Heady Law Office

02/20/2024

https://youtube.com/shorts/Kg2hcDpwM-k?si=C4lagXMGz-cF10Kg

02/05/2024

Nothing like an early morning de-icing!

10/15/2023

If you are injured by a driver working for a rideshare service, such as Uber or Lyft, there are several legal issues that arise that distinguish such cases from the ordinary car collision. This is an area where the law is trying to catch up to the technology. Users or rideshare services may be surprised to learn that they may have agreed to submit claims to arbitration and have given up their right to pursue damages in front of a jury. This is common trick used by many different businesses trying to limit their liability. Uber and Lyft, unlike a taxicab company, will claim that the driver that they sent to you via their app, and who they pay to drive you from one destination to another, is really not their employee or agent. They will claim the drivers are independent contractors who operate independent of their control. Currently, an Illinois law known as the Transportation Network Providers Act, 625 ILCS 57/1, exempts rideshare companies and drivers from the protections of the Common Carrier Act. Thankfully, this portion of the Act will be repealed in January of 2024. For now, there are thankfully, protections under the Act that require the rideshare companies to provide a million dollars in coverage for accidents that occur while they driver is actively engaged in a call, including when they are on the way to pick up a passenger. Both the passenger of the ride share vehicle as well as anybody who is harmed in a collision caused by the ride share driver is protected. If you are injured in an accident caused by a ride share driver, or are the passenger in such a vehicle when a collision occurs, you will want to have a lawyer experienced in the laws that apply to ride share companies fighting for you. If you have been injured in such an accident, call today for a free consultation.

Law Office Representing all manner of accident victims, medical malpractice cases, nursing home negl

04/30/2023

The Fox News settlement just shy of $800,000,000, has some important lessons for current and future litigants that do not want to end up paying a large settlement or judgment. And this lesson is not just for defamation cases. While most of us will never be involved in the type of libel lawsuit brought against Fox News, many people will face smaller suits and these suits may be won or lost by what is out there in the digital world. Not just what you posted or tweeted, but what you texted to your best friend after a few drinks on a Saturday night, or perhaps what you emailed years ago to a colleague. Maybe you unleashed your true inner feelings about a boss, a client, a coworker, and now is Exhibit A at your trial. The plaintiffs in the case against Fox Fews had a high hurdle to overcome. It would not be enough to show that they were wrong about their reporting on voting machines, they had to prove that Fox News acted with actual malice or reckless disregard when it published the false stories. This would have been a difficult burden if not for the unintended help of Tucker Carlson and producers on the show, who in what they thought was their private texts, revealed that they knew what they were putting out on the air was false. I'm sure that the Fox producers would not have wrote the incriminating texts if they ever thought their private thoughts would become public. We have all said things in the heat of the moment that we did not mean--and often these statements would be long forgotten. But things in the digital world are not forgotten. They last virtually forever as irrefutable proof of what was said and when. And this is the lesson that needs to be learned today, text messages, digital messages, public and private posts, are all full game for litigants. Never assume that what you write in an email or text message will not be revealed to others. Even if you delete the message, it is likely still going to be there when the lawyers come looking. Never put anything in a text, a post or email that you would not want to be leaked to the public or shown to the jury at a trial. If you are a business owner, no matter how small, you need to have a policy that all employees understand about what is acceptabe business communications in electronic media.

03/03/2023

Groomer day. The 1 day of month they are clean for couple hours.

10/23/2022

Dogs enjoying the fall even if it feel like summer.

10/08/2022

If you are a victim of employment discrimination, s*xual harassment, or wrongful termination, don't wait to call a lawyer. Don't go the EEOC or worse yet, quit your job and then call a lawyer. Often, employees wait too long before calling a lawyer or file charges with the wrong agency. Most employees go straight to the EEOC and they may not have even heard of the state agency, the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR). In Illinois, it is usually better to file first with the state agency, IDHR, rather than the EEOC. The case should be cross-filed with the EEOC, but the IDHR should do the investigation. The IDHR, in my experience, will investigate your claim and gather evidence. The EEOC is more likely to simply issue you a Right-to-Sue letter without any investigation. Also, filing with the IDHR gives you the right to file in State Court rather than Federal Court, which can be advantageous for the employee. You can also choose to have your case heard by an Administrative Judge with the Illinois Human Rights Commission. In some instances, there is greater coverage under Illinois law and there are no caps on damages as under federal law. Before filing, however, you should contact an experienced employment lawyer before you file a charge of discrimination. The intake personnel at both the IDHR and EEOC are not lawyers. Clients have told me that the EEOC or IDHR wrongly told them they did not have a case, or they drafted a charging document that was incorrect or missing vital information. Having a lawyer before quitting or filing with either of these agencies is crucial to the success of your case. The charging document can control the type of Complaint you can file and where you can file it. If the charging document only mentions discrimination, but should have also included a retaliation count, you have seriously undermined your case.

The other way that employees hurt their cases is by quitting, and in some instances, they make it worse yet by signing a severance agreement forfeiting their right to file a lawsuit. Even if your work environment is intolerable and you need to leave your job, there are ways to manage this that preserve your right to unemployment and preserve your right to seek damages in court should that be necessary. Call today for a free consultation to discuss your rights. In almost all cases, if I accept your case I work on a contingency basis and only get paid if I settle your case or win in Court.

09/07/2022

Here, you can see how small he really is.

09/07/2022

Behold the mighty Florida gator. He looks pretty big up close but hes just a lil guy.

08/08/2022

When you arrive at an airport and go to pick up your luggage, you are likely to hear the following announcement: "Anyone who asks you if you need a ride, should not be giving you a ride." These announcements are intended to protect the public by making sure that they only hire taxis that are properly licensed and regulated. There should be similar public announcements for lawyers calling you the day after an accident. Any lawyer who calls you, or worse yet, shows up at your hospital or home, to talk about your personal injury case, should not be representing you. Illinois lawyers are required to follow Rules of Professional Conduct, that strictly prohibit direct solicitations in person or over the phone. Sometimes the lawyers offices has runners, or so-called private investigators, who claim they want to help you find a good lawyer. Ethical lawyers do not use such practices. If the lawyer who is contacting you is willing to break the rules of professional conduct to solicit you, what other ethical rules are they willing to violate? It can be intimidating trying to figure out how to hire a lawyer after you have been in an accident but one way to be sure that you have a lawyer who is licensed and insured in Illinois is to contact bar associations, like the Illinois Bar Association, the Kane County Bar Association, or the bar association of the county that you live in. They can often refer you to a qualified lawyer who concentrates in personal injury. You should then check that lawyer out at iardc.org, the ARDC regulates attorneys and they keep a directory of all active Illinois attorneys. From this website, you can determine whether the attorney is licensed to practice in Illinois, how long they have been licensed, whether their license has ever been suspended, and whether they carry legal malpractice insurance. This is just a starting point, but it is much better than hiring a lawyer who violates ethical rules by contacting your directly right after an accident. If you have been hurt by a negligent driver, or injured in any manner because of the carelessness of others, please call today for a free consultation.

Law Office Representing all manner of accident victims, medical malpractice cases, nursing home negl

06/12/2022

Don't believe for a moment that all attorneys charge the same for personal injury case. While attorneys' fees should not be the sole determining factor when hiring an attorney, the amount that you pay should be a fair amount. People have come to expect that they will have to pay 1/3 of any recovery for attorneys' fees and many firms charge as much as 40% in fees. Sometimes attorney's fees of one-third are very fair based on the difficulty of the case, the amount of damages and the amount of time and effort that will be required to bring the case to trial. Many times I am able to settle a case without filing a lawsuit or very soon after a lawsuit. Sometimes liability is obvious, the damages are significant and the defendant has a reasonable insurance carrier. At my office, the client is charged a smaller fee because it just would not be fair to charge 1/3 in those instances. In many cases, the 1/3 contingency is very fair. Some cases take years to resolve and require the hiring of experts and thousands of dollars in fees. Sometimes cases are appealed and the whole case has to be retried. Do not be afraid to ask the attorney you are hiring up front about the amount he or she charges for attorneys' fees. Don't be afraid to talk to other attorneys before signing a contract. The goal is to find a fair, honest, competent attorney, who charges a reasonable rate for services provided. Call today for a free consultation. 630-892-8109

Law Office Representing all manner of accident victims, medical malpractice cases, nursing home negl

04/19/2022

A little over two years ago, it because legal to sell cannabis in Illinois. Those few companies who acquired a license from the state essentially won a lottery. They could sell a product that had been previously banned and would have limited competition. People literally lined up at these businesses for hours to buy the product. The companies are making millions. You would think that these fortunate business owners would want to play by the rules that most other businesses follow with respect to how they treat their employees. However, some of these businesses treat their female employees in a despicable manner. Sexual harassment at some of these locations is out of control with some of the worse abuses of women that I have ever seen in 25 years of practicing employment law. The abuse was at the hands of managers and assistant managers. Those at the top knew what was happening but told the women that they should expect to have men grab them, talk dirty to them and demand s*x from them. Upper management allowed it to continue and when some brave women came forward, they were retaliated against. Some were fired and others forced to quit. If you or someone you know has been the victim of s*xual harassment while working for a cannabis dispensary in Illinois, I would like to talk to you. Please call and help put an end to abuse of women in the workplace.

Law Office Representing all manner of accident victims, medical malpractice cases, nursing home negl