Illinois Workers Compensation

Legal Malpractice Lawyers in Illinois

Illinois Personal Injury Lawyers

Illinois Divorce Lawyers

Illinois Criminal Defense Laws

Illinois Lawyer Referrals and Legal Guidance

• Help finding honest, experienced Illinois lawyers that will work for you.
• Legal matters anywhere in the state of Illinois.
• Always free to contact our staff of attorneys and ask for a recommendation or guidance.
• You speak with one of our Illinois attorneys, usually as soon as you call or e-mail and almost always within 24 hours.
• Customer service meets the legal field. It’s like having a lawyer in the family.

Being Foreclosed on Doesn’t Mean You Lose Your House

Millions of Americans, including thousands in Illinois are being foreclosed on or otherwise need a loan modification. This area of law is really developing overnight because there are so many new laws impacting what happens to your property.

We’ve received a lot of calls about this problem and have done a great deal of research by speaking to Illinois Foreclosure Lawyers. Surprisingly they seem to be able to help most people that contact them because the banks often make mistakes in the process and the new Federal loan modification laws really protect borrowers. On top of that, the cost to hire an attorney to save your home is pretty reasonable. The attorneys we recommend charge only $1,500 with all but $500 refundable if they don’t win. If you would like our help in finding an attorney for this problem please call us at (312) 346-5320.

You can have a legal gun permit and get arrested for having a gun

Every day thousands of out of state residents pass through Illinois. Many of these people are law abiding citizens that have a gun permit in their home state. Unfortunately, if they don’t have an Illinois FOID card they are likely illegally possessing a gun and can be charged with a felony charge of unlawful use of a weapon.

Even if you take the steps needed to have a FOID card, you can’t have a loaded, concealed firearm. This also is a felony. We’ve scene many instances where someone with a loaded gun in a trunk got pulled over for a routine traffic ticket and ended up charged with a felony that could put them in jail for years.

On top of all of this, even if you are just passing through Illinois, but get a FOID card, if you are in possession of a handgun or other types of weapons in Chicago, you can still get charged with unlawful use of a weapon.

If you aren’t sure what to do, we suggest that you either consult with an Illinois criminal defense law firm or call the Illinois State Police.

New topics on our website

We try to continually post new information dealing with Illinois laws.  Here are some recently added pages to our site:

• 604(b) Child Custody Evaluations
• Do I Have an Unpaid Wage Claim?
• The Right to Remain Silent
• Bedsore Injuries in Illinois
• Who is the Best Personal Injury Lawyer in Illinois?
• Driving After a DUI Conviction in Illinois
• Workers’ Compensation for Traveling Employees

If there is something that you would like us to write about or have any questions please contact us at any time. 

Hiring an Illinois attorney is a two way street

As a client you have the right to choose who to hire to represent you. We are big believers that there is no such thing as the “best lawyer in Illinois”, but rather there is the right attorney for your situation. In most cases there isn’t just one attorney that fits that description. Don’t be afraid to really interview attorneys and discuss a game plan with them before you hire them. You can always switch lawyers, but it’s best to make the right decision the first time.

Also remember that no law firm has an obligation to take on your case. We strongly encourage you to do things that will make the attorney want your case or avoid things that will make them think twice about representing you. Be on time for your meeting. Call if you have to cancel. Be organized. And most importantly, be honest. Most attorneys that we recommend will drop their clients if they found out that they have been lied to.

Judge Rejects Illinois Law on School Moment of Silence

The Illinois General Assembly passed the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act, which allows students to reflect on the day’s activities or to pray. The law’s defenders say that schools are not forcing religious views on anybody because students are free to choose to pray or merely reflect.

A federal judge, however, ruled that the state law is unconstitutional because it crosses the line separating church and state. A talk show host, who is also an outspoken atheist, filed the lawsuit on behalf of his daughter, a student at Buffalo Grove High School in the suburbs of Chicago. The American Civil Liberties Union also took issue with the law as a thinly veiled effort to bring religious indoctrination into schools.

The judge said that the statute is merely an effort to force students at impressionable young ages to contemplate religion. Furthermore, he ruled that the plain language of the statute suggests an intent to force the introduction of prayer in schools.

Lots of Illinois lawyers are no longer authorized to practice law

It used to be that to be an licensed Illinois attorney all you had to do was pass the bar, not commit ethical violations and pay your annual registration fee. You still need to do that, but now to keep your Illinois law license you have to take continuing legal education courses.

Apparently this new requirement and/or the rough economy are causing a lot of attorneys to give up the law practice altogether. Through our monitoring of www.illinoislawyers.com we have noticed that more than 1,500 attorneys who were authorized to practice law in Illinois in 2008 are not currently eligible to do so in 2009.

Now no one is going to lose sleep over there being less attorneys to choose from; but before you hire a lawyer make sure that they are currently authorized to practice law. We can assure you that any attorney we recommend is authorized to practice law and while we don’t guarantee you a result, we would never recommend an attorney to you if we wouldn’t suggest that same lawyer to a family member or friend.

One of the most interesting things about the law is that it keeps evolving. Starting in January of 2009 there were new laws about DUI’s and how to get driving privileges back. We also have seen a new wave of potential product liability lawsuits due to problems that result from patients with an implanted IVC Filter. Whereas years ago those products were thought of as safe, now attorneys that we recommend are pursuing lawsuits based on evidence that they cause harm.

The point of all of this is that when hiring a lawyer in Illinois you should make sure that they are the right one for you and that they are up to date on all of the latest developments in the law. Whether it is new laws or new types of cases to pursue, going with an uninformed attorney will likely lead to a lack of success.

We get asked a lot of questions about various areas of Illinois law. Here are responses to some of them that we thought the general public would be interested in:

• There is no official source for won-lost record in court actions because most cases are settled and a win to one person could be a loss to someone else.
• To have a class action lawsuit, you typically have to show that every wronged person had a similar experience.
• If you skip a court date, a default judgment can be entered against you, and the plaintiff would get whatever they are asking for.
• Power of attorneys expires upon the death of the person who has granted it.
• Corporations in Illinois cannot represent themselves in lawsuits.
• If a defendant does not have enough insurance to cover a judgment they can be personally liable.
• In most social security disability cases, you have to be rejected from the Government twice before a lawyer can get involved on your behalf to try to have benefits awarded to you.
• You usually have only one year to sue for slander or liable from the date that it was spoken or written.
• It is a violation of federal law for someone to send you a fax without your permission or any previous relationship with you. Fines can be up to $1500 a page.
• It is a violation of federal law for someone to send you a text message without your permission or any other established relationship with you.
• In most small claims actions, parties are not represented because it is not cost effective, but you are allowed to have an attorney represent you in those actions.
• We do not know of any lawyers that are taking on new lawsuits against tobacco companies for their marketing practices from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
• Just about every Social Security lawyer we know works on a contingency basis.
• There is no such thing as the best lawyer in Illinois, but rather you should look for the best lawyer for your specific needs.
• If your attorney has represented you officially in court, you can’t just fire them. The attorney has permission from the judge to be removed from the case.
• A Bar Association, while often a valuable resource, is usually just a club that anyone can join.
• If you have an agreement with someone, get it in writing.
• Most documents from a lawsuit or other court action are public record that can be obtained at the local county courthouse where the case is heard.
• It is a felony in Illinois to record a conversation without the other parties’ knowledge.

We are constantly adding new pages to our website to inform people about various areas of Illinois law.

Some recent additions include:

Summary of The Illinois Wrongful Death Act, Contingency Fee Cases (No Fee If You Don’t Win), Illinois Civil Litigation, Can I Represent Myself?, Lake County Workers’ Compensation Cases, Tips on Winning an Illinois Child Custody Case, Can I Fire My Divorce Attorney and Hire a New One?, What Happens When Someone Dies Without a Will in Illinois?, Illinois Toxic Mold Lawsuits, Random Illinois Workers’ Compensation Facts, Summary of Scott’s Law and SSDI and SSA Benefits Under Social Security. 

We also get a lot of calls from people looking for the name of specific attorneys in Illinois.  We aren’t a directory service and only recommend specific Illinois law firms that we know personally.  If you are simply looking for the name and contact information of a lawyer in IL, we suggest that you visit www.Illinoislawyers.com.

Illinois wrongful death lawsuit: frozen embryos not covered.

The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that frozen embryos are not covered under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act. In doing so, they reversed the findings from a Cook County wrongful death lawsuit in which the Judge ruled in favor of plaintiffs who sued a clinic. The basis of the lawsuit was that the clinic failed to properly freeze the embryos. The court said that the Act doesn’t apply because the embryo was not yet a fetus.

All is not lost for the plaintiffs as they can still bring a claim for breach of contract and the decreased chances of becoming pregnant. This case was somewhat high profile as it brought out strong opinions from each side of the abortion and stem cell debate. What is ironic is that those that are pro-life are usually anti-lawsuit and those that are pro-choice are more likely to favor plaintiff’s rights. In this case the pro-life side had to argue in favor of an Illinois personal injury lawsuit. By the way, before we get inundated with e-mails, we aren’t choosing a side in this debate, just stating the facts and highlighting an interesting case.

Wedding hall tries to pull a bait and switch. Could cost them more money in the end.

A couple contacted us a few weeks before their wedding date and advised that their wedding hall was asking for an additional $1,500.00 or said that they can't have their wedding there. It is an incredibly un-ethical thing to do not to mention very stressful. They wanted us to recommend a Chicago civil litigation attorney or a law firm specializing in Illinois civil lawsuits. Unfortunately the wedding was three weeks away at the time of their call.

Every case is different and since they had secured a new venue we advised them to enjoy their wedding first and worry about getting their deposit back after the honeymoon. The good news for them is that in Cook County civil lawsuits, business owners cannot represent themselves. As a result, this fraudulent venue will have real motivation to return their deposit if a lawsuit is necessary. Otherwise they may end up spending more in attorney's fees than what they are trying to squeeze out of this nice couple. It's amazing that so many people choose to do the wrong thing. Fortunately the law in Illinois will usually protect the person in the right.

Northwestern Hospital wins class action lawsuit over their billing practices.

The Illinois Appellate Court threw out a lawsuit by a man who was seriously injured in a car accident and received treatment at Northwestern. Basically what happened is he had an extended stay and approximately $80,000 in medical bills.  The man settled his lawsuit and Northwestern claimed a lien for the unpaid bill.  His argument against them was that since he didn't have health insurance, Northwestern was asking for a much higher amount than they would have if he did have insurance.  The Appellate Court basically said that it may be unfair, but Illinois Consumer Fraud laws were not violated.  The suit was attempted as a class action with the theory that hospitals shouldn't be able to have one rate for insurance companies and other prices for everyone else.

New Illinois class action lawsuit challenges alleged violations of Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.

In a decision reached recently by a Federal Court judge, Chicago class action lawyers were successful in arguing that a lawsuit against a suburban restaurant chain should be certified as a class action.  Essentially it is alleged that this restaurant violated the law by printing the last four digits of a credit card and the card expiration date on a credit card receipt.

The judge felt the case should be a class action because anyone who ate there and used a credit card would have been affected in a similar manner.  Since the claims are common, it makes more sense to have a class action lawsuit than hundreds or thousands of individual cases.  Essentially the restaurant is either liable in all cases or not liable in all cases.  As a result a class action makes sense.

Federal government to increase deportations of immigrants who are convicted of crimes in 2008

In an effort to reduce the number of inmates in both Federal and State prisons, the Federal government announced a goal of deporting at least 200,000 immigrants. Current U.S. law states that criminals must serve their sentence and then go through the deportation process, which can be lengthy, especially if the immigrant had legal status at the time of their arrest. In an effort to speed up the process, the government is going to offer some lower level criminals a sentence reduction in exchange for agreeing to an immediate deportation. The government is also reportedly going to increase efforts to arrest employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants which we will file in the “I will believe it when I see it” folder. It sounds good in theory, but unless you can show that an employer knew they were hiring illegal immigrants, and the burden is on the government to do so, we don’t think anything will happen.

New Jersey is abolishing the death penalty. Most states have followed the Illinois moratorium, but for a different reason.

New Jersey is about to outlaw the death penalty, the first state in over 40 years to do so officially. Illinois essentially got rid of the death penalty at the end of George Ryan’s time as governor, mostly because of the flaws in the Illinois system. You can still be sentenced to death in Illinois, but that sentence won’t be carried out any time soon. Other states have put a hold on executions, but not because of a flaw in the trial system like Illinois.

Rather, a young lawyer in Kentucky has brought an appeal that is going to be heard in January by the U.S. Supreme Court that lethal injection is unconstitutional because it can cause incredible pain and suffering. Apparently when you are killed by lethal injection you get one drug that renders you unable to talk or move, but could keep you conscious. The 2nd drug which kills you can apparently cause incredible pain. Opponents of this method state that there is a safer way to end a life. Whatever your opinion on the issue, if the Supreme Court rules that it isn’t unconstitutional, you can expect a wave of lethal injections to follow.

Illinois Medical Malpractice: Damage Caps Overturned, Supreme Court Battle Looms

In an action brought by Chicago medical malpractice lawyers, a Cook County Judge over-turned the law that limits the amount a plaintiff can receive for “non-economic damages” which is essentially pain and suffering. This wasn’t an unexpected move and while there are short term ramifications, the long term was always going to be decided by the Illinois Supreme Court which is where this case is headed. No matter how you feel about this issue, it’s certainly going to result in annoying political statements from both sides of the aisle over the next year.

One prominent Chicago medical malpractice attorney we talked to said that if the damage caps are upheld – they would limit non-economic recovery against a doctor to $500,000.00, $1,000,000.00 against a hospital – that many lawyers would stop taking on these cases. He essentially told us that the insurance companies have made clear that every case would go to trial because they would have no incentive to settle and over time would be able to use the tremendous costs of bringing a malpractice lawsuit to discourage plaintiff’s lawyers from filing suit. While 1 million sounds like a lot of money, if you have to risk $200,000.00 to try to get it, unless your case is a slam dunk, as a law firm you might not want to take a chance in going forward.

What is interesting is that the test case brought by the malpractice attorneys in Illinois to get these caps thrown out involves a brain damaged baby. That child has economic damages, namely all of the hospital bills that will result from a life time of care. So while the non-economic damages are limited, brain injury lawyers in Illinois still stand to recover significant amounts for their clients; they just don’t have as much settlement leverage as they used to. Stay tuned.

Tight knit legal communities can play a role in who is the right lawyer for you.

Our website is findgreatlawyers.com. That doesn’t mean every lawyer that you will find through us is great, it means that there are a lot of great Illinois lawyers out there and if you look hard enough, you will find the right one for you. In many cases (not all) the right lawyer is someone local, not because they are better than someone else, but because it’s more convenient for you. Other times, getting someone local is a strategic move. If you are arrested for retail theft in Naperville, but live in Chicago, that doesn’t mean you have to hire a Naperville criminal defense lawyer or a criminal attorney in Wheaton, Elmhurst, Downers Grove, etc. It also doesn’t mean you can’t hire a criminal attorney in Chicago or Joliet, Elgin, Schaumburg, etc. But when it comes to giving you the best chance for success, you should at least think about how hiring a lawyer that is local and familiar with the judges will potentially help you. Places like DuPage County, Lake County, Will County and certainly smaller counties throughout Illinois can be tight knit and when it comes to a divorce or criminal charge, a local lawyer could be the difference between winning and losing.

You need to contrast that concern with how complicated your case may be. If you are looking for an Illinois cerebral palsy lawyer and live in a small area, you probably won’t find a ton of attorneys that have a track record of success for brain injury lawsuits in Illinois or even medical negligence claims. Looking toward a bigger city would make sense. There might be less than 10 lawyers with good product liability experience in De Kalb, but attorneys in DuPage County or Cook County would travel for a good product liability lawsuit and it wouldn’t cost you any more money. On the other hand, if you live in Des Plaines and need a real estate closing attorney for the sale of your condo, there would be no point in seeking out the “top” real estate lawyer in Wheaton because their experience would not likely justify the additional costs.

Illinois Adoption Lawyers Asbestos Litigation in Illinois Illinois Bankruptcy Lawyers and Illinois Bankruptcy Laws Illinois Child Custody Lawyers and Illinois Child Custody Laws Illinois Child Support Lawyers and Illinois Child Support Laws Illinois Civil Litigation Illinois Class Action Lawyers and Illinois Consumer Fraud Laws Illinois Commercial Litigation Lawyers Illinois Collection Lawyers Illinois Criminal Lawyers and Illinois Criminal Laws Illinois Department of Professional Regulation Defense Illinois Divorce Lawyers and Illinois Divorce Laws Illinois Drivers License Reinstatements Illinois DUI Laws Employment Lawyers and Employment Laws in Illinois Illinois Estate Planning: Trusts, Wills and Laws Federal Criminal Lawyers and Federal Criminal Laws in Illinois Illinois Immigration Lawyers and Illinois Immigration Laws   Illinois Intellectual Property Lawyers Illinois Legal Malpractice Lawyers and Illinois Legal Malpractice Laws

Illinois Medical Malpractice Lawyers and Illinois Medical Malpractice Laws Nursing Home abuse lawyers in Illinois Illinois Overtime Lawyers and Illinois Overtime Laws Illinois Personal Injury Lawyers and Illinois Personal Injury Laws Illinois Probate Lawyers Illinois Product Liability Attorneys Real Estate Lawyers in Illinois Sexual Abuse and Molestation in Illinois Illinois Social Security Lawyers Illinois Traffic Lawyers and Illinois Traffic Laws Illinois Workers' Compensation and Lawyers and Illinois Workers' Compensation Laws Illinois Wrongful Death Lawyers and Illinois Wrongful Death Laws Contingency Fee Cases (No Fee If You Don’t Win) Chicago Attorneys and Cook County Legal Information Lake Co (IL) Attorneys DuPage County Attorneys Chicago Workers' Compensation Lawyers Legal Dictionary of Common Terms Top 10 Tips For Hiring the Right Lawyer in Illinois If An Illinois Law Firm Solicits You

Web Site Disclaimer: None of the information on this website should be considered legal advice. The law in Illinois is constantly changing and although we do our best to keep our website current, you should not make any final determinations based on what you read here. By contacting us or any lawyer that you are referred to through this website, you have not created an attorney-client relationship. The only way to establish an attorney client relationship with us or any other Illinois lawyer is through a signed retainer agreement in which you agree to hire the lawyer and they agree to work with you as a client. The advice that you receive from us should be taken in general terms. Finally, there is never a cost to speak with the Illinois attorneys that run our site and will talk to you on the phone or by e-mail for free. However, the cost to actually handle a case by any lawyer that we recommend is between you and that law firm. If you have questions about anything we offer or anything related to our website please call us at (312) 346-5320.