State Rep. Elgie Sims, Jr. (D-Chicago) just introduced House Bill 3337, which would raise the felony theft threshold

What are some of the differences between a first DUI and a second DUI? The first major point is that Illinois has no conviction look-back period, which is one of the features that make DUI laws in the Prairie State so strict. Many states have a 10-year lookback period, so if a person has a first DUI in 2005 and is arrested again for the same offense in 2017, the new case is a “first” DUI for prosecution purposes. But...

In the first six weeks of this year, 25 Lake County residents died from drug overdoses, and heroin caused more than half these fatalities. The numbers have been steadily increasing since 2014 and then spiked significantly at the beginning of 2017. Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey said she was alarmed over the increase not only in heroin deaths, but also in fentanyl overdoses. Heroin’s availability and ease of access have contributed markedly to the increase in OD deaths, she opined....

You may have heard the famous quote that “justice delayed is justice denied,” but this may not always hold true for a defendant in a Chicago lawsuit. As a rule of thumb, rapid court procedures favor the party with the burden of proof because evidence deteriorates over time. Memories fade, physical evidence gets lost, important witnesses relocate, and so on. If many prosecutors had their way, criminal trials would take place almost immediately after the charging instruments are filed, thus...

By the time all is said and done, a first-time DUI in Illinois can cost about $17,000, and that assumes there are no aggravating factors, like causing an accident or having no insurance. Although Illinois’ DUI law is a bit more lenient for first-time offenders in terms of things like drivers’ license suspension and probation eligibility, the drunk driving laws in the Prairie State are notoriously harsh overall, so a DUI is not something to be taken lightly. DUI Penalties...

Largely because the law changed in January of 2016 and the Uniform Premarital and Marital Agreements Act, which Illinois and most other states have adopted, ironed out many of the differences in state laws, more people than ever are making property agreements before they get married. These pacts can cover non-property division areas as well, such as inheritance and spousal support matters. With the uptick in agreements, there is also an uptick in the number of spouses who want to...

When a driver’s license is “suspended” following a DUI arrest, it is automatically valid again after the suspension period expires, provided that the driver pays a reinstatement fee, provides proof of insurance, and complies with a few other formalities. However, when the license is “revoked” following a DUI conviction, it remains invalid forever unless and until the Secretary of State rescinds the revocation. At the conclusion of the minimum revocation period, eligible convicted motorists can request hearings to have their...

The justices will not review a Seventh Circuit decision that upheld key parts of the Carrying a Concealed Weapon law. In 2012, Illinois became the last state in the Union to enact a CCW law, and gun owners almost immediately attacked the provision in court. Initially, some would-be licensees complained that the state denied their applications with practically no explanation. In response, the state police, and later state lawmakers, changed the rules to require

The rule for marital property division in Illinois seems so straightforward: Property acquired before the marriage or by gift is non-marital, and according to the property presumption, everything else is marital property. But in long marriages, the black-and-white lines are very gray because it is not always easy to trace complex and ongoing property transactions to their original sources. Furthermore, as time goes by, the original records usually disappear, making a difficult problem even more challenging. Classification Almost all non-cash...

Even though no one expects or hopes to die prematurely, responsible individuals have life insurance policies to protect their dependents if the unexpected becomes a reality. Similarly, no one expects or hopes for their marriage to end in divorces. However, it is important to protect dependent children and be prepared for the unexpected, and that is exactly what a premarital agreement does. Spousal agreements are especially important in high-asset marriages. Money is one of the primary sources of marital friction,...

The winter holidays may be over, but the Chicago Police Department is still using aggressive tactics to arrest aggressive criminal defense attorney in Schaumburg, contact Glasgow & Olsson. Convenient payment plans are available. (image courtesy of Mason Hopfensperger)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit said in a recent statement that operational limits on Chicago-area gun ranges violate the United States Constitution. Previously, the City of Chicago forbade shooting ranges from operating outside certain areas and also barred persons under 18 from entering these establishments, citing elevated risks of fire, gun theft, and lead contamination. In its decision, the court completely threw out the geographic restrictions, saying the city presented no evidence in support of its...

Child support payments are designed to not only defray child-rearing expenses but also give the children a higher standard of living. To do otherwise would essentially punish the children for their parents’ divorce. However, when it comes to spousal support payments, the underlying philosophy is not quite as clear. Some believe that these payments should promote the obligee spouse’s self-sufficiency and nothing more, while others feel that this money should help equalize the standard of living between the former spouses....

It is with great pleasure that

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...