Posted on December 23, 2014 in Family Law

There are specific laws put into place that require parents to fulfill their obligations and ensure that their children are physically, mentally, and emotionally cared for. Even during a divorce between two parents, there are legal regulations that are in effect to ensure that no matter what a financial situation ends up being post-divorce, the children of the marriage are cared for by both parents. This support extends until the children are no longer minors, after which the law assumes that the children are able to support themselves. But what if they cannot?

Children with disabilities require more financial, physical, mental, and emotional support than other children. What also makes these children different from others is that they may still require this support after they are no longer minors. Nationwide there has been a significant amount of case law which indicates that parents do have a duty to support financially children with disabilities well beyond reaching the age of majority.

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 Posted on December 22, 2014 in Personal Injury

In 2014, to date, the Illinois Department of Transportation has recorded 734 deaths on Illinois roadways. In some cases, car accidents only lead to minor injuries or damage to motor vehicles and other property. Unfortunately, as is highlighted by the statistics in Illinois, car crashes may lead to fatalities as well.

Filing a Wrongful Death Suit after a Car Accident

In wrongful death cases, an investigation takes place by the authorities regarding the cause of a car accident and the resulting wrongful death. In an accident involving a fatality, the experts involved gather data at the scene to piece together the cause of the accident.

Accident reconstructionists visit the site of a car accident to take measurements, and examine the vehicle, the traffic control lights, and the intersection. The authorities canvas witnesses to obtain statements regarding their observations of an accident.

At the outset of a wrongful death case, personal injury attorneys work tirelessly, independently and alongside the authorities to investigate the cause of the accident. With the advancement of technology, it is possible to gather significant amounts of data. Cameras, including red-light cameras, often provide detailed video or photographic evidence of crashes. It is also possible that vehicles involved in crashes leading to fatalities are equipped with an electronic control module (ECM), which contains information regarding the vehicle's speed at the time of the collision, as well as whether the vehicle's brakes were deployed. The ECM is similar to a "black box" in an airplane. The police and/or the parties to the accident download the pertinent information if an ECM is on the vehicle.

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 Posted on December 18, 2014 in Immigration

When people hear the word “smuggling,” they often think of goods, not people. However, under U.S. law, it is possible to engage in the smuggling of human beings. Some believe that paying someone else to get over the border gives the enterprise a veneer of legitimacy, but the truth is that smuggling is still a crime. Additionally, if you trust the wrong person, you could wind up deported or even stuck with a permanent bar.

"People Smuggling" Defined

While most would equate smuggling people to human trafficking, the two are not the same under United States law. Human trafficking takes place when people are captured or otherwise persuaded against their will into forced labor (often prostitution). The smuggling of people (most often immigrants) is done with a person’s full consent and willing participation. Also, very often, the profits come from different methods: smuggling is a paid transaction, while trafficking is exploiting unwilling victims.

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 Posted on December 16, 2014 in Family Law

Divorce causes a significant amount of emotional, mental, and physical stress, especially when a divorce is particularly caustic. With all the items that need to be decided on for a divorce settlement, as well as the uncertainty of the final result of a divorce, it may be difficult to ensure that all of your needs properly addressed. In fact, health insurance coverage is one of the many particulars that ends up getting lost in the middle of a divorce settlement.

Study Sheds Light on Loss of Coverage for Many Women Post-Divorce

A recent study, conducted by the University of Michigan and published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, evaluated women between the ages of 26 and 64 and found that overall, women’s insurance coverage dropped and remained low for more than two years after the end of a marriage. Additionally, it was estimated that nationwide, 115,000 women annually lose their private health insurance coverage as a result of a divorce. This is a significant number of women who are living post-divorce life without the protection that they would have had had they remained married.

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 Posted on December 15, 2014 in Personal Injury

It has long been known that drunk driving is a dangerous activity that can cause serious consequences, in both the legal aspect as well as in the personal lives of the individuals involved—particularly if this action contributes to a car accident. Those who choose to operate their vehicles while impaired can face criminal charges and a civil lawsuit if their actions lead to the injury of another or property damage.

Additional consequences can emerge depending on the circumstances, which can have financial effects as well as cause damage to the overall well-being of those involved. With all of these consequences in place, one may think that the incidence of drunk driving is nearly non-existent, but that cannot be farther from the truth. Drunk driving is an issue that almost every community across the country likely has to deal with in one aspect or another.

Shift in Perception

However, perhaps the circumstances surrounding impaired driving are not all negative. According to a recently published news article, new survey results released by the group Mother Against Drunk Driving (MADD) indicate that the fear of legal repercussions is not the reason most people choose a designated driver. Rather, they report doing so in order to keep themselves and others on the road safe.

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 Posted on December 11, 2014 in Immigration

In very rare circumstances, someone who is inadmissible to the United States will need to enter anyway. He or she may require medical attention that is only available in the U.S., or something might have happened in his or her home country that mandates immediate flight. In those unusual situations, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) may grant a rarely-used status called humanitarian parole.

For Emergencies Only

Humanitarian parole is often discussed in the context of asylum and refugee law, though it is not technically an immigration benefit. It stems from the discretion of USCIS officials under Section 212.5 of the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA). Section 212(d)(5)(A) states that immigration officials may parole an immigrant into the United States for certain specific reasons. These reasons include:

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 Posted on December 10, 2014 in Personal Injury

Dangers on the road exist year round, but are most apparent in the winter months. Winter weather, such as snow, ice, slush, freezing rain and sleet, can make road conditions treacherous—sometimes with little to no warning. These conditions can make traveling during the winter months particularly challenging and require more careful driving on the roadways. In fact, the Chicago area, as well as other areas in the state of Illinois, have already experienced significant winter weather this season. A recently published local news article points out several accidents that resulted from the dangerous conditions.

Dangerous Road Conditions

The recent winter weather in the greater Chicago area caused icy road conditions that were likely responsible for multiple car accidents that recently occurred in the area. At least one person was hospitalized during this stretch of accidents. Most of the accidents occurred on a three-mile stretch of roadway on Interstate 474 where a sheet of ice covered the road. In other areas, officials made the decision to temporarily close portions of roadways due to conditions, cars sliding into ditches, and the fact that accidents had already occurred at the locations in question.

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 Posted on December 08, 2014 in Personal Injury

During the holiday season, it is especially important to maintain an extra awareness while driving. Traffic increases on the roads, around shopping centers, and in parking lots as people prepare for the holidays. In fact, it is reported that "roughly 13 percent of car accidents occur in parking lots." Additionally, dangerous winter weather can compound matters and make driving conditions even more challenging.

However, a recent article offers some well intended advice to drivers if involved in a fender bender this holiday season.

What to Do When Involved in a Crash

Most drivers are in involved in some type of accident at one point in their lives, and even minor accidents can be costly. Whether an individual is involved in a minor accident or one in which severe injuries are sustained, several basic principles hold true. Also, it is wise for anyone who is involved in an accident to consult with a personal injury attorney.

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 Posted on December 05, 2014 in Immigration

In late November, President Barack Obama announced the enacting of a sweeping initiative on the subject of immigration. This had been in the works since mid-summer, when immigration reform came to the forefront of the nation’s political discussions after a large influx of unaccompanied minor children from Central America were admitted at the country’s southern border. Congress was unable to pass a bill in the months following, and given the current mood of the electorate, President Obama has seen fit to announce his plan, to be enacted via executive order.

Three Main Goals

In his primetime speech to the country delivered on November 20, the president stated that his plan has three major goals that he hopes to accomplish. The first is improving border security. The situation at our borders, especially in the south, is difficult for both Border Patrol agents and those attempting to enter. Drug-related violence in particular is endemic, with the U.S. side experiencing what the Washington Office on Latin America calls “some of the world’s highest levels of violent crime.”

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 Posted on December 02, 2014 in Family Law

Child support is extremely important after the split of a couple. Generally, child support is either outlined within an agreed-upon divorce settlement decree between the couple, or it is ordered by the court based upon certain factors such as income and the extent of custodial responsibility between the parents.

Too often, however, some parents may evade their responsibilities to their children and voluntarily choose to not pay the required child support amount. In this situation, Illinois allows for wage garnishment, a process by which the parent’s wages are reduced by a certain amount until his or her dues are paid.

Income Withholding for Support Act

Illinois has set in place the Income Withholding for Support Act with the purpose of ensuring that child support and the needs of the child outlined by court orders and divorce decrees are honored. While skipping town may be one “sleuthy” way in which a parent may avoid the periodic payments, if the court can find where he or she works, then the court may take out the child support payments from his or her salary or bank account. This is known as wage garnishment.

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