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We have been running our service since 2001.  We are lawyers in Chicago who will talk to you for free about any Illinois legal matter.  We will answer questions and if you need a referral and we know someone for you, we will recommend the best lawyer we know for your situation.

The attorneys we recommend are lawyers we have gotten to know and respect.  Nobody pays us to recommend them.  For most lawyers we recommend they have the following qualities:

  • At least ten years experience, usually more.
  • At the same time they aren’t too old.  They are active in their practice and hungry.
  • They care about their clients.
  • They aren’t general practice lawyers.  Most attorneys we recommend are narrowly focuses on one area of law.
  • They deliver great customer service.

We don’t guarantee a result, but do promise that we won’t recommend an attorney to you that we wouldn’t refer to a family member or friend.

While we will talk to you for free, we are not a place to find a free lawyer.  That said, for some areas of law attorneys only get paid if they win. Bottom line is that we will suggest what we think is best for you and if the lawyer does charge by the hour, we will suggest the lowest cost one we know of that does a good job.

If you would like to speak with an attorney, call us at 312-346-5320 or fill out our contact form, describe your situation and we will call you.

Despite what that image says, most attorneys I know and come across are normal, decent human beings. They, like you and me, have their flaws, but most don’t think that they are better than anyone else just because they are an attorney.

But there are some that think they are royalty or otherwise above their clients.  One Chicago attorney in particular I’ve heard makes his clients call him Mr. instead of by his first name.  And this isn’t an old guy and includes clients and staff that are both younger and older than him.

It’s such pretentious, insecure phony b.s. and it makes me want to scream.  Do I know more about the law than you do?  I sure hope so.  Am I better than you because of that?  Of course not.

So many Illinois attorneys don’t know how to talk to people and have somehow created this belief that they need to act all uppity in order to get respect.

Do you really want a lawyer who talks down to you? Who uses fancy words to try and act like a big shot instead of talking in plain English? Who has no patience and yells at you? Who doesn’t respond to calls or e-mails because he’s just too busy?

Nobody would want an attorney like this, but they are out there.  Some are just unhappy jerks and some just don’t know better.

My advice to you if you come across an attorney like this is to either: A. Immediately ask their first name and call them by it.  If they can’t handle it then they aren’t for you.  B. Just run and find someone else.  Hiring a lawyer in general isn’t a fun experience.  You don’t need to be with an attorney who stresses you out.

The great news in Illinois is that there are literally tens of thousands of attorneys and you usually don’t have to look far to find someone who will act like a normal human being and care about your case.

As lawyers in Illinois, we are required to complete 30 hours of continuing legal education every two years.  It’s somewhat tedious and a bit needless as I’m constantly educating myself on new laws, cases and legal happenings.  But we must formally attend conferences or in my case, watch videos online, so that’s what I do.

I was watching a live webinar that was provided by my legal malpractice insurance company on ten risk management tips.  Many of them were common sense such as don’t yell or return phone calls and respond to e-mail.    I didn’t need a video to know that.

As boring as it was, I did learn something new though.  The moderator asked how long on average does a potential client speak before a lawyer interrupts them?  They surveyed attorneys and the guess was 30 seconds which sounds quick, but usually is a point where either the client has said something I have a question about or they are going so far off track that we need to get on the same page.

The moderator said that they actually figured out the right answer is three seconds.  Three seconds before you get cut off once you start talking to a lawyer!

I’m not sure how they measured this, but I believe that it’s accurate.  I’m shocked, not shocked when I see attorneys and their clients talking at court.  You can tell that some of the lawyers are just bursting at the seams to not have to hear their client talk and many don’t fake their indifference.

I believe in predictors of success when it comes to hiring a lawyer.  If you talk to an attorney for the first time and they literally seem to have no time for you, it’s a huge red flag.  They should be asking you questions and it’s alright too if they are questioning you. They have to decide if they want you as a client just as much as you have to decide if you want them as a lawyer.  But if they won’t let you get a word out and don’t even care about anything you have to say, that’s a problem.

Note that there’s a big difference between them telling you “That’s not important for right now” versus you starting to tell what happened and them just cutting you off.  There’s also a difference between a lawyer saying “Tell me what brings you hear today” and a good lawyer who has a set of foundational questions they want answered at the get go because it’s always important.  For example, if an injured worker calls me, I always want to know when they were hurt and how before anything.  If you are looking for a divorce lawyer referral, I’d want to know where you live, how long you’ve been married, do you have kids and what you and your spouse do for a living. After that it’s up to you to ask what you want to ask and say what your concerns are.

Bottom line is that if an attorney is rude at the get go, they might be a fine attorney, but they more likely aren’t the one for you.

Questions?  Concerns?  Want to talk with an Illinois lawyer for free?  Call us any time at (800) 517-1614.

A couple months ago, a Cook County jury awarded a woman more than $148 million after she became paralyzed when a structure at O’Hare airport came loose during a storm and landed on her.  Her verdict against the City of Chicago was the largest I’ve ever seen in an Illinois personal injury case.

In reading about the history of the case, I learned that the City attorneys had offered $30 million to settle the case before trial.  That is a really large number and if she took it, it likely would have been one of the three biggest results in 2017.

She, through her attorneys, turned the offer down.  While the liability in this case was a slam dunk as the City admitted they were negligent (the bolts on the structure were missing) it takes a lot of guts to turn down a number that big. It’s possible that a jury could have awarded $10 million and even then that would have been a large result.

I bring this up because most lawyers will never get a $30 million offer to settle a case.  She was fortunate that she’d hired one of the top personal injury law firms in Chicago.  I’d estimate that there are maybe seven or eight firms that have the experience to handle an injury this severe and the confidence and intelligence to turn down such a large settlement offer.  For smaller firms or those without a big track record, their looking out for the client would be competing against their self interest of an eight figure pay day. Firms that have handled and won these cases before don’t make these decisions based on what’s good for their bottom line, but what’s good for the client.

The point is that if you want to get the best lawyer in Chicago or wherever in Illinois for your case, that doesn’t mean you hire the first attorney you can find.  I guarantee that any personal injury law firm in the country would have wanted this case.  What the victim did was make sure that she was with a firm that understood her injuries and knew how to maximize recovery by getting a proper investigation team on the scene.  They weren’t intimidated by the City attorneys or any of the games they played.

We exist and have so for over 16 years to help you find the best lawyer for you for your case.  The ones that deal with major injuries like this aren’t the right choice if you have $10,000 in medical bills and are for the most part better.  And those smaller firms aren’t the best choice for catastrophic cases.  They’d like a bigger case and they might even have a few seven figure cases in their background.  But the truth is that certain cases are worth more in the hands of certain firms.

So how do you make the right decision?

  1. You have to be aware and honest about what your case is really about.
  2. You have to know if there’s anything unique about your case such as an accident with a semi-truck or if it’s a divorce, a spouse who owns a business.
  3. You have to think about your individual goals.
  4. You have to understand track records of law firms and what is real and what is marketing b.s.

This might not sound easy and in some cases it’s not. You usually don’t know you made the wrong decision until it’s too late.  We started our FREE service in 2001 to help people figure out who the right lawyer is for their case. We’d be happy to help you make the right decision for you.  Call us for a no cost, confidential consultation any time (800-517-1614) or fill out our contact form and we’ll call you.  We cover all of Illinois.

I love being a lawyer.  It’s been 20 years and every day is different for me.  I didn’t know that I would feel that way when I started off and I consider myself very lucky. I had a long time client call me the other day about a situation he had. He knew it wasn’t something I handle, but told me that he wanted my opinion because “you are the only lawyer I trust.”  That made me feel great.

I told him as we ended the call to remember two things:  1. He can always call me with any questions. 2. Lawyers are the worst.  I said the second thing as a joke and he laughed, but the sad part is that it’s kind of true.

Now I know tons of passionate, great attorneys who really fight for their clients.  Those are the attorneys I recommend to people who call me for a lawyer referral.

I also though have met and talked to a lot of attorneys lately who clearly hate what they do.  I like to ask lawyers if they enjoy their practice area or if they see themselves evolving in to something else.  Too many attorneys are miserable having done the same thing for a long time.  I’ve been told by more and more attorneys is that all they really want to do is make enough money so they can stop doing law at all.

Now I’m not against anyone retiring and enjoying life.  In fact I get nervous if an attorney is in their 70’s and still practicing law.  To me that can be a bad sign.

What I’m talking about is lawyers that make clear in talking to them that they hate what they are doing, hate their clients and would rather do anything other than practice law, but don’t feel they have options.  Really these are people who worship the money they are making over personal happiness.  Yes it would suck to go from earning six figures to 40 grand a year, but if you hate life, isn’t that worth it?

The problem is that these miserable attorneys have clients like you who get harmed because you aren’t getting their best effort.  Sometimes you can still win or get a good result, but a lack of passion or caring can doom you.

Your attorney isn’t likely to come out and tell you that they hate their job, so what are the warning signs?

  • Failure to return phone calls
  • Mood swings
  • Irritability
  • They don’t remember facts about your case that the two of you have discussed
  • Sloppy dress
  • High turnover in their office
  • Disorganized
  • They yell at you
  • Failure to follow through on what they say they will do

These are just some of the signs and if they do these things and aren’t burned out then they are just a bad attorney/person.  In most cases you can switch lawyers without problem and you should do so.  If you need help with a case or have questions call us at (312) 346-5320.

Most people come to us looking for an Illinois attorney referral. We also offer free legal guidance from our attorneys and will talk to you about just any legal matter.

One recent called was meeting with an attorney she had found on her own and was very nervous about it.  She had never met with an attorney before and wanted advice on what would happen, what to bring, what to expect, etc.

Unless the attorney you are meeting is arrogant or a scumbag (in which case you should look elsewhere), going to meet with an attorney shouldn’t be much different than meeting with a teacher or going to the dentist.  The goals are different, but most attorneys are nice people and won’t try to intimidate you.  We are in the customer service business or at least we should be.

In that first meeting or phone call the lawyer will be trying to determine what you want to accomplish if you hire them.  You might not know what’s reasonable or not, but should tell your story so they can understand your situation and ask questions.  I wouldn’t ask yes/no questions, but instead ask questions that require a response. Don’t say, “Have you handled similar cases?”  Do say, “Can you tell me about some of the similar cases you’ve handled?”

As for what you should bring, that will be different in every case.  In most cases it’s nothing.  If it’s a medical malpractice case for example, it would be great if you had the relevant medical records, but it’s more important for them to learn the facts as you know them.

This whole time is a chance for you to evaluate the lawyer and determine if you want to hire them.  Also know that they will be evaluating you.  Are you truthful?  Do you seem cooperative? Can you afford them?  Are you nice to the staff?

If it’s a case you will be paying money for up front, you should get a reasonable fee estimate for the whole case and a written agreement to hire them no matter the type of case.

They don’t have to take you on as a client and you don’t have to hire them.  You probably shouldn’t meet with ten attorneys, but talking to a couple is never a bad idea, at least until you find one that you are comfortable with.

Everybody breaks the law at some point in their life. For most of us this means speeding, even if we don’t get caught. I’m just as guilty of this as anyone. If the speed limit is 55 mph, I think most people have no problem believing that actually means it’s OK to drive 64 mph, especially if that’s the flow of traffic. I certainly act this way and knock on wood, I haven’t gotten a ticket since 1994.

Fortunately most people don’t try to justify other minor criminal offenses like shoplifting. But there is one criminal offense that is committed every day by tens of thousands of people that is worse than petty shoplifting yet doesn’t cause most people to think twice about it. I’m of course talking about working for cash under the table.

When you do this, you and your employer are committing tax fraud. In fact, some studies have shown that if it weren’t for the lost revenue from this type of fraud, we’d be close to having a balanced budget.

Most workers will not get in trouble for this. The bigger legal risk is on the employer. Yet you do have some concerns. For example:

– If you get fired it will be near impossible in most cases to get unemployment benefits.
– You lose out on many worker protections under the law.
– If you are injured while working it makes it harder to prove you are actually an employee. If you can’t do that then you won’t be able to get workers’ compensation benefits. If you get a major injury you are screwed.
– It’s hard to show a job history to future employers.

There are many other things which could go wrong for you, but these are the big ones. It’s not as bad as it can be for an employer who gets caught as they could face huge fines or even jail time, but it’s still a risk for workers. I get that any job is better than none at all, but I can’t recommend enough that you avoid this situation if possible. Short term it’s probably great for you, but long term it’s often not worth it.

So you’ve been picked for a jury and don’t want to serve.

If you want to know how to fake your way out of jury duty, you need to hit the back button. The reality is that most people who get called for jury duty won’t get picked. If you do get picked, most juries only last a couple of days. If you are a believer in America then you have to suck it up and serve on a jury because that’s part of our system. You may not like it, but you take the bad with the good. Also, someone’s life hangs in the balance so you should give them a fair shake.

All that said, don’t freak out if you are called for jury duty and “can’t” do it. If you are a single mother and have nobody to help you with the kids, you’ll likely be excused. If you run a company and it’s essential that you be there, you’ll likely be excused. If you can show that your family will suffer serious financial harm if you miss too much work, you’ll likely be excused. If you are a student and would have to miss a ton of class (not a couple of days for any of these people), if you have a vacation planned, if you are taking care of a sick relative, if you are running for public office, if you know any of the lawyers or parties involved, if you have a serious medical condition, if you are a new mother who is breast feeding or if you are famous, you probably won’t get picked.

Lawyers and scientists tend to not get picked because some attorneys don’t want those who know the law or how to examine evidence to have too much influence.

Beyond that, it’s your civic duty, so stop whining about it. If you think that you can show up and act weird, biased, etc. and just get out of it, you are fooling yourself. The Judges deal with this crap every time they have to pick a jury and they’ll gladly keep you for a couple of days in response to your lies. There is a difference between saying you can’t serve on a murder trial because you don’t believe in the death penalty and pretending you are nuts or can’t be impartial.

It may be a nuisance, but it’s your civic duty (sure beats mandatory military service) and it can actually be interesting. So just go and serve and do your best. You’d want good people to do the same for you.

I always tell people the truth in a direct manner when they ask me if they have a case. That’s true even when I tell them that I don’t think they have a case. It’s not usually what someone wants to hear, but it’s the best way to run a business. I guarantee honest advice, and if I hem and haw or act all wishy washy then I’m not helping anyone.

A recent caller begged me to take her medical malpractice lawsuit. I of course would be thrilled if she had a good case because those cases, while rarely successful, can be worth a lot of money. In this case though, she got an infection after a C-section which is unfortunately a risk of having almost any surgery. It’s not a case I feel comfortable that I could win.

I told her why I, or any attorney I know, wouldn’t likely win this case and made very clear that there is nothing more that we could do. The next five minutes were her asking, “But what about this,” and “What about that?” and essentially trying to talk me into being her lawyer. It didn’t change a thing.

When you hire a lawyer it’s kind of like getting a girlfriend or a boyfriend. While you can be interested in someone, if they aren’t interested back then things won’t work out for you in the long run. And you certainly don’t want to beg.

I’ve run this law firm for over 15 years and talked to over 300,000 people. I can’t count how many times I’ve talked to someone who hired a lawyer who just hates practicing law so they become very disinterested in the case. You wouldn’t want that in a significant other and you shouldn’t want it in a lawyer.

The most important quality an attorney can have is experience with your type of case. A close second is a passion for getting you the best result possible. If they don’t care about you and aren’t going to fight for you then your chances of success greatly decrease.

We started our service to help you find the right attorney for your case because people deserve to have someone with passion in their corner. There are many bad lawyers out there, but many more good ones. We only recommend law firms that we would suggest to family members or friends. So while we can’t promise you a result, we can tell you that our recommendations will be better than any blind date you’ve ever been on.

If you would like our help in finding a lawyer, call us for a free consultation at (312) 346-5320 or complete our contact form. We are experienced attorneys who will speak with you for free and do whatever we can to help you.

Nobody wants to pay for a lawyer if they can avoid it. That said, I’ve been running this service for 15 years and have talked to over 300,000 people. I can’t tell you how many people over the years who have hired their cousin or uncle or friend for a case and then called me because they greatly regret that decision.

One of the biggest mistakes lawyers in Illinois make is assuming that they can handle any case or that taking on a claim will be easy. Insurance companies and other attorneys usually pounce in those situations and make the lawyer’s life difficult which in turn screws up your case. You’re essentially fighting with one hand tied behind your back.

The number one key to success in any legal case is getting an attorney with experience on the type of matter that you are handling. The problem that we see over and over is that your relative tends not to have the experience you need. Whether they take the case out of greed or pride or something else is beyond me. When the clients get to me it’s often because the case is either screwed up or dragging on forever. This leads to hurt feelings and often a bad result with the case itself.

For anyone who is considering hiring an attorney in Illinois, we always recommend that you think long term. That doesn’t mean go and spending $50,000.00 when your cousin will do the case for free. What it does mean is to try and figure out what your long term goal is, what’s the outcome you are looking for and who can best help you achieve that goal. If you were injured in a car accident and your relative has spent their career writing wills and filing bankruptcy paperwork, they aren’t the best attorney for you.

In any of these cases it’s up to you to look out for your own best interests. If you don’t then you can’t expect that anyone else will either. Don’t feel obligated to hire anyone other than who you think can do the best job for you. Once the case is done, it’s over and you can’t go back and hire the lawyer should should have retained in the first place.

To get a free referral for your case, call us at (312) 346-5320 or fill out our contact form. We want you to find the right fit for your situation.