referred to as alimony) should be. Having the wrong law firm in your corner could literally cost you tens of thousands of dollars or more.

We have been helping people find the right attorney for the their case since 2001 and would be happy to help you find the right firm for you. Call us at (312) 346-5320 for a no cost, confidential consultation.

See also: Divorce Advice For Ariana Grande And Pete Davidson

Women Soccer Players In The US Are Getting Cheated On Pay

In the US, there is a wage war going on that affects not just women workers in a traditional setting but also, have you noticed what is going on in the world of soccer? While soccer may not be “as big” of a sport as football or even baseball, soccer fans are always loyal. Those loyal fans are standing up and taking notice of something “off” and downright screwed up that is happening; the massive wage gap between the US men’s and US women’s teams. That gap being so large, the women’s soccer team has filed a wage discrimination action against the US Soccer Federation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In their complaint, Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapino and Becky Sauerbrunn cite figures from the USSF’s 2015 financial reports, which show easily that the women’s team brought in more than $20 million dollars more in revenue than the men did. Not to mention these facts:

• On average, women soccer players earn as little as 40% of the amount earned by male soccer players
• The women’s soccer team has claimed three World Cup championships
• The women’s soccer team has claimed four Olympic championships.
• Women’s soccer team is currently ranked #1, was briefly #2 before regaining the top position.
• Men’s team has qualified for the World Cup five times, but has never won.
• Men’s team has gone to the Olympics but has never won.
• Men’s soccer team is currently ranked #30 and hasn’t been above #4 since 2006.

For friendlies against teams not in the FIFA top 25, women get $1,350 for a win, men get $9,375.00. If you make the World Cup roster, women get $15,000.00, men get $68,750.00. The men get bonuses for just getting points in the World Cup and the women get nothing. The women got $75,000.00 a piece for winning the last World Cup. If the men were ever to do the same, they’d get almost $400,000.00 a person.

Putting those statistics and numbers in to perspective, I have to agree with Hope Solo who said, “Men’s players get paid more to just show up than we get paid to win major championships.”
US Soccer officials have claimed the numbers used in the EEOC complaint aren’t accurate. In addition, they claim that the collective bargaining agreement is still effective, as well as stating that women have included provisions that the men don’t have, like maternity leave. Whereas, the USWNT has shown through the USSF’s annual general meeting minutes that they are expecting much higher revenue this year, and even higher in 2017. The collective bargaining agreement expired in 2012 at which point both parties signed a memorandum of understanding. The USWNT is now seeking to dissolve that memorandum while USSF says it is in fact a binding contract. The women have put themselves into position at a prime time in soccer history. The Olympics are right around the corner to be followed by a victory tour that could bring in a projected $8 million dollars in revenue, as well as US soccer certainly doesn’t want to be tarnished while preparing for the 2026 World Cup bid.

It should be noted that the men’s soccer team is behind the women’s fight for equal pay 100%. Many players have come forward supporting the women to fight for their right to equal pay. Even the men can see how unfair the women have been treated and they are not afraid to voice their opinions.
Will the women keep fighting? Will they “strike” and boycott right before this summer’s Olympics? Or will they come to an agreement both sides will accept? This will certainly be a case to watch as the sides go back and forth.

How Illinois Medical Malpractice Is Like The NCAA Tournament

There is an old saying in basketball, especially on pick up courts, that goes “No harm, no foul.” This essentially means that if it didn’t hurt you when I fouled you that you need to just play on and there’s nothing you can do. We’ve seen a bunch of hard fouls already during the NCAA basketball tournament, but many of them wouldn’t be fouls at all if it were just a bunch of buddies getting together for a pick up game.

Medical malpractice lawsuits in Illinois kind of work in a similar way. I get calls all the time from people who treated with a doctor or hospital who were clearly negligent. For example, I’ve talked to people who went to the hospital or urgent care with what clearly sounds like a blood clot in their leg. The doctor sends them away telling them that it’s likely just a sore muscle. Hours later they are in a lot of pain and go to a different hospital only to discover the blood clot and get rushed in to surgery or put on blood thinners.

Another common example is when someone goes to the hospital with an arm or ankle injury and are told after x-rays that it’s just a sprain. Maybe a month or so later after walking around in pain they discover that there is a broken bone. Unless they can show that they are now permanently disabled in a way that wouldn’t have happened any way it’s probably not a case worth bringing.

“I could have died” is what I’m told a lot and that is true. But to paraphrase basketball, no harm, no lawsuit. Illinois medical malpractice lawsuits are not about what could have happened, but instead are about what did happen. It costs often $50,000-$100,000.00 or more to go to trial in one of these lawsuits. There are strict standards for even bringing the case in the first place which involve numerous medical professionals testifying as to what was done wrong. That costs a lot of money. As a result, Illinois malpractice law firms can typically only bring lawsuits when there are damages which are really significant.

It sucks because it’s true that a lot of doctors get away with really bad treatment and when they do, they often go on to harm many others. It doesn’t make us money, but it’s a simple truth that you have to have negligence (not just a bad result) AND real damages to make bringing a lawsuit worthwhile.

If you do have a complaint against the doctor when they have been negligent, but it’s not worth a lawsuit, filing a complaint with the Illinois Department of Professional and Financial Regulation. They license and discipline doctors and it’s their job to protect the public even when the doctor doesn’t cause a catastrophic harm. You can always call us at (312) 346-5320 to speak with an attorney for free, and we will let you know if it is worth filing a lawsuit.

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