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Archive for July, 2009

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Six things to think about when hiring an Illinois personal injury lawyer

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Whether you are looking for a car accident attorney in Chicago or a slip and fall attorney downstate in Illinois, here are six tips that will hopefully help you hire the right firm:

1. Every personal injury lawyer in Illinois should work on a contingency basis.  That means no recovery, no fee.  If they are asking you for money up front keep looking.

2. While a past good result doesn’t guarantee a good outcome for you, it certainly is a good predictor for success, especially if you have a unique case.  In other words, if you broke your leg when a porch you were on collapsed, your chances of success are better if the attorney you hire has handled a similar case before.  Other lawyers could do a good job, but doesn’t it make sense to hire the law firm that has successfully handled the unique situation?

3. The right lawyer for your neighbor isn’t necessarily the right attorney for you.  We see so many people hire a lawyer because that attorney did a good job for a friend.  They might do a good job for you, but if your neighbor was bitten by a dog and you were molested by a priest you might be hiring the wrong firm.

4. A firm that regularly handles multi-million dollar cases with catastrophic injuries isn’t the best fit for someone with a case that is smaller.  You might have a $100,000 claim which is in no way chump change.  But the firm that deals with brain injuries that require life long care isn’t likely to give you the same attention that they do their "more important" clients.  You stand a good chance of having a junior attorney work your file.  We think you are better off with an experienced lawyer at a law firm that mostly handles cases similar to what yours is worth.

5. Before you hire a lawyer ask them for a game plan.  In most (not all) accident cases there is a two year statute of limitations to file a lawsuit.  Tons of firms wait until the week before you must file to bring the lawsuit.  Do they promise that they will file it and not drop you at the last minute?  Why not file right now?  What do they think the case is worth?  What can you do to help your case like keep a journal as to what has happened?  How many trials have they handled?   Ask questions and hold them accountable if they don’t provide the service you deserve.

6. While "general practice" attorneys can do a good job with some cases, since you are hiring a lawyer on a contingency basis you should get the best firm for your situation.  We strongly encourage people to hire lawyers that deal with accident claims every day.  If they are doing car accidents on Monday, criminal defense on Tuesday, divorce on Wednesday, etc., they might be able to do a good job for you, but certainly don’t give you the best chance of success.  Not when compared to a lawyer who can demonstrate a track record of nothing but injury cases over many years.

Of course none of this guarantees a result, but it’s good to think about.

Since 2001, findgreatlawyers.com has been the leading resource for Illinois attorney referrals and legal guidance. If you would like our help please contact one of our lawyers via our on-line form or call (800) 517-1614. We are based in Chicago, but help people find attorneys for legal matters throughout Illinois.  All inquiries are free and confidential.

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Beware the Illinois family law attorney who hates their job

Friday, July 31st, 2009

When you start law school, the Professors try to scare you about how hard it’s going to be.  They typically say something like, "Look to your left.  Now look to your right.  One of you won’t be here still in two years."  It was really a bunch of nonsense, but it is true about people that actually finish law school and become a law firm attorney.

A dirty little secret about lawyers is that many of them hate what they are doing.  Often they are stuck practicing law because they either have huge law school debts or don’t know how to do anything else.   This is most true when it comes to family law attorneys in Illinois (divorce, custody, support, etc.).  It’s an area of law that involves constant bickering and battles with very emotional clients.  It takes a special person to do a good job with these cases.  Unfortunately, so many lawyers are numb to the real life emotional issues their clients go through and don’t care that their client is devestated by losing a spouse or not getting to see their kids as much as they want.

We’ve had people call us and say that their attorney told them to "get over it" when they mentioned how upset they were about not having seen their kid for weeks.  Lawyers aren’t psychologists, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be compassionate.

It’s no wonder that each year more complaints are filed against lawyers that do family law than any other area of law.  Of course no attorney is going to admit to you that they hate what they are doing.  But if you get the sense that your attorney isn’t really in your corner or isn’t fighting for you, it’s best to change law firms before it’s too late.

Since 2001, findgreatlawyers.com has been the leading resource for Illinois attorney referrals and legal guidance. If you would like our help please contact one of our lawyers via our on-line form or call (800) 517-1614. We are based in Chicago, but help people find attorneys for legal matters throughout Illinois.  All inquiries are free and confidential.

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Quick question, quick answer

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Caller asks:

My child support order is from 1989, nothing was ever paid, kids are now 25 and 29.  Is it too late to collect?

No.  Once you get a child support order it never expires in Illinois no matter how old the kids are.

Since 2001, findgreatlawyers.com has been the leading resource for Illinois attorney referrals and legal guidance. If you would like our help please contact one of our lawyers via our on-line form or call (800) 517-1614. We are based in Chicago, but help people find attorneys for legal matters throughout Illinois.  All inquiries are free and confidential.

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If only I had $45,000 to create a wax statue of myself

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Every now and then we like to comment on articles we see in the newspaper about recently filed lawsuits.   Quite often the papers don’t tell the whole story or the case turns out do be about nothing, but this recent Suntimes article sure paints a picture of power gone mad.  Allegedly the head of the National AKA sorority spent thousands of dollars to have a wax likeness of herself created.  She is also accused of wasting a lot of money in other areas too.

We have nothing to do with this case, but do get contacted from people with similar problems (out of control board members, not people that are creating wax figures of themselves).  The reality is that if you can’t negotiate a result on your own, you either live with the bad situation or sue.  Many times you can find a lawyer on a contingency basis which means that they don’t get paid unless they win.  Other times though, and this case is probably one of them, a lawyer charges by the hour so you have to decide if it’s worth it to spend the money needed to accomplish what you want. 

The key thing to remember is that before you jump feet first in to a lawsuit, make sure you know what it’s going to cost you now and what it could cost you in the long run.  Most cases don’t settle right away so you need to know what the bottom line is going to be if there are years of depositions, expert costs and court appearances.

Since 2001, findgreatlawyers.com has been the leading resource for Illinois attorney referrals and legal guidance. If you would like our help please contact one of our lawyers via our on-line form or call (800) 517-1614. We are based in Chicago, but help people find attorneys for legal matters throughout Illinois.  All inquiries are free and confidential.

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“Blink” and Illinois criminal attorneys

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

I’m a big fan of the book "Blink" and what it teaches about snap judgments.  Sometimes our initial impressions are right on, sometimes our snap judgments reflect our inner-biases even when that snap judgment is dead wrong.  The best example from the book is how orchestras used to have auditions where you could see the musician and know their name, resulting in a male to female ratio of about 19 to 1.  They now do blind auditions where you only hear them play the instrument.  As a result the ration is now close to 50-50 and women who before couldn’t get a shot at traditional "male" instruments now can.

So what does that have to do with defending a criminal case in Illinois?  I was called for jury duty yesterday for the first time in my life.  On a daily basis I help people find Illinois criminal defense attorneys and have seen hundreds of innocent people get charged with felonies or misdemeanors.  The jury I was considered for (I didn’t get picked because no one wants a lawyer on a jury) was regarding a felony burglary trial.  The defendant was dressed kind of sloppily and had a mohawk that led to somewhat of a menacing look.  My snap judgment was that this guy must be guilty.  Of course you can’t reach that conclusion without hearing the evidence and I know nothing about his case.

All that said, I think his attorney did a poor job preparing him for the jury selection (or tried and failed) because those snap judgments of what someone looks like do matter.  I caught many potential jurors just staring at him and while I don’t know what they were thinking, it’s reasonable to guess that they were a tad skeptical of him already.

Some have proposed that trials don’t allow for any live testimony, but rather actors who would read the answers to questions of a witness or the accused.  While I see the merits of that, after being a part of hundreds of trials and depositions, I do think you can tell how sure someone is of an answer they are giving based on their response.  However, I wonder if the disparity between blacks and whites being convicted of certain crimes would change.  I also wonder if some innocent people would get convicted.  It’s certainly worth studying.

For you, if you are a criminal defendant, think about the first impression you are making on the prosecutor, Judge and jury.  It shouldn’t change the outcome of a case, but surely it does all of the time.

Since 2001, findgreatlawyers.com has been the leading resource for Illinois attorney referrals and legal guidance. If you would like our help please contact one of our lawyers via our on-line form or call (800) 517-1614. We are based in Chicago, but help people find attorneys for legal matters throughout Illinois.  All inquiries are free and confidential.

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Posted in Criminal Defense in Illinois | Comments Off

Is someone a better lawyer in Illinois based on the firm they are with?

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

An Illinois medical malpractice lawyer that we know closed down his one man shop in the suburbs and joined a downtown Chicago catastrophic injury law firm that we know of.  This lawyer had some fairly decent results throughout the years so why after 20 years of practicing in an office close to his house would he choose to hop on the train every day and commute downtown?

The reality is that when dealing with cases that take a lot of time and cost a lot of money to win, you are often better off with a bigger firm.  Unless the smaller firm has a really large support staff and a big bankroll, they typically can’t afford what it costs to pursue a malpractice case as if the lawyer loses, he is not only out his time, but probably $100,000 in expenses.  If he’s with an established firms that has scores of multi-million dollar verdicts then they have the ability to not only fund the cases, but also to take a case all the way through a trial.   So for the lawyer we know who just made the switch, instead of being one case loss away from having to take out a 2nd mortgage on his house, he not only doesn’t have that pressure, but he now also has the support of ten other attorneys who have the same level of experience that he does.  His clients are better served (in our opinion) because the insurance company takes the new firm more seriously and if the case goes to trial, multiple lawyers can work on the case with no increase in costs.

This doesn’t hold true across all areas of law.  For example, you can hire a 30 person divorce law firm in Illinois, but in most cases only one attorney will be handling it and if two or more lawyers work on it at once it will cost you a fortune.  Same holds true for practice areas like adoption, DUI defense, social security claims, probate and estate planning.

Every type of case is different and the type of law firm you should for is usually very fact specific to your unique situation.

 

Since 2001, findgreatlawyers.com has been the leading resource for Illinois attorney referrals and legal guidance. If you would like our help please contact one of our lawyers via our on-line form or call (800) 517-1614. We are based in Chicago, but help people find attorneys for legal matters throughout Illinois.  All inquiries are free and confidential.

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If you are hired in Illinois you can pursue an Illinois workers’ compensation claim

Monday, July 27th, 2009

One of the unusual laws about Illinois workers’ compensation is that if you are physically you in Illinois when you are hired for a job if you ever get hurt working for that employer you can file an Illinois workers’ compensation claim.

In other words, let’s say you work for American Airlines and come to Chicago to take a physical, then return home to Florida to do your job. Let’s also say that this happened in 1985 and you have haven’t been back to Illinois since the physical. If you get hurt working in Florida you can still pursue IL work comp benefits.

Now why would you do this? Because Illinois has the most worker friendly laws in the country. You choose your doctors, there is no limit on what you can receive and the rate of benefits is higher than any state we’ve found. 

On top of all that, even if you settle a workers’ compensation case in another state, you can pursue a claim in Illinois.  What happens is that the insurance company gets a credit for the out of state settlement.  Confusing?  Let us explain.  If the case settles for $15,000 in another state, but would have been worth $40,000 in Illinois, as long as you file the case in time you can get an extra $25,000, even if the settlement contract in the other state says that you are agreeing to close out your rights to any possible case.  The law in Illinois is that only the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission can close out a workers’ compensation case. 

Since 2001, findgreatlawyers.com has been the leading resource for Illinois attorney referrals and legal guidance. If you would like our help please contact one of our lawyers via our on-line form or call (800) 517-1614. We are based in Chicago, but help people find attorneys for legal matters throughout Illinois.  All inquiries are free and confidential.

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Posted in Injury Cases | Comments Off

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