Posted on October 30, 2026 in Immigration

Voluntary departure allows you to leave the United States on your own rather than being removed by immigration officials. It can help you avoid restrictions tied to a removal order. However, it does not erase other immigration problems or guarantee that you can return. You pay for your travel and leave by a deadline. If you face removal proceedings in 2026, a Chicago-area deportation defense lawyer can explain your options.

What Is Voluntary Departure?

Under 8 U.S.C. § 1229c, eligible people can leave without being removed under a court order. An immigration judge can grant this option during removal proceedings. Immigration officials can also grant it before proceedings begin.

A major benefit is avoiding the restrictions tied to a removal order. A removal order can create a separate legal barrier to returning to the United States. That restriction can last many years. However, voluntary departure does not erase the time you spent in the country without lawful status.

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 Posted on October 28, 2026 in Personal Injury

Scars from an injury can require further treatment and affect how comfortable you feel about your appearance. Illinois recognizes disfigurement as a separate part of an injury claim, beyond medical bills and lost income. If someone caused an injury that left you with scarring or disfigurement in 2026, our Lombard, IL personal injury attorneys will help you seek compensation.

What Counts as Scarring or Disfigurement in an Illinois Injury Claim?

Disfigurement involves a change to your physical appearance caused by an injury. Examples include raised scars, burn scars, missing fingers, and the loss of a limb. Injuries that change facial features also fall within this category.

The injury does not have to prevent you from working to support a disfigurement claim. Someone who returns to their job after suffering facial cuts could still have a claim for the scars those wounds leave behind.

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 Posted on October 27, 2026 in Family Law

Divorce often involves separating your finances, but selling every shared asset does not always fit your plans. You and your spouse might want to keep a rental property or continue running a business together.

Illinois spouses have the option to agree on continued joint ownership after divorce. However, that arrangement needs clear terms about each person’s rights and responsibilities. If you are considering shared ownership as part of your property division in 2026, our Lombard, IL divorce attorneys will help you evaluate the arrangement.

Can an Illinois Divorce Settlement Allow Continued Joint Ownership?

Your settlement can provide for both spouses to retain an ownership interest in specified property. Divorce does not mean you need to sell an asset simply because neither person will become its sole owner.

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 Posted on October 17, 2026 in Immigration

Preparing for the naturalization test means studying for the English portion and the civics portion. The civics test changed substantially in October 2025, and which version you take depends on when you filed your application. You should also know whether you qualify for any testing exemptions. If you’re preparing for the naturalization test in 2026, our DuPage County, IL immigration lawyer can help you understand the requirements and prepare for your citizenship interview.

What Does Federal Law Require for the U.S. Naturalization Test?

The requirements come from 8 U.S.C. § 1423. This law requires most applicants to show basic English skills and knowledge of U.S. history and government.

The same statute creates exemptions. A person who is 50 or older and has lived in the United States as a lawful permanent resident for at least 20 years is exempt from the English requirement. The same is true for someone 55 or older with at least 15 years as a permanent resident. Those applicants still take the civics test, which they may take in their native language with an interpreter.

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 Posted on October 13, 2026 in Family Law

Unexplained withdrawals or large personal expenses can raise concerns when you are getting divorced. Money that should have been available for property division might already be gone.

Illinois law allows courts to account for certain misuse of marital funds, known as dissipation, when dividing property. If you suspect your spouse has wasted marital assets during your divorce in 2026, a Bloomingdale, IL divorce lawyer can help you address it.

What Type of Spending Counts as Dissipation in Illinois?

The spending must involve marital property used for a purpose unrelated to the marriage, while the marriage is breaking down. It often benefits one spouse. However, personal benefit is not always required. Disagreeing with an expense does not make it dissipation.

For example, normal household expenses, such as groceries and mortgage payments, are not treated the same as money spent on an affair partner. An expense does not become improper simply because only one spouse made the payment.

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 Posted on October 13, 2026 in Personal Injury

When a driver flees the scene after a car accident, you could be left dealing with your injuries without knowing who will pay for the damage. Where you seek compensation after a hit-and-run accident depends on whether you can identify the responsible driver.

If you were involved in a hit-and-run in 2026, a Bloomingdale, IL car accident lawyer will help you investigate and pursue compensation.

How Can You Recover Compensation After a Hit-and-Run in Illinois?

There are two main ways to seek compensation for your injuries after a hit-and-run accident. The first option is to make a claim against the responsible driver if that person is identified. If you cannot locate them, you can seek compensation through uninsured motorist coverage under an applicable auto insurance policy.

Under 215 ILCS 5/143a, Illinois requires auto liability insurance policies to include coverage for bodily injuries caused by uninsured and hit-and-run drivers. This coverage helps pay for medical bills and other injury-related losses, up to your policy limits. It does not pay for damage to your car.

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 Posted on September 30, 2026 in Immigration

Your foreign-born child may already be a US citizen without you ever having applied for anything. There are two ways this happens. A child can acquire U.S. citizenship automatically at birth. It can also happen later, after the child moves to the United States. The requirements for becoming a citizen vary depending on whether the child’s mother or father is a citizen and whether the child was born in or out of a marriage.

If you are trying to sort out your child’s citizenship in 2026, our Lombard, IL immigration lawyer can review the facts of your case.

How Does a Child Born Abroad Become a US Citizen at Birth?

Under  8 U.S.C. § 1401, a child born outside the United States may acquire citizenship at birth through a parent. Whether your child qualifies depends on:

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 Posted on September 25, 2026 in Personal Injury

Any physical activity comes with some risk of injury without anyone being at fault. However, unsafe conditions or the actions of gym staff can lead to an injury that could have been prevented. When someone else is directly responsible for your injuries and losses, Illinois premises liability law gives you an avenue to pursue compensation.

If you were injured at a gym in 2026, our Naperville, IL premises liability lawyers will investigate how the accident happened and who was responsible.

When Is a Gym Responsible for an Injury in Illinois?

Illinois law requires property owners and occupiers to use reasonable care regarding the condition of their property. For a gym, that responsibility can include keeping its facilities in reasonably safe condition. Staff should also address hazards they know about before someone gets hurt.

An injury caused by overexertion during an ordinary workout is different from an injury caused by gym negligence. A gym is not automatically responsible simply because someone gets hurt while exercising. The injured person must be able to connect the injury to the conduct of the gym or another responsible party.

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 Posted on September 25, 2026 in Family Law

Disagreements and anger about the end of a marriage can cause a spouse to lash out at their former partner in whatever ways they can. In some cases, that conflict can also harm a child's relationship with one parent.

Parental alienation can affect an Illinois divorce when one parent tries to turn a child against the other parent, and it comes up when the court decides parenting issues. If you are facing parental alienation during a divorce in 2026, a Lombard, IL family law attorney can help you address the problem.

What Does Parental Alienation Look Like in an Illinois Divorce?

Parental alienation is a term created in the 1980s by the child psychiatrist Dr. Richard Gardner. Gardner used this term to describe what happens when a parent tries to make their children dislike the other parent or harm their relationship. Examples can include:

• Making negative comments about the other parent to the child

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 Posted on September 14, 2026 in Immigration

In general, you can apply for adjustment of status once two things are true: You must have been inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States, and an immigrant visa must be immediately available in your category.

Some applicants may qualify under exceptions to the admission or parole requirement. For immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, meaning spouses, parents, and unmarried children under 21, a visa is always available, so the application can often be filed right away. Everyone else waits for their place in line to be reached.

This path is how most people get a green card. The Department of Homeland Security recently reported that 54 percent of new lawful permanent residents adjusted status from inside the country, with adjustments reaching a record high near 800,000. In Illinois, 25,410 of the 44,650 people who became permanent residents that year did so through adjustment. As of 2026, the rules for filing have not changed, but how applications are reviewed has. An Illinois immigration lawyer can tell you whether you qualify now or need to wait.

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