Elder Law

Elder law is the legal practice of counseling and representing older persons and persons with special needs, their representatives about the legal aspects of health and long-term care planning, public benefits, surrogate decision-making, legal capacity, the conservation, disposition and administration of  estates and the implementation of their decisions concerning such matters, giving due consideration to the applicable tax consequences of the action, or the need for more sophisticated tax expertise. #elderlaw,

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Chapter 7 bankruptcy provides relief to debtors regardless of the amount of debts owed or whether a debtor is solvent or insolvent. A Chapter 7 Trustee is appointed to convert the debtor's assets into cash for distribution among creditors. The consequences of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy are significant: you will likely lose property, and the negative bankruptcy information will remain on your credit report for ten years after the filing date. #chapter7bankruptcy,

Whistleblowing

The Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) was established to ensure that employees who engage in protected disclosure are free from fear of reprisal for their disclosures. Whistleblower retaliation is the taking, failing to take, or threatening to take a personnel action because o The Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) was established to ensure that employees who engage in protected disclosure are free from fear of reprisal for their disclosures. Whistleblower retaliation is the taking, failing to take, or threatening to take a personnel action because of an employee's whistleblowing. #whistleblowing,

Retail Theft

In Illinois, retail theft is when a person knowingly takes any amount of merchandise from a retail establishment with the intent to permanently deprive that retail establishment of the permanent use of that merchandise, without paying for it. Retail theft in Illinois first offense charges receives a sentence of less than one-year incarceration and a fine of up to $2500. This is for crimes classified as a Class A Misdemeanor for stealing merchandise of under $300 retail value. #retailtheft,

Objects Handing From Rearview Mirror

It may soon no longer be illegal to have objects hanging from the rearview mirror of your vehicle.

A bill passed by the Illinois House, HB 2389, would take away police authority to pull people over for having air fresheners, parking placards and other objects hanging from their rearview mirror.

If passed by the Senate and signed by the governor, Illinois drivers will no longer have to worry about what's hanging from their mirror. #obstructedwinshield,

GPS Monitoring

New legislation took effect in Illinois that allows the court to order a defendant/probationer charged with or convicted of violating an order of protection to GPS monitoring as a condition of bond/probation/ conditional discharge. 

The GPS Monitoring Program is administered by staff of the Circuit Court of Cook County Social Service Department. Under the program, a stationary exclusionary zone is established around all protected addresses of the complaining witness/victim. A GPS device is affixed to the defendant/probationer who is ordered to maintain a minimum distance of 2,500 feet away from the complaining witness/ victim at all times. #gpsmonitoring,