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Attorneys in Illinois- five tips on license reinstatement, marital assets

March 10th, 2010

Every Wednesday we provide five legal tips based on questions we receive from readers:

I just read about a guy that got his 7th DUI in Illinois!  How does a person like that have a license to drive?

He probably doesn’t.   In Illinois after your fourth conviction (assuming it was after 1999 and all four are in Illinois) you are revoked from legally driving again without ever having the possibility of reinstatement.

My son has a child and is divorcing.  The Judge has given him visitation with our grandchild every Saturday and some holidays.  We were told by his lawyer that the Mom can keep the child from seeing us at other times when it is her visitation.  Can we bring our own case?

With limited exceptions that is true.  You are best off working with your son and trying to enhance his argument that it’s in the best interests of your granchild that he get more time with the boy so then you can get more time.

I am getting a divorce.  What does a marital asset mean?

 A marital asset is anything acquired during the marriage.  Examples would be if you had a pension or 401k; the portion acquired during the marriage would be a marital asset and would likely get split 50/50.  If you bought a house, that would be one too, so would a business started during the marriage.  The one big exception is inherited property so long as it is not co-mingled with the rest of the marital assets.

What is a contingency fee?

A contingency fee means that the lawyer doesn’t get paid if they win the case and if they do win it is a percentage of what they recover.  Here is more information about Illinois contingency lawyers and how they work.  It’s typical for injury cases or other matters where the winner gets paid money.  It can’t be done for criminal cases or divorce.

I live in Oregon.  My Dad died in Chicago and had a will prepared by an attorney friend of his.  Do we have to use that attorney go probate the estate?  Honestly we don’t like him and he’s rude.  We never said anything to my Dad because they were friends, but I just don’t want to work with him.

You don’t have to work with him.  Your Dad’s will can name an executor of the estate, but it is up to the executor to choose what attorney to help probate the estate.

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Advice for law students

March 9th, 2010

When you start law school it’s not uncommon for the powers that be to look at you and say something like “Look to the person on your left, look to the person on your right, one of you three won’t be here in three years.”  They say this to you as they want you to think law school is so hard that many people will get weeded out because they just don’t cut it. 

The reality is that 1 of 3 probably won’t be there at the end, but not because they don’t make it.  Many people just realize that going to law school isn’t for them since it’s pretty boring and seems to lead to a life or work that you just don’t want to do.  Why spend all of that money if you aren’t going to use your degree? 

If they were really honest with you they’d tell you to look around the room and guess who won’t be practicing law still at the 10 year reunion.  Surprisingly (to me at least) the answer is most of the people in the room. 

I think back at all the students that used to suck up to professors or busted their butts to be on law review.  Most of them aren’t practicing lawyers any more.  Some became stay at home parents, others went in to unrelated fields and still others started their own business.  In fact the most successful of my classmates seem to be the ones that fell right in the middle of the rankings (FYI, I went to Chicago-Kent). 

The reason most people drop out of law firm practice is because it’s the same mundane thing, day after day after day.  Most people aren’t passionate about fighting for insurance companies or helping put together a real estate deal, especially if you work for greedy assholes.  It can be exciting at first, but after a while it seems that the only thing that changes is the name on the file. 

Don’t get me wrong, having a law degree can open up a lot of doors for you and even if it’s a matter of perception versus reality, many businesses like having a lawyer on staff.  There are a whole host of successful people that have a law degree and don’t use it the way that most lawyers do (from the sports world Tony LaRussa, Steve Young, Jay Bilas among others). 

So if you are in law school don’t let anyone freak you out.  You’ll probably graduate if you want to, you’ll probably pass the bar and eventually you’ll find a job.  But don’t be surprised if at some point you realize that being a law firm attorney isn’t for you.  And if that’s the conclusion you reach, there is nothing wrong with that.

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What you don’t have to do under Illinois criminal law

March 8th, 2010

We talk to approximately 40 people a week who have either been arrested or might be arrested.  A lot of common themes are heard in these calls which led to this post idea.  Here are some things to know when dealing with the police.  You don’t have to:

-Take a breathalyzer or walk the line or stand on one foot if you pulled over for a DUI.

-Come down to a station and answer questions because they want to talk to you.  If asked you should have a lawyer call on your behalf.

-Say anything.  Anything you say can and will be used against you.  Don’t help them build their case even if they say they will go easier on you.

-Refuse to press charges.  Sometimes they’ll tell you if you press charges then you also will be arrested (usually after a fight).  Do what you want to do, especially if you’ve done nothing wrong and can prove it.

-Let them search your car.  Again, why give them a chance to get evidence.

-Let them in to your house if they don’t have a warrant or probable cause.

-Ask for Miranda rights.  If you aren’t being questioned they don’t have to read you your rights.

-Take a polygraph.  Those tests are not reliable.

-Sign a statement.  Just like you shouldn’t talk, you shouldn’t sign.

-Agree to talk without an attorney present.  Doing so is basically giving up.

-Plead guilty.  Every day charges are dismissed against people that are guilty of a crime.  Don’t throw away your future because a cop tells you it will be easier.  He just doesn’t want to testify in court.

-Take legal advice from a cop.  We are stunned by the number of cops that tell the people that they arrest that the charge is no big deal.  If it’s a misdemeanor you can go to jail for 364 days if convicted.  It’s a big deal.  Again they often say this just to make their job easier.

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Gay marriage and divorce in Illinois

March 5th, 2010

Like it or not (and we don’t), gay marriage is not legal in Illinois.  That also means that gay divorce is not recognized here, even if you are legally married in another state. 

So if you are in a same sex marriage and want out, if you live in Illinois you are probably going to have a hard time.   Most states have a residency requirement which means you have to live in the state for a certain amount of time before you can get a divorce.  So you might have to move to the state where you got married if you want to get a divorce.  Crazy.

While Illinois can’t divorce you, it can deal with property disputes, child custody and other traditional issues that arise in a divorce.   In fact you can pretty much do everything a divorce does except get maintenance (aka alimony) and argue over what are considered marital assets.

Whether you were married in another state or are just in a same sex relationship that is breaking up, a family law attorney is probably the best way to address these issues.  That said, there are only a handful of lawyers that have this type of experience.  Some don’t take these cases because of political views.  Some don’t take them because it’s a different kind of work than they are used to.  And some attorneys would love to take these cases, but they have no experience with it so of course you probably don’t want to hire them.

We think a simple solution to this problem, even for those people that are against gay marriage, is to recognize same sex marriages performed in other states and allow Illinois residents to use divorce courts to end their marriages here.  If you are really against gay marriage then you shouldn’t be against gay divorce because at the end of the day it’s one less gay marriage.  We doubt this sensible idea will ever become law, but since when is the law about what makes sense?

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Are Illinois nurses getting screwed on their wages?

March 4th, 2010

If you have ever spent time in a hospital you know that nurses are the ones that really run the show.  I had children delivered at two separate Chicago area hospitals and the nurses were amazing.  When my Grandma was in the hospital it was the nurses that were in her room most of the time, doing the dirty work and really making her feel taken care of.

Being a nurse is a demanding job.  The tasks are unique too.  If you work as an accountant you can easily stop working for thirty minutes and have a lunch break.  If your patient is crashing or otherwise needs you, getting a sandwich isn’t a possibility.

The problem is that (allegedly) some Chicago area hospitals are not properly paying nurses for the time that they are working.  It’s somewhat industry practice to have a nurse work either an 8.5 or 12.5 hour shift and then deduct 30 minutes for a meal break.  Unless the meal break is uninterrupted, it must be paid.  Most nurses do not take uninterrupted meal breaks because (1) they eat at the nurse’s station and must deal with pages, doctors, family members, etc, (2) eat in a break room on the floor and are similarly interrupted, (3) or just don’t get a break because of workload, staffing issues, or as one nurse explained to me, because “I don’t want my patients to die.”

Three lawsuits have been filed already.  Hopefully other hospitals voluntarily do the right thing and pay these hard working nurses.  If you know a nurse that is being taken advantage of, have them call us at (312) 346-5320.

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Attorneys in Illinois- Advice on criminal defense, doctor bills, sex with teachers and more

March 3rd, 2010

Every Wednesday we offer five legal tips based on questions from recent callers.

I read on your website that getting a lawyer that knows the prosecutor can make a huge difference.  Is that really true?  How do I know that he won’t sell me out?

No lawyer we know (recommend) makes a living by selling out their clients.  The reality is that success in criminal defense is a lot like success in life; who you know is often as important as what you know.  Case in point is a guy who came to us recently and had hired an out of town attorney on a burglary case because he didn’t want someone who was going to sell him out to the Cook County prosecutors.  His lawyer got him an offer of 12 years in jail and the prosecutor said that was the best they could do.  Within five days of hiring the attorney we suggested (who used to be a prosecutor in Cook County and was the supervisor of the current prosecutor on the case) the offer got reduced to only two years.  The client was thrilled and the success was all because of the attorney he hired.

I went to the doctor for a colonoscopy and he punctured my colon.  I get that is a risk of the procedure so I don’t have a medical malpractice suit, but why do I have to pay this bill?

It’s a good question.  If you took your car to a mechanic for an oil change and they end up blowing the engine, you wouldn’t pay for it.  Doctors tend to get away with it.  You could tell them to sue you and if they do you can make your argument.  It’s not been done that we know of, probably because of the cost involved in fighting it.  But someone has to be first.

If I have been offered a settlement on a workers’ compensation case and want to get more, does the lawyer I hire get paid on the total offer?

No, they typically only get paid based on what they get on top of what was already offered, although that fee can be as high as 50% of what is additionally recovered.  That said, many lawyers won’t touch a case when there is already an offer on the case.

My son was sleeping with a teacher at his school.  He is only 16.  The teacher has been charged, but a lawyer told me that when it comes to suing the school we’ll only collect if we can prove they knew about it.  Is that true?

Yes, that is generally the law in Illinois.   That said, it is a crime and certainly a case worth pursuing because sometimes you don’t think the school knew and it turns out they did or should have. 

If I get pulled over on a suspicion of DUI, should I take the breath test?

Every Illinois DUI attorney we know would tell you not to take the test.  It could lead to a suspension of your license, but that is often thrown out.  More importantly, you don’t want to provide the evidence that could be used to convict you and send you to jail.  No matter what the cop tells you, you don’t have to take the breath test or any roadside test for that matter.

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“Is there an Illinois injury attorney that works with alternative medicine?”

March 2nd, 2010

This great question came from a reader of our blog.  I will be the first to admit that I know nothing about alternative medicine.  I do know that some people swear by it and are vehemently opposed to “traditional” Western medicine.  If some herbs or acupuncture can truly help you avoid a back fusion then it’s probably a good thing.

When it comes to injury lawsuits in Illinois we do know that most insurance companies and juries are going to almost always to find the opinion of an orthopedic surgeon or neurologist over someone with a perceived lesser degree.

So if your attorney understands alternative medicine that is all fine and good, but it’s way more important that they understand the type of case you have and can demonstrate a track record of success with those cases.   And you should understand that you are greatly jeopardizing your case if you don’t along with alternative medicine, participate in more traditional methods. 

That is surely a maddening statement to read if you truly believe in these methods, but the fact of the matter is that an orthopedic surgeon who testifies on behalf of an insurance company is just going to be seen as more credible.  It’s great to have beliefs and stick to principles, but if it leads to you receiving no compensation for the six months of work that you miss and no payment of your medical bills, is it really worth it?  You might win, but more often than not you’d probably lose.

The best thing you can probably do is to find a traditional doctor who knows an alternative medicine type doctor.  Adding that treatment to the normal course of care would likely be seen as reasonable, especially if your doctor recommends it.

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