In many high-asset divorces, a closely-held business is the couple’s primary, or only, source of income. Planning played an important role in building the business, and pre-divorce planning plays an important role in its division as well. It is never too late for spouses who are also business partners to make and mutually revise property agreements to cover a future distribution of assets and debts. Pre-divorce agreements allow the spouses to make important financial decisions outside the pressure-cooker of marriage...

Washington police say a man justifiably used deadly force in self-defense, but the dog’s owners have issues with that conclusion. Victoria and Jerrod Gladitsch keep Keiser, a rottweiler, in their backyard. Keiser apparently became agitated when a neighbor two doors down brought his dog outside, and broke away from his chain. The neighbor, who lawfully carries a .25-caliber pistol, shot at Keiser when it charged aggressively “growling and showing its teeth,” according to his statement. Keiser had been violent in...

Glasgow & Olsson is proud to announce that Attorney Thomas T. Glasgow has been selected for inclusion on the 2017 Super Lawyers list. This is Mr. Glasgow’s fifth time being selected to the list of Super Lawyers. This prestigious honor is reserved for only the top 5% of lawyers nationally. Candidates must be nominated by their peers and then they are evaluated by independent researchers as to their verdicts, scholarly lectures and writing, education, experience and pro bono work in...

After six shootings in a little over a year, some people are wondering why it is illegal to carry a loaded gun into a bar and other places where alcohol is served, yet it remains legal to carry a gun on a Chicago Party Bus. The most recent incident, which injured three people in Lakeview, occurred just before Christmas 2016. Alderman Brendan Riley successfully backed an ordinance that supposedly cracked down on “nuisance” party buses, but it did not address...

There are two distinctive types of license suspension in DUI cases. First, there is temporary suspension following a chemical test refusal or failure. The state automatically reinstates these licenses after the period of suspension expires, provided that the driver pays a reinstatement fee, submits proof of insurance, and meets other requirements. The second type of suspension is almost nothing like pre-conviction suspension. Post-conviction suspension not only has a longer period of adverse action, but there is also no automatic reinstatement....

Assume Wife owns a rental house before she marries Husband, and the couple has no prenuptial agreement in place. Husband and Wife decide to make some improvements to the rental house to increase its value and command more rent, and they use proceeds from a second mortgage on the marital residence to pay for these improvements. This situation and others like it are common in high-asset divorces, and these decisions have significant legal and financial ramifications in any divorce proceedings...

Over the last 25 years, the Supreme Court has whittled away at the rule in Terry v. Ohio, which requires that officers base their investigatory stops (such as pulling over possibly intoxicated motorists) on “specific, articulable facts.” In 1990, the Justices ruled that officers could use properly set-up roadside checkpoints to pull over motorists simply because they were caught in a dragnet. Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz basically held that the reasonable suspicion rule was not that important,...

Before 2015, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage act essentially contained a presumption that alimony was appropriate in all divorce proceedings. Furthermore, judges had almost unlimited discretion in setting the amount and duration of payments. That all changed with the so-called “Modern Family Act,” which took effect in January 2015. Lawmakers made a number of sweeping changes designed to more accurately reflect the needs and composition of families in the Prairie State, by doing things like changing family law...

A recent study revealed that former offenders are less likely to leave employment, either voluntarily or involuntarily. Researchers from Northwestern University examined the track records of customer service and other semi-skilled white collar workers with criminal backgrounds, and found that those employees have a 13% lower voluntary turnover rate, which translates to roughly $1,000 in savings every year. Furthermore, based on empirical evidence, most ex-offenders are less likely to be terminated for misconduct. In fact, researchers discovered that a criminal...

Beginning this January, the new administration has at least two opportunities to significantly impact handgun laws in Illinois. In September 2016, a panel from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in a pair of cases involving the District of Columbia’s restrictive carry law. D.C. is a “may issue” jurisdiction that allows decisionmakers to deny concealed weapons permits to otherwise qualified individuals; in contrast, Illinois is a “must issue” jurisdiction that has no such loopholes. Additionally, D.C. licensees...

Although most adults will live in at least one marriage-type relationship without exchanging nuptial vows or obtaining a license, the Illinois Supreme Court recently finalized its decision that the partners in these relationships have no legal right to jointly-owned or operated property. On October 20, the court denied rehearing in Blumenthal v. Brewer, effectively ending the dispute between the parties. The two women had been domestic partners since 1981 and jointly owned a residence in Chicago. When the two separated,...

Prior to the 1972 Presidential election, Democrat George McGovern said it would only take “twenty-four hours and the stroke of a pen” for him to end hostilities in Vietnam. Today, some people fear that Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions might effectively end medical marijuana laws in much the same way. In November 2008, an additional eight states voted to relax their marijuana laws. In Florida, the marijuana “legalization” provision garnered two million more votes than Presidential winner Donald Trump. During his...

Mediation is basically a settlement conference between the parties that is supervised by a neutral specialist who is there to facilitate agreement. Prior to such encounters, about 95% of participants believe that mediation will be an utter waste of time because they reason that if talking could have resolved the dispute, no one would have filed a court case. Yet, 71% of participants resolve some or all of their disputes in just a few hours using mediation. Mediation typically works...

In the air and on the ground, the country may be more polarized today than at any other time since the 1960s. Delta Airlines CEO Edward Bastian said an unidentified man who was “loud, rude, and disrespectful to his fellow passengers” on a flight from Atlanta to Allentown “will never again be allowed on a Delta plane.” Fellow passenger Emma Baum first noticed the outspoken Donald Trump supporter in the terminal. As passengers boarded the plane, Ms. Baum asked the...

Barack Obama commuted another 98 sentences in October of 2016, bringing the total to 872 during his tenure and 688 in 2016. That number eclipses the number of pardons issued by the past 11 Presidents combined. White House counsel Neil Eggleston said that most of the offenders “made mistakes at a young age” and they “have diligently worked to rehabilitate themselves while incarcerated.” Some individuals will be released straightaway, while others must complete drug treatment programs or other requirements before...