Byrne Law

03/17/2025

Signing official documents via "auto pens" has been in the news recently. Just today, the White House questioned its legality.

Allow me to help separate fact from fiction.

Presidents and other politicians have long used autopens to sign documents, with President Gerald Ford being among the first to admit it.

President Barack Obama signed a bill remotely with autopen in 2011, pointing to a George Bush Jr. White House legal team memo that said the President could sign something “by directing another to affix one’s name or seal to the document in one’s presence.”

As Bloomberg notes, the Justice Department also held in 1929 that “neither the Constitution nor statute prescribed the method by which executive clemency shall be exercised or evidenced. It is wholly for the president to decide.”

Finally, most (if not all) states and the federal government have statutes authorizing electronic signatures. Companies like DocuSign would not exist but for such laws.

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03/07/2025

This morning, Byrne Law teamed up with the Kimball Team at Cross Country Mortgage and Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) to help some children in need. Cross Country organized the event, while we were part of the volunteer crew.

Every year, internationally, millions of children die from preventable causes such as pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and undernutrition. Hunger is still causing nearly half of deaths in children under 5 years old. From this data, it is estimated that at least 6,200 children die each day from causes related to undernutrition. This is heartbreaking.

FMSC works with global food distribution partners that stay with communities for the long haul, empowering them to move from relief to development.

FMSC meals are developed by food science and nutrition professionals to supplement nutritional needs and reduce problems with malnutrition. Nutrition allows children to grow, thrive and develop to their full potential. We got to try sone after our shift. It was honestly pretty tasty.

We filled an entire pallet with food to be shipped to Ghana. We packaged the food itself, and then boxed it up. Knowing we made a real difference in the lives of people who desperately need help was an amazing way to start the day.

Thanks to Rich Kimball for inviting us.

01/10/2025

This is a reminder for our real estate clients. Who is legally responsible for removing snow from sidewalks and driveways in Chicago? Maybe you.

Chicago Municipal Code Section 10-8-180: states that every “owner, lessee, tenant, occupant, or other person in charge of any building . . . abutting upon any public way or public place shall . . . remove any snow and ice from any sidewalk . . .”

That means that if you are a landlord or property manager, you have a legal duty to remove the snow and ice from the public sidewalks that run next to the property.

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10/09/2024

Insurers are there to help people with catastrophic loss. We've assisted clients with navigating the claims process.

Here is some free legal advice for those of you in the path of a storm.

Before you leave your home, take pictures of the outside and inside of your home. This should be at least an annual practice to show the condition of your home before a claim is made.

I also advise taking pictures of your belongings inside. Go room by room. Take individual pictures of expensive items like furniture, appliances, computers, A/V equipment, musical instruments, etc.

The more evidence you can share with an insurer that you owned the claimed items, the better.

While keeping receipts backed up on electronic media can be incredibly helpful, very few people do this. Inventory management in the form of QR code stickers can be a lifesaver and is something I personally do (along with scanning most receipts because most attorneys are Type A like that). I use this primarily on storage bins. Most apps will let you take a picture of the item in the crate as part of the inventory management process. It will also let you note where the storage bin is located.

04/09/2024

12/20/2023

Accidents happen, even during the holidays.

11/30/2021

Lawyers are often not the negotiators that they think they are. Clients are also often not on the same page as their counsel, seeking aggressive advocacy and protection, while also expecting their counsel to finesse deals with platitudes and kindness. "Business is business" still requires a human touch. The correct legal approach can often be insulting or jarring in a vacuum and without proper context, which is why it is critically important to keep productive lines of communication open with opposing counsel at all times. Spending time in a business executive role can aid an attorney immensely in bridging the gap between what is correct legally versus what ACTUALLY gets a deal done. Clients should seek attorneys who know how to straddle that line effectively.

How much lawyering is too much lawyering? A Twitter thread that went viral last week began with a cautionary tale about how even very good lawyers can go overboard without proper guidance from their clients.

05/07/2021

Fun closing with the nicest first-time homebuyers. The always amazing team of Zak Knebel and Camille Hoover of Berkshire Hathaway helped them find a great starter home at great value in a tough market. Seeing their smiles once keys changed hands makes this one of my favorite practices.