Posted on December 08, 2015 in Family Law

The paperwork has all been signed and the decree has been entered. Your divorce is final. But those feelings of hurt, anger, resentment, or shame are still present. While understandable (and perfectly normal), it is important to move past these feelings to a place of forgiveness and healing to ensure the health of any further relationships, particularly the relationship of your children.

Joint Custody Forces Continued Contact

Unless there are extenuating circumstances, the likelihood is that you and your ex-spouse share joint custody of any mutual children. This requires you to stay in contact and interact. It also opens up time and space for further arguments. You may feel like acting on those lingering emotions when forced to connect with your ex, and you might even notice the desire to be the “winning” parent in your child’s life. Make no mistake: whenever there is continued strife after a divorce, no one really wins, least of all your child.

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 Posted on December 08, 2015 in Immigration

Appearing in immigration court can be a frightening process. However, appealing an immigration denial can be even more intimidating, because there are a myriad of details that must be provided for an appeal to have a chance of success. If you are uncertain of how the appeals process progresses, you may make mistakes that can cost you your chance at citizenship or permanent residency.

The Board of Immigration Appeals

If you have been denied by an immigration judge, the next step in your case is to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which is the highest administrative law body in the country. It is important to know that it is not a court, because the standards for judicial pleadings versus administrative pleadings are very different—most notably, in that administrative hearings are much less formal and corners are more likely to be cut. It is also important to note, however, that the government may also appeal your decision, so even if you are granted status, it may go to the BIA because the government alleges error.

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 Posted on December 03, 2015 in Personal Injury

High cholesterol levels are a big problem for many Americans. The advent of prescribed drugs to help control levels heralded new hope for those in compromised health. One such drug is Lipitor, what is known as a ‘statin.’ Statins are a class of cholesterol lowering drugs that inhibit an enzyme which plays a central role in the production of cholesterol. High levels of cholesterol have been known to cause cardiovascular disease. However, recently, it has been found that statins, like Lipitor, may significantly increase a person's risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes and associated health risks. In fact, researchers assert that statin treatment increased the risk of Type 2 Diabetes by 46 percent.

If this has happened to you or someone you know, it would be in your best interests to seek the counsel of an attorney experienced in personal injury law. You may be entitled to compensation if the use of a statin correlated with a Diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes and its associated health risks.

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 Posted on November 26, 2015 in Family Law

Anticipatory neglect—or the anticipation that neglect is likely to occur—makes the occasional appearance in family courts. Based on previous actions, it is generally reserved for cases in which the state has taken custody of former children, or when the death of former children was linked back to abuse or neglect. But does it have a place in divorce if one parent truly believes their child or children may be in danger if left unsupervised with the other parent?

Determining Anticipatory Neglect

Even in cases where a child has died or the parent has lost custody to the state, anticipatory neglect is a complex and difficult matter. Many factors must be considered, including mental health, drug abuse, nature of the former actions, and the weight of any criminal charges. In addition to these obscure but important factors, a family court judge must weigh the risk of life to the children in question—would it be better served by giving the biological parent a second chance through visitation or some level of child custody, or would the child’s quality of life be greatly diminished? Truly, it is a situation in which the stakes are high.

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 Posted on November 25, 2015 in Immigration

It is much more common nowadays than it has been in recent years to adopt children from foreign countries, for a myriad of reasons. However, in the past, new parents would run into difficulties obtaining the right visas or citizenship papers for their children. In 2000, the Child Citizenship Act (CCA) was passed, expediting the process for many new families and granting automatic citizenship to these newly adopted children.

Qualification Requirements

Not every adopted child will qualify for automatic citizenship under the CCA. By definition, he or she must still be a child under American law; in other words, he or she must have been under 18 years of age on February 27, 2001—the date the law went into effect. However, if a child meets that requirement, there are only a few additional qualifications he or she must also fulfill. These include the following:

• At least one of the adoptive parents must be a U.S. citizen, though this can be done by birth or naturalization;

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 Posted on November 24, 2015 in Personal Injury

People turn to places of care and comfort when they are most vulnerable. Expert medical attention, with an emphasis on care and renewed health, is crucial for sick patients.

All over the country, advances in medical treatments are sought out by those in poor health, and more so in emergency situations. Over 35 million patients were admitted to registered hospitals in 2014, according to the American Hospital Association. However, a systemic problem of substandard care is emerging within some hospitals in our area.

Rankings of area hospitals has just been released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Compare. After analyzing data from over five thousand hospitals, consumers are able to see where their hospital of choice stacks up.

If you have been treated at a hospital that has provided care less than proper standards, contact an Illinois personal injury attorney to assess the harm you suffered and if you have an actionable case.

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 Posted on November 20, 2015 in Family Law

In Illinois, both parents have a legal obligation to provide financial support for their child. All child-related legal matters are made in the child’s best interests. State law provides a calculator that accounts for many factors, such as parents’ income, when determining child support. Once a judge has issued a final child support order, permanent child support payments will begin. You may be wondering how long these child supports payments will continue. Generally, child support payments are required until the child turns 18. There are important exceptions to this rule, however, which may apply to your situation.

Who Pays Child Support?

Usually, the non-custodial parent pays child support to the custodial parent. The custodial parent is with whom the child primarily lives. The exact amount of these payments varies case by case, based on a number of factors. In some cases, the child support payments will need to change as major life circumstances change (the child develops extraordinary medical needs; a parent loses a job; etc.).

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 Posted on November 18, 2015 in Immigration

An undocumented immigrant named Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez has been in prison since he allegedly killed U.S. citizen Katherine Steinle in July, on a San Francisco pier. He was released from jail when the drug charges against him were dropped, under a law referred to as a “sanctuary law.” Not long afterward, Lopez-Sanchez allegedly shot Steinle. Ever since then, the term “sanctuary cities” has been bandied about in the media, due to San Francisco’s status as one of them. However, as with many terms that come to the forefront of the media, there is quite a lot of misinformation being bandied about. It is important to understand what a sanctuary city actually is, and what it is not.

The Steinle Case and its Fallout

In this case, Lopez-Sanchez was freed from the city jail after the drug charges against him were dropped. A few hours later, he allegedly shot Steinle on a city pier. The sanctuary laws of San Francisco prohibit informing federal authorities of a person’s undocumented status if they are not in custody for immigration-related offenses. While Lopez-Sanchez alleged it was an accident, it appears to have been more a crime of opportunity. The crux of the matter is that he had been deported five times (in 1994, 1997, 1998, 2003 and 2009) and yet, continued to be able to re-enter the country.

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 Posted on November 17, 2015 in Personal Injury

Fatal motor vehicle accidents can happen to anyone, regardless of age, income, gender or location. However, a recent study, titled Trends in Socioeconomic Inequalities in Motor Vehicle Accident Deaths in the United States, 1995-2010, indicates that the disadvantaged are four times more likely to die in a crash than those that are financially well-off. It is not because a college education or a bigger salary makes you a better driver; instead, the authors believe that the increased risk stems from the less-than-optimal driving conditions with which impoverished communities often live.

Vehicle Safety Features Save Lives

Those with lower incomes typically own older cars, or cars that are more affordable. These often have lower crash-ratings, and they typically have fewer safety features, such as side-impact airbags, antilock brakes, or automatic warnings; this puts them at a much higher risk for life-threatening injuries and death in a motor vehicle accident. Those with lower incomes are also less likely to keep their vehicles in good, working condition, often neglecting maintenance issues, such as tire rotation, replacing worn brake pads or shoes, or repairing cracked windshields because of lack of funds.

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 Posted on November 13, 2015 in Family Law

There are many stressful issues you may encounter during your divorce. One particularly issue that many divorcing spouses face is their financial future after the divorce is finalized. Dealing with the financial issues in a divorce, including property division, alimony, and child support, involves a complex area of the law. You may feel overwhelmed by your options and the entire process. If you are going through a divorce, or considering divorce, there is important information you need to know regarding property division and how this division will affect you.

What Is Marital Property?

Generally, marital property comprises the property and assets acquired during your marriage. Under Illinois law, it is does matter whose name this property is titled in. For example, your spouse may purchase a vehicle titled solely in his or her name. If acquired during the marriage, that vehicle would be considered marital property. What is and is not marital property is an important distinction during the divorce process because Illinois divorces are subject to equitable distribution.

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