Posted on February 08, 2018 in Immigration

Being brought up on criminal charges is always frightening and disconcerting. For non-citizen defendants, there is an added dimension to fear. Depending on the nature of the crime committed, it can sometimes be used as a tool for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to deport you. If you have committed a crime, it is imperative that you understand the nature of the charges against you and be aware as to whether it could result in immigration consequences.

Crimes of Moral Turpitude

Many foreign nationals living in the U.S. have had run-ins with law enforcement, though the end results can be anything from a warning to a murder conviction. A significant portion of the crimes that have been alleged against them fall under a category USCIS refers to as crimes of moral turpitude (CIMTs). If you commit a crime of moral turpitude within two years of your admission to the U.S., or more than one in a ‘single scheme’ within 5 years of admission, it is grounds for deportation.

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 Posted on February 07, 2018 in Family Law

Sometimes, a divorce ends on bad terms and parents are not able to co-parent effectively. Even therapy, mediation, and positive thoughts cannot make it possible for them to work together and raise their children. If you have gone through a high conflict divorce and believe co-parenting will not work for you, you should consider parallel parenting. Let’s take a closer look at what parallel parenting is and how it works.

Parallel Parenting Defined

When divorced parents choose the parallel parenting method, they recognize that they both love their children but contacting one another can do more harm than good. Parallel parenting can help avoid conflict and ensure that children still have a meaningful relationship with both parents.

How to Practice Parallel Parenting

The goal of parallel parenting is to limit contact with your ex-spouse while still providing your children with the love and care they need to live a high quality of life. Here are some tips on how to practice parallel parenting:

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 Posted on February 05, 2018 in Personal Injury

Car accidents in DuPage County frequently lead to serious personal injuries and substantial property damage. In addition to costing injury victims thousands of dollars (and sometimes much more) in medical bills and auto repair costs, those victims also lose thousands of dollars in lost wages due to the inability to work after suffering debilitating injuries. Generally speaking, if you are injured in an auto accident in Lombard, Illinois, what types of damages can you expect to receive and how do courts make decisions about these damages awards?

Different Types of Damages in a Motor Vehicle Crash in Illinois

In most car accident claims, Illinois law allows a plaintiff to seek compensatory damages, which are supposed to compensate the plaintiff for losses in the auto accident. The statute clarifies that compensatory damages are the combined total of both economic and non-economic damages. These two types of damages are defined as follows:

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 Posted on January 31, 2018 in Family Law

Family law is very complex. For this reason, there are many family law misconceptions that our firm frequently encounters. To help you avoid serious mistakes that could negatively impact the outcome of your family law case, we have compiled this list of five of the most common family law misconceptions:

1. Domestic violence claims must involve physical abuse.

Contrary to popular belief, domestic violence does not always involve physical abuse. Although physical abuse is the most serious form of domestic violence, there is also emotional abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse, spiritual abuse, and technological abuse. Domestic violence may involve controlling access to a spouse’s money, diminishing their self-esteem, and preventing them from practicing their religious beliefs.

2. Prenuptial agreements start a marriage off on the wrong foot.

You cannot predict the future of your marriage but you can protect yourself and avoid a great deal of stress in the event that it leads to a divorce. Many people feel that prenuptial agreements can start a marriage off on the wrong foot when in reality, they encourage open, honest communication which is essential element to any strong marriage.

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 Posted on January 24, 2018 in Immigration

In today’s interconnected world, holding more than one nationality is somewhat commonplace. In the United States, however, it was illegal to hold dual citizenship until relatively recently, as the law barring the practice was only overturned in 1967. There are still restrictions in place that do bar dual citizenship in certain circumstances. Still, most of the time it is perfectly legal to do so assuming you meet the other requirements for citizenship.

Often Acquired by Chance

The majority of dual nationals within the United States or its territories have acquired the status simply due to chance or relationship. Children born to U.S. nationals while they reside in other countries will almost always qualify for dual citizenship. For example, a child born in Germany to married U.S. citizen parents will qualify for both German and U.S. citizenship; the first through location of birth, the second through their parents’ fulfilling citizenship and residency requirements under U.S. law.

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 Posted on January 24, 2018 in Family Law

Interfaith marriages are more common today than they were in the past. Unfortunately, interfaith divorces have also become more frequent. While most aspects of divorce are the same regardless of the religions of both spouses, a unique issue in an interfaith divorce is the religion of the children.

Even if one spouse converts to the other spouse’s religion before or during the marriage, they may return to their original religion once they get divorced. When this occurs, the children of the divorce are left with serious religious complications.

An Example of How Interfaith Divorce Impacts Children

For example, Jacob who is Jewish dates Heather who is Catholic. Prior to marriage, Heather converts to Judaism and once the couple is married, they have two children who they agree to raise Jewish. Years later when the couple divorces, Heather returns to Catholicism. Then, the issue of what religious services their children are allowed to attend and holidays they are allowed to celebrate comes up.

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 Posted on January 23, 2018 in Personal Injury

Although the temperatures in DuPage County are not currently conducive to riding a bicycle for everyday transportation to and from work, or to your neighborhood shopping market, a new study published in Accident Analysis & Prevention suggests that getting more cyclists on the roads could help to reduce the rate of overall traffic collisions among motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. It may be difficult to consider getting out on a bicycle in the winter months, especially in Illinois, but the study provides helpful information to consider as we slowly look ahead to warmer months and as we consider ways of reducing motor vehicle crashes in the New Year.

Bicycling Yourself Can Lead You to Take More Care Behind the Wheel

How can getting more bicyclists out on the roads in DuPage County and across the country reduce the total rate of motor vehicle collisions with bicyclists? The premise of the study is this: the more that drivers experience what it is like to ride a bicycle and to share the road with other motorists, the more likely those individuals will be to take particular care when they are behind the wheel.

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 Posted on January 18, 2018 in Immigration

Being deported can put a person’s entire life on hold. If it happens to you, you have every right to want to return as quickly as possible. However, depending on your situation, you may not be able to do so without waiting a very long time, if you want to do so legally. Before putting the process in motion to return to the U.S., it is a good idea to learn if it would even be possible, and how long it might take.

Bars and Waivers

If you or a loved one have been deported, it is because you were found to be in violation of some provision of U.S. immigration law, most often the Immigration & Nationality Act. Depending on the nature of the offense, immigrants who are deported are subject to what are called bars, which last either five, ten or twenty years. In rare cases, there is a permanent bar, but that tends to be reserved for those who commit offenses like entering the country without inspection (unlawful entry) after being deported, given the rationale that the consequences of such an act were already spelled out for those people. Normally, a deportee must wait this time out; however, he or she may be eligible for a waiver of the offense in certain circumstances.

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 Posted on January 17, 2018 in Family Law

After a divorce, you may feel like the joys of your life have been put on hold. One of the most effective ways to add some joy into your life following a divorce is to put time and effort into rebuilding your social life. This way, you will have people to turn to during this difficult time and make happy memories that can help you move past this difficult stage in your life. Here are five tips on how to rebuild your social life after a divorce:

1. Volunteer

Find a cause or organization you believe it and volunteer. Volunteering can keep your mind off your divorce and introduce you to people with similar interests and values. Consider volunteering at an animal shelter, soup kitchen, cancer organization, or any other non-profit that you care about.

2. Attend Professional Networking Events

Professional networking events can help your career and social life. By attending them, you can increase your confidence, get noticed as a leader in your industry, learn from like-minded professionals, and land new clients.

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 Posted on January 16, 2018 in Personal Injury

If you regularly ride a motorcycle in Lombard or elsewhere in DuPage County, or even if you regularly share the road with motorcyclists, it is probably obvious that bikers have less protection in the event of a motorcycle accident than do vehicle occupants. Motorcyclists do not have the protection of the automobile’s body, airbags, and other safety features that often come standard in many vehicles.

While numerous studies have analyzed motorcycle collisions and their severity, a recent report from U.S. News & World Report suggests that motorcycle crashes are actually costlier and deadlier than many researchers and safety advocates previously believed.

Significantly Higher Death Rates in Motorcycle Accidents

The report looks at a recent study conducted by researchers in Ontario, which determined that “the death rate from motorcycle crashes was five times greater than from car crashes, and the rate of severe injury was 10 times greater.” In addition to those strikingly high figures for serious injury and fatality rates in motorcycle crashes, the researchers found that the economic costs of motorcycle accidents are much higher than most people believe. Indeed, motorcycle collisions result in “a six times greater cost to the health care system” than other motor vehicle crashes.

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