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Recent Blog Posts
Can You File a Lawsuit for a Construction Accident?
The construction industry is known to be one of the most dangerous industries. A little over a year ago, a masonry worker died at a construction site at the Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School. The cause of death was a wound to the man’s neck caused by a motorized hand saw. In 2021, there were 986 construction site deaths in the state of Illinois.
Construction accidents are usually caused by one of the "fatal four." The four most prevalent causes of construction injuries and death in the construction industry are falls (usually from ladders or scaffolding), being struck by an object or falling object, electrocutions, and being caught in or caught in between equipment.
Pros and Cons of a Postnuptial Agreement
We tend to hear more about prenuptial agreements than postnuptial agreements, but they are both legal, binding contracts that are intended to protect the financial interests of both spouses in the event of a divorce, separation, or death. Both agreements can help set expectations as well as prevent disputes regarding assets between spouses. A postnuptial agreement can cover how marital assets will be divided, whether ongoing financial support will be given to one spouse from the other, which debts each spouse will be responsible for, and other similar issues.
Postnuptial agreements have gained traction in recent years, largely because they are often more practical than prenuptial agreements, which are typically entered into in the early stages of a relationship when both parties are still starry-eyed in love. A prenuptial agreement, if not updated frequently, may not fully cover the changes that have occurred in a couple’s lives, careers, and financial assets and obligations. A postnuptial agreement is usually entered into months or even years after a couple marries.
Distracted Driving Defense After a Car Accident
Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of serious car accidents. Now that almost everyone has a cell phone with them while driving, there are many more potential distractions than drivers used to face. Drivers frequently rely on GPS apps for directions, which means their phones must be out and turned on. This makes it easier to get distracted by incoming messages or notifications. Many newer model vehicles even have integrated infotainment systems, confronting drivers with another screen. Even drivers who carefully obey Illinois’s cell phone use laws can be distracted by passengers, music, food, or something interesting that is happening on the roadside. No driver can keep 100 percent of his attention on driving 100 percent of the time. A motor vehicle accident can happen in a split second. If you are facing a lawsuit after being involved in a car accident, you need an experienced Chicago, IL personal injury attorney.
Why Hostile Work Environment Claims Are Hard to Prove
The term "hostile work environment" seems like it should be self-explanatory. If an employee goes to work every day and is treated with great disrespect or harassed by colleagues, she would not be remiss in describing her work environment as hostile. However, "hostile work environment" has an extremely specific meaning in employment law. First, the harassment the worker endures must be so severe and persistent that it interferes with her ability to perform her work. This is a fairly high bar - having a supervisor who is merely rude or coworkers who occasionally make insulting comments is not considered enough to stop a reasonable employee from carrying out her job duties. Even if an employee can show this level of harassment, she must also be able to prove that she was harassed for a discriminatory reason.
If your company has been threatened with a hostile work environment claim, you should contact an experienced Lisle, IL commercial litigation attorney. A lawsuit that is unlikely to succeed can still cause trouble for your small business, especially if it attracts media attention. All discrimination-based claims should be handled with care by a skilled lawyer.
Managing Expectations When Divorcing a Narcissist
While few divorces are considered "easy," some have more conflict than others. High-conflict divorces are particularly emotional and tumultuous for all those involved. There may be intense animosity, prolonged legal battles, and disagreements that seem to take on a life of their own. Each decision becomes a point of contention, beginning with the division of marital assets and continuing through the allocation of parental responsibilities and determining parenting time.
A high-conflict divorce tends to bring out the worst in all those involved. Spouses who are divorcing a narcissist can usually expect a high-conflict divorce. Since narcissism may have played a major role in the divorce, spouses of narcissists likely already know to expect a contentious divorce. If you are divorcing a narcissist, you need a Kendall County, IL divorce lawyer who has experience dealing with narcissists to ensure you and your children are protected.
Proving Fault in a Weather-Related Accident
Unfortunately, one cannot file a personal injury lawsuit against Mother Nature. The weather contributes significantly to many car accidents, especially in the winter. However, drivers have a duty to take the weather conditions into consideration and adjust their driving accordingly. Simple measures like slowing down earlier when approaching a red light can keep drivers safe even in harsh weather. While it is harder to avoid an accident when the roads are icy and visibility is poor, most car accidents in poor weather could have been prevented through more careful driving. Proving fault can be slightly more difficult when the weather contributes significantly to an accident. You will need an experienced DuPage County, IL car accident attorney to help hold the at-fault driver responsible for the crash.
Why Establishing Paternity of a Newborn Fast is Important
Finding out that you were going to become a father might have been one of the most exciting moments of your life - and maybe one of the most anxiety-inducing as well. If you are not in a committed relationship with your child’s mother, you will need to create a parenting plan. A parenting plan sets out each parent’s responsibilities and establishes a parenting time schedule. While you cannot actually formalize your parenting plan or start a child custody case until your child is born, you should be prepared to act quickly after your child arrives. This all begins with establishing that you are your child’s legal parent. An experienced Lisle, IL child custody and parentage attorney can help you prepare to protect your rights as a father as soon as you officially become one.
When Paternity Must be Established Immediately
The sooner you are able to legally establish that you are your child’s father, the better protected you both are. If you and the mother are legally married, paternity is established automatically. Otherwise, you will need to either use a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity or start a paternity case in court. Which route you take depends on whether your baby’s mother is willing to have you declared the father voluntarily.
How Nursing Home Resident Rights Impact a Lawsuit Defense
Nursing homes must strike a careful balance between keeping their residents safe and respecting their residents' rights. Families with loved ones in nursing homes often believe it is the nursing home’s duty to prevent all harm to residents. However, it is both illegal and impossible for care providers to prevent one hundred percent of accidents and illnesses. People who live in nursing homes still have the right not to be restrained except for short periods of time when it is absolutely necessary to prevent imminent harm. Nursing home residents may refuse some types of care or some precautions and must be allowed to make their own decisions as much as possible. If your skilled care facility is being sued for an injury you could not prevent, an experienced DuPage County, IL long-term care defense lawyer can work to protect you from liability.
Falls and the Right to be Free From Restraint
Nearly everyone who lives in a nursing home is a fall risk. Nursing home residents are generally very elderly and have health issues that prevent them from living independently. Most nursing home residents have issues that affect their balance or make walking difficult. While some residents are aware that they have these age-related disabilities and should not try to walk unassisted, others have cognitive issues that cause them to forget they need help getting out of bed. Although using restraints like bedrails to prevent residents from trying to stand up alone would significantly reduce the likelihood of falls, it would also be a violation of resident rights.
How to Divide the Holiday Decorations in a Divorce
Your holiday decorations may or may not have much monetary value, but they probably have a lot of sentimental value, especially if you have children together. The kind of items you only bring out of storage around the holidays can be difficult to divide up during divorce, especially if you are getting divorced right around the time of a major holiday. If you are working towards an uncontested divorce, your Lisle, IL divorce attorney can help you work with your spouse to divide all your marital property, including your holiday items. Dividing the items you use for celebrating the holidays out of court is often preferable, as you can choose a much more personalized solution than the court might.
Consider Keeping Some Items With the Children
If you plan on having your children for your family’s major holidays in alternating years, consider moving some items with the children. Having the same set of decorations up every year can be comforting to your children, especially while they are still getting used to the new arrangement. This will be more practical for spouses who live fairly close together and drive their children back and forth between households.
Am I Automatically At Fault in a Rear-End Collision?
There is a pervasive myth that a driver who hits another car from behind is automatically liable. The police officer who comes to take a report may even assume you are liable if you rear-ended another vehicle. However, in Illinois, liability is not automatic in rear-end collision cases. This myth likely comes from the fact that drivers are legally obligated to use a safe following distance and are generally liable if they caused an accident by failing to do so. However, not all rear-end collisions are caused by the driver in the back failing to follow at an appropriate distance. There are cases where the driver in front was substantially at fault for causing the car accident. If you are being sued after rear-ending another vehicle, a DuPage County, IL car accident defense lawyer can help you fight back.
Negligence Per Se and Rear-End Collisions
In car accident law, there is a concept called negligence per se. It means that when a driver is breaking a law designed to keep people safe and causes the kind of injuries that law was meant to present, the driver is automatically deemed negligent. In the context of rear-end collisions, the safety law at issue is usually the law that requires drivers to use a safe following distance. The law is designed to prevent people from getting hurt in a rear-end collision. If a driver was following too closely and rear-ends someone, causing injury, his negligence is presumed.
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1001 Warrenville Rd, Ste 210, Lisle, IL 60532
630-810-8881
