Illinois Lawyer Referrals and Legal Guidance

Many professions are regulated by the state of Illinois. Nurses, doctors, mortgage brokers, psychiatrists, accountants and dentists all need a license in order to do their work, and their licensing is handled by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

If you hold a license, you may be aware that the IDFPR has the power to investigate complaints against you and suspend or even revoke your license. So what happens when someone from the IDFPR contacts you? Proceed very carefully.

Even if the person who contacts you implies that it’s no big deal, you may be under investigation. Possible violations include practicing without a proper license, failing to keep up with educational requirements, not reporting a criminal record or engaging in unprofessional conduct.

Needless to say, your career may be at stake. Any consequence or punishment – probation, reprimand, license suspension, license revocation, fines – can have a serious impact on your business and professional life.

Our suggestion, in a nutshell, is don’t answer any questions, don’t hand over any documents and get an attorney as soon as you can. There are Illinois attorneys who are very familiar with the investigation process and have a lot of experience defending professionals against an investigation.

It can be tempting to cooperate and be as helpful as possible, but be careful. If you don’t know what it’s about (and they might not tell you right away), you may end up saying something by mistake that can hurt you. If you do know what it’s about, you may be eager to give your side of the story. Resist the urge to do this and politely decline an interview until you have an attorney.

People have a lot of complaints about lawyers, and we hear them every day. We get a lot of calls from people who already have an attorney but are wondering if it’s time to hire someone new. It depends on the situation, but here are some red flags:

-       You haven’t been able to reach your attorney for months. Lawyers can be terrible at communicating with clients, which causes all sorts of problems. For example, the client thinks (rightfully so) that their attorney isn’t doing any work on their case. This is a shame because often the work is being done but it’s just not being communicated. There’s no excuse for leaving a client in the dark. You can, and should, expect your attorney to return your calls and answer your questions and be available to schedule an appointment.

-       Your attorney yells at you. Some lawyers are rude. Some are jerks. You really don’t have to put up with it. The majority of the time you can switch attorneys without hurting your case.

-       Your lawyer isn’t fighting for you. Your attorney or firm should work on your case fairly aggressively. Sometimes things move very slow in the legal system, so don’t jump to conclusions. But if your attorney is just procrastinating, that’s terrible. Find someone with a better work ethic and more dedication to their clients.

-       Your attorney doesn’t know your case. If you meet with your lawyer and they don’t seem to know what’s going on in your case, or they forget the major details of your situation, they may not be giving your case the attention it deserves.

In some of these situations, it may be a good idea to sit down and discuss your concerns with your current attorney. Maybe you can work it out and find a solution and move forward. This can save some time and energy.

If you decide you can’t work it out, or you don’t trust them or aren’t confident in their ability to represent you, move on as soon as you can.

You can sue an Illinois attorney for legal malpractice. But first, here’s what you should know:

-       Not every mistake made by an attorney is malpractice. The same is true for medical mistakes – they aren’t always medical malpractice. The question is whether the attorney was negligent. A common example of negligence is missing a deadline, which shouldn’t happen.

-       If the problem caused by your attorney can be fixed, then you probably don’t have a case. The reason is that if it can be fixed you will have trouble proving that you were harmed by the error. If your attorney missed a deadline and you lost your case forever, you may have a case.

-       Another consideration is that you have to prove that without the error by your attorney, you would have won. It sounds crazy, and it makes these cases difficult to win. It’s a case inside a case.

-       In order to win a legal malpractice case you will have to prove damages. This means that you will have to put a dollar amount on your injury or you can’t be compensated. If your attorney misses a deadline on a collections case, and you can prove that you would have been able to recover that $50,000 you were owed, then it’s fairly straightforward. If you lose a custody case, however, it’s going to be hard to prove what the outcome would have been and nearly impossible to put a dollar amount on it.

-       It can be difficult to find an attorney to handle a legal malpractice claim. There aren’t many out there to begin with. And some attorneys who do take these cases don’t advertise it. The cases can be difficult to prove and win, but if your attorney has mishandled your case and caused you harm, it’s worth pursuing.

-       For misconduct that isn’t necessarily malpractice, you can file a request for an investigation with the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (www.iardc.org).