Recent Blog Posts

 Posted on September 22, 2020 in Main

If you are planning to divorce, you may have questions about how you can protect your rights and reach a divorce settlement that is reasonable and fair. You may want the legal protection and support that comes with hiring a lawyer but are worried that bringing lawyers into the equation could make your divorce more adversarial. Whether your worries are accurate or not, there is an option in Illinois that allows divorcing couples to work with attorneys under a non-adversarial process. Collaborative divorce, or a divorce resolved by means of collaborative law, is an alternative resolution method that has helped many couples settle divorce issues without resorting to stressful and often antagonistic litigation.

What Happens During a Collaborative Divorce?

During a collaborative divorce, each spouse retains his or her own lawyer who provides legal guidance throughout the collaborative process. The spouses and their respective lawyers will work together to negotiate unresolved divorce issues during a series of informal meetings. The purpose of these meetings is not to “win” or “lose,” but instead to reach mutually agreeable solutions regarding the division of marital property and debt, spousal maintenance, child custody, and other divorce-related disputes. Once an agreement has been reached, the lawyers submit the necessary paperwork to the court and the agreements are written into the final divorce decree.

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 Posted on September 16, 2020 in Kane

Disputes regarding the division of marital assets and debts, allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time, child support, spousal maintenance, and other divorce issues can be legally complicated and emotionally exhausting. If you are ready to end your marriage, you may wonder how you can resolve these issues without your divorce case going to trial. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods have helped countless divorcing couples reach an agreement about the terms of their divorce outside of the courtroom. One such ADR that may be beneficial to you is collaborative divorce.

Resolving Divorce Issues Using Collaborative Law

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 Posted on September 09, 2020 in Main

There are two main categories of sexual harassment under Illinois law: hostile work environment harassment and quid pro quo harassment. A hostile work environment is caused by severe or pervasive remarks and behavior of a sexual, demeaning, or discriminatory nature, which affect a person's ability to do his or her job. Quid pro quo harassment occurs when a person of authority such as a supervisor or boss uses his or her position to gain sexual contact with an employee or job candidate. This unlawful behavior often goes unreported in part due to the general public's misunderstanding of what quid pro quo actually is and what they can do if they have been a victim of quid pro quo sexual harassment.

Requests for Sexual Favors Do Not Have to Be Explicit

Most of the perpetrators of quid pro quo sexual harassment are aware that their behavior is illegal and could potentially cost them their job. Consequently, most employers, supervisors, managers, or other authority figures do not explicitly ask employees for sexual favors. Instead, they imply that the employee would gain some type of benefit if he or she complied with the perpetrator's offer for romantic or sexual contact. For example, a hiring manager may ask a job candidate out on a date during a job interview and imply that if the prospective employee goes on the date, he or she will have a better chance of getting the job.

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 Posted on August 28, 2020 in Main

Millions of adults struggle with addiction and substance abuse problems in the United States. Sadly, drug and alcohol addiction can make someone a shell of who he or she was before the addiction began. Being married to an alcoholic or drug addict is often just as miserable as having the addiction yourself. In some cases, salvaging a marriage that has been devastated by drug and alcohol addiction is simply not a possibility. If you are planning to divorce your spouse and he or she has a substance abuse problem, it is important to educate yourself about how your spouse's addiction may influence your divorce case.

Addiction May Impact Asset Division

Illinois is now a pure no-fault state when it comes to divorce. This means that you will not list your spouse's addiction or any other fault-based grounds as the reason for your divorce. When you petition the court for a dissolution of marriage, the only ground available to you will be “irreconcilable differences.” However, your spouse's addiction still has the potential to influence your divorce settlement. If your spouse spends a great deal of money or sells any property to finance his or her addiction, you may have a valid dissipation claim. Dissipation occurs when a spouse uses marital funds for a purpose that does not benefit the marriage after the marriage has begun to experience an “irretrievable breakdown.” The funds your spouse spends on drugs or alcohol during the end of your marriage may be considered dissipated assets. This means that you may be entitled to a proportionally greater share of the marital assets during property division as a form of reimbursement.

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 Posted on August 27, 2020 in Kane

When a couple gets divorced, there are many issues that need to be addressed. The amount of child support a parent pays is calculated using the “Income Shares” model in Illinois. Both parents' net incomes are used to determine a child support payment amount that is reasonably affordable yet still provides the recipient parent with the financial support he or she needs. However, when the parents' circumstances change, the child support order may no longer be appropriate. If you are interested in modifying the amount you pay in child support, you will need to show that a child support modification is warranted.

Modifying an Illinois Child Support Order

In order to qualify for a modification, you will need to show that there has been a “substantial change in circumstances” that justifies the change or that the current order does not adequately address the child's health care needs. You may also be granted a modification if the child support obligation significantly differs from the statutory guidelines in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.

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 Posted on August 27, 2020 in Main

Sexual harassment may involve inappropriate, demeaning, or sexually explicit speech and actions at work. It may also involve an employer, supervisor, manager, or another person of authority using his or her position to solicit sexual contact from applicants or employees. Whether it is hostile work environment harassment or quid pro quo harassment, sexual harassment violates federal, state, and local laws.

Discrimination and harassment are not only immoral, but they can also cost victims their livelihoods. If you have been a victim of workplace sexual harassment, you may be considering filing a sexual harassment lawsuit and pursuing compensation for your damages. The exact amount you can gain from a successful sexual harassment claim varies significantly depending on the facts of the case and the type of harm caused by the harassment.

Compensation for Your Lost Wages

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 Posted on August 20, 2020 in Main

As a part of the divorce process, divorcing parents are asked to create a parenting plan and submit it to the court. The parenting plan is a detailed description of numerous different child-related issues. Reaching a decision about each element of the parenting plan is an essential part of establishing each parent's legal rights and responsibilities. A well-written parenting plan can also help prevent disputes about these rights and obligations in the future. However, parents sometimes struggle to see eye to eye about the issues contained in the parenting plan.

Elements Required in an Illinois Parenting Agreement

There are several different issues that all Illinois parenting plans must address. You will need to decide how you intend to make significant decisions about your child, including decisions about his or her education, religious upbringing, health needs, and extracurricular activities. Another major component of the parenting plan is a parenting time schedule which dictates where the child will live on given days. Parents must also describe how the child will be transported between the parents' homes. The parenting plan will include provisions about each parent's right to access important child-related information such as the child's medical records and school reports. Provisions addressing potential future modifications of the parenting plan, any future parental relocations, the right of first refusal, and several other matters are also typically addressed.

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 Posted on August 17, 2020 in Kane

During an Illinois divorce, spouses are asked to disclose detailed information about their assets, income, and debts. This information is needed to make informed decisions about property division, child support, spousal maintenance, and other concerns. Some spouses attempt to hide assets, underreport income, or otherwise falsify financial information in order to manipulate the divorce settlement in their favor. Uncovering financial fraud during divorce is often challenging and complicated – especially if a spouse owns complex assets such as stock options, real estate, trusts, or a business. In many cases, a forensic accountant may work with a divorce lawyer to investigate a spouse's finances and reveal any deception.

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 Posted on August 13, 2020 in Main

Anyone who has experienced sexual harassment at work will tell you that it takes a great deal of courage to report the harassment. Victims of discrimination or harassment may worry that their supervisors and colleagues will not believe them or even resent them for reporting the unlawful mistreatment. An even greater fear is that reporting sexual harassment will get them demoted or fired. Fortunately, Illinois law prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who file sexual harassment complaints. However, recognizing the actions or behaviors that may be considered retaliation is not always easy.

Understanding Sexual Harassment Laws

Sexual harassment is a form of sex-based discrimination prohibited by The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and several other federal and state laws. A worker creates a hostile work environment when he or she repeatedly makes derogatory comments, remarks, or jokes about a person's body, sexuality, or gender. Displaying sexually explicit material in the workplace, making repeated unwanted sexual advances, and touching others without consent may also be considered sexual harassment. Quid pro quo sexual harassment involves a person of authority trading sexual contact for work-related benefits or continued employment. If you have been a victim of hostile work environment harassment or quid pro quo harassment, you have a legal right to report this harassment. Your employer is required to address the harassment and ensure that it does not continue to happen.

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 Posted on July 31, 2020 in Main

Child-related disputes during divorce can be particularly difficult to handle. If you and your spouse are struggling to reach an agreement about the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time, you may have questions about how these issues will be resolved. In any child-related legal proceeding, reaching a resolution that is in the child's best interests is the top priority. In order to make fully informed decisions, Illinois courts sometimes utilize the expertise of a guardian ad litem.

Helping Children Have a Voice

A guardian ad litem (GAL) is a specially trained attorney who represents the child's best interests. He or she acts as an “expert witness” during legal proceedings such as guardianship and child custody cases. A GAL will investigate the circumstances of the case and then make a recommendation to the court about what he or she thinks is best for the child. This investigation often involves a “home study” during which the GAL will visit the child's home and evaluate his or her living situation. The GAL typically interviews the child or children involved in the dispute as well as the parents. Teachers, childcare workers, doctors, psychologists, social workers, and other adults involved in the child's life may also be interviewed.

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