All drivers are aware that when you see police lights or hear the sirens, you get out of the way and move over to let them pass through. But on some occasions, the police officer is chasing a suspect in another vehicle at such a high rate of speed that there is no time to react. In fact, there are sadly some instances in which the police car or suspected criminal collides with an innocent driver’s vehicle during the pursuit of the suspect.

What happens if one of the cars involved in a high speed pursuit causes bodily harm or even death to the innocent driver or passengers in a car? The city that employs the police officer should be held accountable for the injuries and/or death. The city should pay for the medical bills and/or for the value of the life lost in the collision.

The police of course have a right to go after a criminal. But when doing so requires them to drive at such a high rate of speed that it becomes dangerous for the public, they are supposed to back off. When they don’t it might be a lawsuit.

Let’s take a look at a recent example of this type of tragedy. In 2020, a City of Chicago police officer was pursuing a suspect and crashed into a vehicle in Auburn Gresham driven by a citizen named Kevin Spicer. His 10-year-old daughter, Da’Karia Spicer, and younger son, Dhaamir Spicer were passengers in the car. Kevin and Dhaamir suffered injuries but survived. Da’Karia was killed in the accident.

The case went to court where the question was not about who was liable or responsible. Both parties agreed that the police office employed by the City of Chicago caused the crash. The cop shouldn’t have been driving that fast and was negligent. The question was, what was the appropriate amount of damages to award the Spicer family for the loss of their beloved daughter?

Both parties agreed that $1 million was the right amount for past medical costs and future therapy costs. But they did not agree on what the amount should be for loss to society, grief, sorrow, and mental suffering.

The lawyers representing the city asked jurors to set aside their emotions and to focus on what is fair and reasonable under the law. They suggested a settlement of $11.6 million. Spicer’s attorneys recommended more than $117 million for the tragic loss of Da’Karia.

The jury came back with a verdict calling for the city to pay Spicer’s family $79.85 million. While that amount is unusually high, it shows you what these cases can be worth if the police are not following the laws they are supposed to enforce.

It is critical in a case like this to have attorneys who are experienced with this situation representing you. If you or someone you know has been injured in a police pursuit, call us at 312-346-5320. Time is of the essence as there are strict limitations for bringing a case. We help with these claims everywhere in Illinois.

We have helped many people successfully bring lawsuits for a failure to diagnose cancer. It’s probably the most common case we’ve been a part of. If you’d like a free consultation, please call us at 312-346-5320.

Cancer is awful. That’s not some profound statement of course. It has touched everyone I know in some way. Most people know someone who has died from it and/or who have had it and recovered from it.

Getting the all clear from your oncologist has to be an amazing feeling. I’m fortunate that I can’t personally relate to that, but have been elated when multiple friends have gone through this and gotten a clean bill of health. Getting checked every 6-12 months is no big deal.

For some people, cancer sadly returns. In a lot of those cases we get calls from them or their loved ones looking to bring a lawsuit. Depending on the type of cancer you have that can be a challenge unless we can show one specific thing.

Most cancers, such as breast cancer (which commonly comes back) are treated with an algorithm. Based on the tumor size and location a certain regimen of chemo will be prescribed. They can never know for sure that a microscopic amount of cancer still remains, so in some patients the cancer comes back in the same spot. When it does, it’s not usually a malpractice case even if there was a delay in discovering it.

When I say same spot, I mean same primary tumor. For some unlucky people, the cancer reappears in the same body part, but a different primary tumor. In those situations, if there was a more than six month delay in discovering the problem, you may in fact have a lawsuit.

So to win it’s really important to compare the old and new radio-logical findings to see if we are dealing with a new problem or recurrence of the old one.

This seems like more medical advice than legal advice, but it’s done in consultation with specialists who have handled these cases for years. These are hard talks to have with clients because it’s usually people with cancer that has spread and some of them have received bad medical care, but can’t be helped legally.

Every case is different of course, so please do not hesitate to reach out if you’d like a free case review.

We talk to more than 250 people every week about various Illinois legal matters. While we can’t help everyone, most people have sincere, good reasons for calling. They need a work comp attorney or divorce lawyer or legal help with a traffic ticket.

Some people want to know if they have a lawsuit. They might present a situation that isn’t a case, but that doesn’t mean that they have frivolous or ridiculous intentions. They just don’t know what they don’t know and are seeing if they have any legal rights.

We do get some calls that even if the caller sincerely doesn’t know if they have a case or not, most people would recognize right away that the claim is frivolous. Over a year that can add up. Here are some of those situations we’ve heard about in 2024 along with why they are frivolous.

  • A caller wanted to sue over the harm that certain pesticides could cause. He hasn’t been to a doctor, doesn’t know who he wants to sue and has no symptoms. He’s just mad these pesticides exist. (This is frivolous because there is no actual harm suffered. It theoretically could be a case if he went to a doctor and they related a serious illness to a chemical exposure).
  • We received a call from a former star high school athlete who was kicked off the team 40 years ago after he felt they made him confess to breaking school rules that he didn’t break. As a result he lost out on college scholarship opportunities and spiraled. (It’s far too late to bring this case and you can’t sue a school because they disciplined you about something you confessed).
  • A couple wants to sue a school across the street from their house because their new bell system is really loud. (They have no case because it happens during the day and that’s the risk of living by a school).
  • A guy rented an apartment that didn’t have great heat. He bought a space heater that ended up burning him when he fell asleep.
  • A guy wanted to go for custody in order to deter his girlfriend from going for child support and use that as leverage. We declined to get involved as it’s unethical and as he didn’t even want custody it would be frivolous.
  • A woman wanted to sue because she felt “baited” into calling some black women the N-word and is facing repercussions for it.
  • Caller wanted to sue Facebook because she feels the ads that are shown on her feed are disgusting and that she shouldn’t be forced to look at them.
  • We were contacted by someone who was at work 20 years ago and never filed a workers comp case. She stopped treating for a back injury after five years, her company went bankrupt and now 15 years later she has an infection in her spine that she thinks is due to the work injury. It’s about 13 years too late to bring a case.
  • A woman wanted to get child support from her boyfriend who just broke up with her. He is not the biological father and did not sign the birth certificate, but has helped her raise the child for the last three years. He legally owes her or the child nothing.
  • A caller wanted to sue their boyfriend of 10 years because they discovered they’d been cheating the last two. Cheating is immoral, but not illegal.
  • Person contacted our office after they were fired for having an anger problem. They felt the employer should be required by law to try to help them and work with them.
  • Many people who want to bring a frivolous suit are naive. Some unfortunately have mental illness. One woman wanted us to sue the police because they’ve arrested her every day for 45 years.
  • A guy with lung cancer who’s used medical marijuana for almost a decade and smoked before that, wants to sue his medical marijuana doctor for not warning him that cancer was a possible side effect.
  • Gentleman who “Lost my job to China” back in 2015 wanted to sue his old employer to try and get a severance.
  • A woman wanted to sue a store because they sold an item she was interested in to someone else and had asked them to reserve it for her. She didn’t put any money down and no promises were made.
  • A caller wanted to sue the Illinois Lottery because they didn’t like the odds on the scratchers tickets.
  • Guy bought a house “as is”, didn’t have an inspection and now wants to sue because it’s a money pit that he can’t live in.
  • Caller was squatting in a home. Got locked out so he broke in through a window and fell, injuring his leg. Wanted to sue for his injury.
  • Woman was kicked out of a movie theater when security thought she was being disruptive when it was really a woman a row behind her. Wanted to sue for a million dollars.
  • Person made a very racist video as a teenager in which they used the N word many time. They are now an adult with a job and someone sent the video to their employer who terminated them. Wanted to sue whoever sent it (they don’t know who) for defamation because it embarrassed them.
  • Caller wanted to sue Microsoft because he wasn’t able to get the internet to work on his computer.
  • A worker was suspended for being high on the job and wanted to sue because marijuana is legal in Illinois.
  • A caller wanted to sue the police because there was an error in the police report that was fixed within a day of the error happening. They wanted to sue because they believe, without evidence, that it’s all a conspiracy against them. So they have no harm and no evidence.
  • In what may be the craziest of all of these, a job applicant wants to sue the company he applied to work at because they closed their business and didn’t tell him or compensate him for the time he took in looking into that job.
  • Man wants to the Judge in his child custody case because he feels they are biased against him. That isn’t allowed. You can appeal their rulings and if they commit misconduct you can report them to the Judicial Inquiry Board. But you can’t sue because you don’t like their rulings.
  • In probably the saddest one, a lonely man met a woman online and was swindled out of $20,000 that he voluntarily sent to her. He eventually figured out it was a scam and wants to sue his bank because he can’t get the money back.
  • A young man doesn’t have a car and wants to work close to home. He applied to one place and has gone in ten times asking them for an update and they haven’t hired him. Wants to sue because he feels he’s qualified and they should have to hire him since he lives so close.

A key point to take from all of this is that no lawyers are taking these cases. People may want to bring legal action that we’d all consider “frivolous,” but if it never actually happens it’s not really a problem. It’s more a matter of educating people on their rights. That doesn’t mean frivolous lawsuits never happen. But when they do, it’s usually someone representing themselves or an attorney filing a case and later discovering the case isn’t what they thought it was.

People and lawyers (we are people too, right?) are generally good. When you are frustrated by something in life, there’s nothing wrong with asking an attorney’s opinion as to whether or not you have a lawsuit. Lay people shouldn’t be expected to know if they have a case or not. So we don’t ever begrudge someone who reaches out to us. And hopefully we are helping them by explaining why we can’t help them.

When you hire an attorney in Illinois, you are responsible for their fee and their expenses. In an hourly fee case like a divorce, those expenses come out of the retainer fee and are billed monthly or whenever they charge you on a case. It works way differently on cases where you hire the attorney on a contingency basis.

Most Illinois contingency fee agreements are for injury cases like car accidents, workers compensation, medical malpractice, etc. Those contracts will say something to the effect of the attorney will receive a percentage of any recovery that is made (1/3 for malpractice, 20% for work comp by State law). It also will state that the client is responsible to reimburse the attorney for expenses. But how does that work?

The type of case determines how big the expenses are. Illinois workers compensation cases typically have very low expenses, often under $200 and rarely into the five figures.

Medical malpractice cases on the other hand can be very expensive. They are almost always in the mid five figures and if they progress to trial it’s not at all unusual for them to cost into the six figures. Paying experts for their opinion and time can be very costly.

Personal injury cases like car accidents typically fall somewhere in between unless they settle without a lawsuit being filed. The court filing fees alone are usually more than a work comp case costs. If the case involves a serious injury it is probably that multiple depositions will be needed, including those of experts potentially.

The way it works is that when a case settles, the contingency fee is taken out and then the attorney gets reimbursed out of what’s left before paying you. So if the case settles for $90,000 and they have a 1/3 fee, that leaves $60,000. If their expenses are $5,000 and nobody else is owed money like a doctor, you’d net $55,000.

What you will find is that the more lucrative the case, the more likely it is that a lawyer will charge you for expenses instead of eating the cost. What do we mean by that?

Well in workers comp cases, most expenses are for issuing subpoenas for medical records or potentially paying doctors and court reporters for testimony time. In a catastrophic injury case or malpractice lawsuit, you’ll probably see attorneys adding expenses for copying records, postage, mileage, etc. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, but trying to help people understand what really happens. This is why it’s important before starting a case with a lawyer that you ask what will or won’t be charged as an expense. It’s all negotiable. I’d be wary of a a work comp attorney who charges for photo copies, but not a malpractice attorney who does.

A common question we get is, “Do I have to reimburse my lawyer for the expenses if we lose the case?” It’s kind of a trick question. The contract you sign will surely say that you do. The reality is that no attorney we recommend does this. You should certainly ask about this before hiring a lawyer, but this is generally a risk attorneys take when bringing a case and why lawyers can be selective about which claims they pursue. You don’t want to spend $100,000 and not make a recovery.

This can be confusing, but it’s an important topic. If you have ANY QUESTIONS, you can call us FOR FREE and speak with a lawyer at 312-346-5320. It’s always confidential and no commitment.

There’s no movie I’ve seen more in my life than “Animal House.” It’s incredibly quotable, legitimately hilarious and an easy watch with an incredible cast. In college there were numerous times it would just be playing at the place I lived when nothing was going on or in the background while we were playing cards

I’m not here to slander the movie. It was filmed in a different time and you can acknowledge that some things that happened in the movie aren’t really funny anymore.

For example, glorifying sex with a 13 year old would probably not happen today or be laughed at as much if you just saw it for the first time

There are other crimes that happened in the movie that are more borderline as to whether or not you could do it today or not. John Belushi being a peeping Tom at the sorority house is certainly one of them. I tend to think that with the right actor, most people today wouldn’t care.

There are a lot of other crimes in there that aren’t problematic and easily could be part of a movie today. Stealing from the super market is one

The food fight scene would likely result in a disorderly conduct charge and possibly assault and battery

I’d have to think as to what the criminal charges would be for impersonating a deceased person’s fiance, but it’s probably something

Smoking marijuana is thankfully not illegal now, but it was at the time and led to one of the best quotes ever.

And of course the final parade scene has destruction of property, cruelty to animals, theft, assault, battery, reckless driving and many more crimes that play out in a hilarious way.

I still think the movie holds up. I’m probably missing another 20-30 crimes and off the top of my head there’s underage drinking, speeding, trespassing, hazing, more animal cruelty, more battery, more theft and more disorderly conduct. Hopefully people can still enjoy the movie for what it is, even if we know certain parts of the movie are not acceptable by today’s standards.

While we provide free legal guidance and lawyer referrals for just about every area of Illinois law, the most common complaint we get is from people who are having trouble at work.

Sometimes these calls involve pay and compensation issues. Other times it involves unfair treatment. Quite often it has to do with either obvious or perceived discrimination.

Dealing with a bad work situation can be extremely emotional. That is a totally logical response. The best thing an attorney can do is look at a situation objectively and take the emotion out of it. That allows you to focus on what is actual illegal behavior by your employer and what is crappy behavior, but not illegal.

This is really important because when you bring a lawsuit or in most cases, file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), it’s really important to keep the legal issues as narrow and focused as possible.

For example, it’s common for someone to call us and tell us that they are experiencing discrimination at work and were fired because of it. They want to bring a wrongful termination lawsuit. Wrongful termination means illegal firing. Not unfair, not wrong, not a misunderstanding. Rather it’s illegal based on a protected reason such as race, age, religion, gender, pregnancy, work injury, etc.

So we will ask what was illegal about it and while the caller may mention feeling it was racial for example, they will also tell us about how someone with less experience got a better shift or the new manager doesn’t like the old employees or they used to let them give friends discounts and now they don’t or other things that are clearly not illegal.

When this happens it causes two problems. First, it creates a lot of noise and crowds the issue. If an EEOC investigator were to read a complaint like this, they’d clearly see things that aren’t illegal, just unfair and likely not find in your favor. Second, it can create defenses to the case that didn’t exist. If the corporate attorney sees that you were giving friends a discount, that might create a justification for firing you.

So when calling a labor law attorney or filing with the EEOC, the best advice we can give you is to keep the issue narrow and focused on the illegal activity. It should be evidence focused and not based on things that can be explained away.

For example, if you think you were discriminated against because of your race, what proof do you have? The best proof is something that was said or written, but it’s rare that an employer is that dumb. So if your boss called you the N word, you have the makings of a great case for that gross behavior.

But most cases the evidence is circumstantial. That doesn’t mean you can’t win, but does mean you shouldn’t bring up things that are irrelevant. For example, don’t say, “My new manager doesn’t like black people. She and I got into it and I told her off. We used to be allowed to take uneaten food during our breaks, but now she won’t allow it. It’s totally unfair. She yells at us all of the time and it’s a hostile work environment. And she’s not promoting any of the black workers.”

Almost everything in that last paragraph is emotion. Instead, you’d keep it narrow like this. Myself and four others are the only African-American workers out of 30 people all in the same job. Since a new manager came in a year ago there have been eight people promoted, all of whom were white. The five of us have more experience than seven of the eight who were promoted. Since she started we are the only ones given a cleaning job that uses toxic chemicals.

Everything in the second example focuses on facts. No emotion. It’s not a slam dunk case, but it gives you a chance because it focuses on issues that are possibly illegal. That’s not to say that the company couldn’t offer a defense, but these issues certainly seem to prove there’s discrimination based on race.

When you file at the EEOC there’s one guarantee. They will give you a right to sue letter. You get this if you have the best case in the world or the worst one. A right to sue letter doesn’t mean much beyond you have 90 days to get a lawsuit filed. Some right to sue letters also include a finding that the law was likely broken. That’s what you are looking for. When you get a finding the law was likely broken, it gives you tremendous leverage and the ability to get an attorney to take the case on a contingency basis where they only get paid if they win.

If you have any questions about this or your employment, please call us any time at 312-346-5320.

We get a lot of calls from people who want to have a severance agreement in Illinois reviewed. I get that. It’s a lot of legal mumbo jumbo and can be confusing if you aren’t familiar with what they say. That said, don’t be surprised if a lawyer wants $1,000 or more to review it and offer advice unless you bring forward a case where your employer is acting illegally (more on that below). If you are only getting 5 weeks of severance pay you probably don’t want to pay that. But you do need to be aware of certain things.

So with that in mind, I thought I’d offer some thoughts that everyone who has been fired and offered a severance should know.

  1. Your employer will likely not negotiate the dollar amount they are offering you unless you have some leverage. What’s leverage? That would be evidence that you are being let go illegally like getting fired after complaining about sexual harassment or reporting of illegal activity. If that is the case, you want to get an attorney and should call us for free at 312-346-5320 to discuss your situation in confidence.
  2. If you do sign the severance, know that you are giving up your right to sue the company for any reason. So if you think they owe you commissions or vacation pay or you want to sue for wrongful termination, signing will likely end those rights. Don’t sign if you don’t want to do that.
  3. Workers’ compensation isn’t a lawsuit and a severance agreement can’t take away your Illinois work comp rights.
  4. There is no obligation for an employer to give anyone a severance unless it’s been contractually agreed to. They do it for good will and so they can close the door on any possible issues with you. That’s important for them if they are considering a sale.
  5. While they won’t likely negotiate a dollar amount, you can ask for things like making sure they won’t contest your unemployment or that at worst they will give you a neutral reference. You can certainly ask that they agree to give a good one. Companies are much more likely to negotiate on non-financial issues.
  6. When you work for a big company and there are a lot of layoffs, they are less inclined to do much of anything as they don’t want to open the door to having to do it for everyone.
  7. That said, while theoretically they can pull a severance, it doesn’t hurt to ask for something. Usually the worst case scenario is they say no.
  8. It’s not unusual for severance payments to be spread out over a period of weeks or months instead of a lump sum. You can ask for a lump sum, but they don’t have to give it to you.
  9. Beware clauses that say the severance will end if you secure new employment. They can ask for that and you can object to it.
  10. Beware them putting a non-compete or non-solicitation agreement in your severance package. If you want to work in the same field, agreeing that could limit your job prospects.
  11. There is no typical severance agreement dollar amount. What they offer you can be completely different at another company. Some do one week for every year worked. Some pick a random number. There’s often no rhyme or reason.
  12. Beware items that may be unique to you. For example, if you got a signing bonus that said you’d have to pay it back if you didn’t work for two years, if they are letting you go, you need to make sure that you won’t owe them that money.

I hope this helps. As always, if you have any questions you are welcome to call us.

A common tactic Illinois employers use to cheat on taxes and screw their workers is to pay someone as a 1099 and call them an independent contractor when they really aren’t one.

Being wrongly classified as an independent contractor instead of an employee can have major financial implications. Many workers find themselves shouldering costs that should be covered by their employers. If you’ve been wrongly classified as an independent contractor, you may be unfairly paying out-of-pocket for expenses like uniforms, support staff, and marketing materials. Understanding your rights and seeking reclassification can help you recover these costs and ensure fair treatment.

Employee vs. Independent Contractor
The primary difference between an employee and an independent contractor is the level of control and the nature of the work relationship. Employers have more control over employees, including setting work hours, providing training, and dictating how tasks should be completed. Independent contractors typically have more autonomy in how they work, are often hired for specific projects, and have the freedom to say no to future projects. The more control an employer has, the more likely it is you are actually an employee.

The Financial Burden of Being Misclassified as an Independent Contractor
When you are misclassified as an independent contractor, you may find yourself unfairly paying for job-related expenses. Here are some common costs that company employees typically do not have to bear:

Uniforms and Equipment: Employees usually receive uniforms and necessary equipment from their employers (e.g., clothing with the company logo, protective boots, necessary tools and technology).

Support Staff: Employers often provide administrative support or additional staff to assist employees (e.g., administrative assistant, support from graphic design professionals, IT specialists).

Marketing Materials: Employees benefit from company-provided marketing and promotional materials (e.g., company or product brochures, promotional materials and giveaways for conventions, publicity activities).

Office Space and Supplies: Employees work in company-provided office spaces with necessary supplies, and are not expected to take on overhead expenses.

What You Can Do About It

If you are called an independent contractor but treated like an employee, and you are paying for any of the above (or other examples not listed), it’s important to take action to protect yourself. An experienced Illinois employment law attorney can help you understand your rights and guide you through the process of challenging your classification and getting reimbursed for the job-related expenses that you’ve paid. In addition to fighting for the reimbursement, an attorney can potentially get the company to pay penalties for the misclassification.

There is no cost to you upfront in hiring a lawyer for this situation. The lawyer works on a contingency basis meaning they are paid a percentage of what they recover for you.

If you have any questions about your misclassification and the expenses you’ve incurred, contact us any time for a free consultation with a lawyer at 312-346-5320.

Illinois is for the most part a very employee/worker friendly state. One example of this is the strong protections given to workers who are victims of sexual or domestic violence. It’s through a law called VESSA which stands for Victims Economic Security and Safety Act. In short, if you are a victim of violence, this law allows you to deal with that process without facing discrimination or retaliation from your job.

Under VESSA law, you are entitled to a bunch of rights, some of which are similar to the Family Medical Leave Act. But VESSA goes farther. These rights include:

Unpaid Leave: Under VESSA, your Illinois employer must provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave every year if you are dealing with domestic or sexual violence. This leave covers time for medical treatment, counseling, legal matters, and safety planning. Notably, this leave also extends to employees caring for a family member (child, parent, spouse, or another relative) who is a victim.

Reasonable Accommodations: Employees can request reasonable workplace accommodations to deal with the effects of domestic or sexual violence. This might involve changes to work schedules, job duties, or even working remotely for safety reasons or to attend court proceedings. If working the night shift puts you at risk, you might be able to secure a change to the day shift.

Confidentiality: This is a big one as in most cases your employer doesn’t have to keep confidentiality. It’s different if you are a violence victim. Your employer must keep your status as a victim confidential and cannot disclose this information without your consent. If they do there are consequences, especially if it’s a willful disclosure or it causes you harm.

If your employer violates your VESSA rights, several remedies are available to ensure you are compensated and your rights are upheld. These include:

Getting back pay: If you’re wrongfully terminated or denied leave, you may be entitled to back pay, covering the wages you would have earned.

Getting your job back: You could be reinstated to your previous job with all benefits if wrongfully terminated. If your old job is unavailable, a comparable position should be offered. And if no job is available, that will likely increase what the case is worth.

Payment for lost benefits: Any lost benefits, such as health insurance or retirement benefits due to the violation could result in them having to pay you for it.

Emotional Distress Damages: While every case is different, you might be able to receive compensation for emotional distress caused by your employer’s behavior including for pain and suffering. This is often proven through evidence of counseling or other medical care.

Punitive Damages: In cases of really egregious or intentional conduct by the employer, punitive damages may be awarded to penalize and deter this bad behavior from happening again.

Attorney’s Fees: The good news is that if you sue with a lawyer under VESSA and win, your attorney fees are paid for by the employer. This really levels the playing field for workers. All of the Illinois VESSA attorneys we know work on a contingency basis which means they won’t ask you for any money to take on your case.

So what can attorney do for you? Quite simply, an experienced lawyer will great increase your chances of success. Knowing how to win a VESSA claim and work the way through the process can be the difference between winning and losing as well as between getting a small or large amount of money.

Your lawyer will be with you throughout the whole process to make sure everything is filed correctly and that your story gets properly told. This isn’t just making sure everything is filed in time (note there are short time limits for bringing these cases), but also managing the legal process so you can focus on your physical and mental health.

If you think your rights under VESSA have been violated or just simply have questions about the process, you can speak with us for free and in confidence any time. Call us at 312-346-5320. We cover all of Illinois.

One of the interesting things about the law is that new areas are popping up all of the time. AI has created a whole new category that didn’t exist five years ago. The legalization of marijuana has caused some firms to create practice groups that were unfathomable a decade ago.

Data breaches aren’t necessarily new, but they are really common these days as hackers break their way into systems to steal important information like your credit card, social security number, password and other things they don’t have a right to. These breaches can also be unintentional from lazy record keeping or storage.

When this happens and it’s widely publicized, the courts get flooded with lawsuits. What will eventually happen is that some day you will receive a notice in the mail and discover you are getting $10 or free credit counseling or something else trivial while some lawyers are getting millions.

There’s no realistic way for you to get that much, but there is a way to get more money. That involves being the first or one of the first people to get with a data breach attorney and have your name attached to the lawsuit.

When you are the lead or named plaintiff in a class action lawsuit – there can be more than one – you will get additional compensation for your efforts. There’s no set amount, but it’s not uncommon for the lead plaintiff to get $10,000-$20,000 or more. That may not seem like a ton, but compared to what you’d get by doing nothing, it’s likely a windfall and for not much work.

So how fast do you have to act? When AT&T disclosed it was hacked, those lawsuits were filed right away. For smaller data breaches such as when employee data is stolen or it’s against a smaller company like a hospital, it’s possible that if you wait a week it won’t be too late. But the sooner the better. Otherwise you are just lumped in with the rest of the class and likely won’t get much.

We do get asked if people can just bring their own case. You can, but in almost every case those claims aren’t worth enough on their own to get you compensation that justifies the cost of a lawyer unless you can prove actual significant harm that you’ve suffered as a result. That’s really hard to do which is why a class action, which costs you know money, usually makes the most sense.

We know aggressive attorneys who have had a lot of success with data breach and other privacy violation issues. If it happened to you and many others, please call us any time at 312-346-5320 to speak with a lawyer for free.