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We are unique in that since 2001 we have talked to anyone interested about whatever Illinois legal matters they have. We get a lot of great questions and some of them inspire blog posts. Others are great, but don’t require a big post. Here is a collection of some good ones we’ve had in recent months:
My mom is in a nursing home. She’s a fall risk so her bed rails are supposed to be up. They weren’t and she fell out on her hip. She’s not injured, but shouldn’t they be held responsible for not following rules?
There isn’t much a nursing home abuse lawyer can do in that situation, but I would highly recommend that you report the facility to the Illinois Department on Aging. They could potentially hold them responsible.
Will a cease and desist letter from a lawyer stop my ex from talking bad about me?
It could, but generally speaking you can’t stop crazy people from acting crazy. A cease and desist letter doesn’t have real enforcement power. It can scare some people and cause them to change their behavior. In others it causes them to dig in and act worse. Bottom line is that it might work, but it’s certainly not guaranteed to and you could end up paying an attorney a few hundred dollars for nothing.
Are you a civil lawyer?
A lot of the calls we get start off this way. Any court case other than criminal matters and arguably family law is technically a civil matter. Suing for medical malpractice is civil. Suing a neighbor for destroying your property is civil. A lawsuit against a contractor for bad work is civil. One business suing another is civil even though the area of law is called commercial litigation. It’s a very generic term. You are better off by asking the attorney if they have experience with the type of case you are dealing with and telling them the facts.
Can you help me if someone owes me $400?
Honestly, other than answering questions, there’s not much we can do. That’s because it would cost you more money to hire an attorney that what it’s worth. While theoretically some collections attorney might take that case on a contingency basis, you are likely better off just filing a small claims lawsuit.
What is the difference between a lawyer and an attorney?
Technically a lawyer is someone who graduated law school and an attorney is a lawyer who passed the bar exam. So an attorney is a lawyer, but a lawyer might not be an attorney. In reality though, those terms are interchangeable and synonyms based on how people use them in the real world.
I hope these answers were helpful. We will publish another one of these in a few months. And as always, if you want to speak to a Chicago attorney for free, please contact us any time.