Posted on April 26, 2019 in Family Law

If you anticipate that your divorce will be both complicated and contentious — perhaps due to parenting style differences, children with special needs, or substantial income and assets to be divided — consider which of these two options sounds better:

You and your spouse each choose an aggressive lawyer who will fight out your issues in one-to-one negotiation or in court, if necessary. Consider which of you has more money to spend and is more likely to drag out the legal process out of spite.

You and your spouse agree to resolve your divorce without going to court, working cooperatively with a team of professionals who will provide a neutral perspective and recommendations on both financial and parenting issues with a focus on the best interests of your family as a whole.

If the latter approach sounds better to you, then the collaborative divorce process might be right for you.

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 Posted on April 24, 2019 in Immigration

In any given year, the U.S. grants approximately 85,000 H1B visas, given to foreign workers with special skills or highly specialized knowledge. For a long time, their spouses were denied permission to work in the U.S., but in 2014, employment authorization documents (EAD) were granted to H4 visa holders, which is the visa given to the spouses of H1B holders. Now, in 2019, the current administration has published a notice of intent to roll back the program granting the EADs, arguing that too much competition with U.S. workers is created.

Program in Limbo Since 2015

The Obama administration granted the right to seek an EAD to H4 holders in 2014, but in 2015, a group called SaveJobs, comprised of ‘displaced’ U.S. tech workers, sued the administration, alleging that it had overstepped its bounds and that granting EADs to this group of nonimmigrants would make it harder for U.S. citizens to find work in technology. The group lost, appealed, and the case was continued multiple times, allegedly while the rule was being rewritten and refined.

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 Posted on April 22, 2019 in Personal Injury

Gone are the days of stepping off of the street curb in a desperate attempt to get one of the dozens of taxi cabs to notice your flailing arms. Now, you can simply pull out your smartphone and with a few taps, you can have a car outside waiting to take you to where ever you want to go within minutes. Ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft have taken off and are becoming more popular than ever. Those these companies offer convenience and simplicity, they pose rather complex and often ambiguous situations, particularly when one of these ridesharing vehicles gets into a car accident with a passenger inside.

What Is a Ridesharing Company?

The Illinois Transportation Network Providers Act is the section of law that outlines rules and regulations for transportation network companies (TNCs). The Act defines a TNC as any entity that operates by use of a digital network to connect passengers to TNC drivers who provide ride services. A TNC driver owns his or her own vehicle and is not associated with any taxicab service. Popular TNCs include Uber, Lyft, Sidecar and Via.

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 Posted on April 19, 2019 in Family Law

Divorced parents often try to stay in the same area in order to maximize both parents’ involvement in the lives of their children, but that is not always possible. One parent may have a career opportunity that requires relocation, or maybe they just want to move closer to their family. If the relocation distance is substantial, the other parent may object because it will affect parenting time with their children and add the burden of travel costs. These cases often must be argued in court.

What Distance Does Illinois Consider a Relocation?

Illinois law 750 ILCS 5/600(g) defines relocation in terms of the distance between the child’s current primary residence and the new address, as measured by an internet mapping service which provides a distance in miles driven.

If the child’s current primary residence is within the Chicago metro area of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties, a move of more than 25 miles is treated as a relocation.

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 Posted on April 17, 2019 in Immigration

Sometimes, someone who has been waiting for a visa or another immigration status will want or need to travel abroad, but they may not have a passport or other valid status that will let them back in the United States upon return. Alternatively, sometimes someone in your family may need to be let into the U.S. quickly, especially in cases such as family emergencies. In both of these situations, the remedy is called parole - the latter is humanitarian parole, while the former is called advance parole. Both can be difficult - but not impossible - to get.

Advance Parole

Advance Parole (AP) is exclusively for those who are not in legal immigration status - for example, those who have been granted asylum or refugee status, those who are in the middle of adjusting status, and those who have been granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS). In some cases, it may be able to be granted for those who still have an asylum claim pending before the courts. AP allows someone who belongs to any of these groups, or a few select others, to be able to travel abroad and return to the country to continue waiting for their official immigration status to vest.

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 Posted on April 15, 2019 in Personal Injury

It is that time of year again -- spring has arrived. March and April can be odd months because it can be winter one day, snowing 6 inches overnight, and then the next day it will be 50 degrees and sunny. While this kind of weather is a nice preview of what is to come during the summer months, it can make for dangerous driving conditions. Months of winter snow cause potholes to form and the constant melting of ice during the day and freezing temperatures overnight make for slippery roads. Here are a few tips to help you keep yourself and your family safe while on the roads:

Watch Out for Potholes

Roads take a beating throughout the winter. With snow, ice, salt and then water, it is no wonder that roads are riddled with potholes come spring. During this time of year, construction crews probably have not gotten a chance to fix these potholes yet, which means you need to be very aware of them. Not only can driving over one cause damage to your vehicle, swerving to miss a pothole can cause accidents with other drivers.

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 Posted on April 10, 2019 in Immigration

When removal proceedings are instituted against you, you will receive what is called a Notice to Appear (NTA) in the mail. An NTA essentially informs you officially that you have been placed in immigration removal proceedings, and that you must appear in front of an immigration judge at a date in the future to plead your case. This can be a worrisome situation, especially if you do not understand the nature of the proceedings or if there are other confusing details.

NTA Grants Time to Prepare

One important thing you should be aware of is that by law, you are entitled to at least ten days between your receipt of the NTA and your master calendar hearing, which is the hearing at which you go before the immigration judge and articulate whether or not you intend to fight removal. (Given the immigration court backlog as of this writing, your master calendar hearing may be very much delayed beyond 10 days.) In the time between receipt of the NTA and your master calendar, it is a good idea to verify that all the information on the NTA is correct, and to take steps to fix it if there is an error.

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 Posted on April 10, 2019 in Family Law

When one spouse has a significantly higher income than the other, the transition from married to single life can be particularly hard on the lower-earning spouse after divorce. This is especially true when the latter spouse has taken on most of the home and family duties in order to support the other’s career advancement.

To ease the transition, the higher-earning spouse often makes monthly maintenance payments to the other for a year or more after the divorce. However, there are many misconceptions about Illinois laws on spousal maintenance, also known as alimony. Both spouses should go into a divorce understanding what they can realistically expect when negotiating a maintenance agreement.

Q: What if I Do Not Think I Need Maintenance at the Time of the Divorce, But Change My Mind Afterward?

A: If you waive your right to maintenance in your final divorce settlement, you cannot go back to court later and try to obtain maintenance (750 ILCS 5/457e). Therefore, one important step in the divorce process is to work out a budget and determine how much money you will need to support yourself after the divorce.

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 Posted on April 08, 2019 in Personal Injury

Suffering an injury while on the property of another can be a frustrating experience. Initially, it is important to tend to the injury medically. However, medical treatment necessarily involves cost, and, especially if the injury can be attributable to a dangerous condition, but these costs may be reimbursable from the property owner under the doctrine of premises liability. Retaining the services of an experienced premises liability attorney is essential to ensure that reimbursement is obtained.

One complication that can affect the outcome of an injury case is if the injury occurs on public property, such as in a park, at city hall, or on a sidewalk. In Illinois, certain laws in these circumstances which affect how a lawsuit may be brought against a governmental entity. Recently, a woman who tripped on a sidewalk in Naperville re-filed her lawsuit against the city, claiming that she tripped on the sidewalk in front of the Will County Courthouse in Naperville.

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 Posted on April 04, 2019 in Family Law

A divorce settlement may require a higher-earning spouse to pay monthly spousal maintenance, also known as alimony or spousal support, to a lower-earning or stay-at-home spouse. The divorce decree will specify the amount of the monthly payment and the duration of payments. If the decree specifies “indefinite” payments, you might assume the payments are guaranteed to continue until the recipient dies or remarries.

However, the use of the term “indefinite” does not guarantee the recipient payment of maintenance for life. It is important for both spouses to understand when and how an award of maintenance could be modified in the future. If a spouse expects to depend on a fixed amount of income for the rest of their life, extra care must be taken in drafting the marital settlement agreement.

Maintenance Payments of Indefinite Duration Can Be Modified

The Illinois appellate courts have ruled that both the duration and amount of spousal maintenance can be modified upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstances, meaning that either the recipient’s needs have significantly decreased or that the payor is no longer able to pay. You also have the right to appeal court decisions regarding maintenance.

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