Does Your Business Require a Chicago Corporate Lawyer?

Businesses of all sizes need legal help from time to time, including corporations. Does your company need the help of a skilled Chicago corporate lawyer ? Actually, even if you don’t think so, the answer is yes. However, that doesn’t mean you have to hire an in-house attorney. You can work with a skilled expert on an as-needed basis and find significant benefits. What might a corporate lawyer offer you, though?

Conversion Considerations

There are many situations in which a business might need to change their entity type. For instance, you might decide that you want to take advantage of tax benefits by incorporating. A Chicago corporate lawyer will be able to help you with business entity conversion and ensure that everything is done correctly. 

Mergers and Acquisitions

As a firm grows, there will come a point when it is advisable to merge with another firm or acquire another business. This is a very complex process and must be done correctly from the outset in order to avoid any legal issues. A good Chicago corporate lawyer will be able to provide you with everything you need during mergers and acquisitions, regardless of the scope or type of merger or acquisition in question.

Franchise Taxation

Tax regulation compliance is vital for businesses. Uncle Sam does more than just frown on those who are outside the bounds set by regulations – he can cause some serious problems. In order to ensure that you are adhering to tax law and to reduce your tax burden as much as possible through legal means, you should work with a skilled corporate tax attorney.

As you can see, working with a Chicago corporate lawyer can offer some significant advantages. There are many other areas where such a legal expert can help as well, including business continuation planning, shareholder agreements and regulated industry compliance.

Don’t Go to Court without Help from an Illinois DUI Lawyer

The Illinois government takes DUI cases very seriously. You can face some very serious repercussions from DUI charges, including losing your driver’s license completely. Given the seriousness of these charges, it’s vital that Chicago DUI attorneys represent you in court. Of course, there are a few things that you’ll need to know before hiring an attorney for your case.

The Best Time to Call

Many people think that waiting to call an Illinois DUI lawyer until they have been released on bail is the best option. This is incorrect. You need to have a skilled DUI attorney on your case from the moment you can make a phone call. In fact, your first call should be to your attorney and no one else. There are numerous ways in which your attorney can begin working for you right away and some of them can even result in your case being thrown out of court.

Protecting Your Rights from the Beginning

DUI is certainly a serious crime, but in their zealousness to uphold the law and protect people from drunk drivers, officers occasionally make mistakes. For instance, the office might have had insufficient reason to pull you over in the first place. The officer might have made an error in judgment or the breathalyzer might have been calibrated incorrectly. All of these situations can result in your case being dismissed without you having to go to court. Of course, you’ll need Chicago DUI lawyers to help determine if any of these situations were present during your arrest.   

Losing Your License

If you do not have expert representation during your trail, losing your license is not only possible, but highly likely. However, with skilled Chicago DUI attorneys on your side, you can mount the best defense and give yourself the best chance for a positive outcome.

Steps to Choosing the Best Chicago Probate Attorney

The process of handling a will or estate is incredibly complex. It’s not a simple matter of following the last wishes of the decedent. Rather, it’s a convoluted process during which assets must be inventoried, the will validated and creditors contacted. For will executors and estate administrators, this can be an incredible headache. Working with a Chicago probate attorney is an essential consideration and can help save time, frustration and ensure that the wishes of the decedent are carried out as closely as possible.

Qualities to Look for in aProbate Lawyer in Chicago

If you are a trust administrator or will executor, you’re going to need help. However, you will need to make sure that you choose the right probate attorney. The first thing you need to ensure is that the attorney you choose has experience in dealing with estates similar to yours. For example, an attorney who only has experience handling very small estates would probably not be the best choice in a very large estate with lots of assets and beneficiaries.

Handling Creditors

An important part of executing a will is satisfying creditors before allocating assets to beneficiaries. You need to ensure that any probate lawyer in Chicago that you choose has experience in dealing with creditors correctly, maximizing the amount of money left over after taxation, and creditors have been satisfied for the beneficiaries. 

Expediting the Process

The most important consideration when hiring a Chicago probate attorney is to ensure that you choose a professional capable of expediting the process. Estates and wills hung up in probate run up significant additional costs – expediency is vital here. Consider the attorney’s experience, reputation and record of accomplishment when it comes to speed of litigation, handling creditors and ensuring the fairest possible distribution of assets.

Who Benefits from Working with Employment Lawyers in Chicago ?

It’s hoped that most people will never need an attorney in regards to their employment. However, there are times when you might need to work with employment lawyers in Chicago. Why might you need legal help in dealing with a situation at work? Who benefits from working with employment attorneys? Actually, these specialists can provide essential help for a range of situations.

Discrimination

Discrimination is an ugly thing, and it happens more than many people like to admit. While it is illegal to discriminate against someone because of their religious beliefs, their gender, age, sexual orientation, race or disabilities, it does happen. If you have been the victim of discrimination on the job – you were denied a promotion because of your race, or you were terminated because of your religious beliefs, for instance – you can benefit by working with employment lawyers in Illinois.

Sexual Harassment

While sexual harassment can happen anywhere, the most common place for it is in the workplace. Moreover, this doesn’t have to be the “traditional” image in which you are denied a promotion unless you sleep with your boss. It can be something as simple as unwanted attention from coworkers or lewd jokes. If you have been subjected to sexual harassment, it’s vital that you contact a skilled employment attorney for help.

Workers’ Compensation

If you have been injured on the job through no fault of your own, then you might have a case for workers’ compensation. However, proving that the injury resulted through no fault of your own can be difficult. Working with skilled employment lawyers in Chicago can help ensure that you receive the compensation that you deserve for the injuries that you sustained and to pay medical bills incurred as a result of that injury.

Tips for Choosing Divorce Lawyers in Chicago

Sometimes there’s simply no way to mend a marriage. If you have tried counseling, talking to each other and working through your mutual problems but nothing has helped, divorce might be the only answer. Of course, you should never go through this process alone – you need a legal expert on your side. Choosing divorce lawyers in Chicago can be confusing, though. What do you need to do in order to ensure that you choose the right attorney?

 

Check Experience

One of the first things that you will need to consider when hiring divorce lawyers in Illinois is the attorney’s experience. Has he or she represented a significant number of cases similar to yours? Things to consider here include child custody agreements, child support agreements, division of assets and real property and more. It’s vital that your attorney have experience in dealing with similar cases.

 

Check History

Another important consideration when choosing Illinois divorce attorneys to represent you in court is their track record. What does their history say about their skills and their ability to win in court? While this is not a “battle” against your spouse, you do want a resolution that benefits you. Therefore, you need to make sure that the attorney you choose has a history of winning their cases.

Retainers and Fees

Divorce lawyers in Illinois are going to charge for their services. These fees can range from rather low to extremely high, depending on the lawyer or law firm in question. You need to do a little investigative work here. Obviously, you don’t necessarily want a “budget” attorney, but neither do you want to pay through the nose for his or her services. The best choice is to find an attorney with a good history and that offers reasonable rates.

Employment Lawyers in Illinois Help with Discrimination Cases

While we have come a very long way in the US, discrimination is still a very real possibility. Race, sex, age and even religious beliefs can be the basis for the discrimination by an employer. In addition, that discrimination can come in many different forms, from treating you differently to other employees to denial of a job at all. If you have been the victim of discrimination in the workplace, then employment lawyers in Illinois can help.

How Employment Lawyers inChicago Can Help

Discrimination cases can be very nasty affairs, and they can be quite difficult, too. The most significant problem here is that you have to prove that discrimination occurred. It is your responsibility to provide proof, and that can obviously be hard to do. Employment lawyers in Illinois can provide vital services here, from interviewing other employees to getting the employer to make a direct admission of discriminatory practices (this is rare).

In most cases of workplace discrimination, providing proof will take what is called the indirect method. You must provide proof that you were treated differently than other employees, were unfairly denied a promotion or were subjected to some other form of discrimination.

Often, workplace reviews for other employees can be called into question if you were denied a promotion and the position was given to someone who received lower evaluations. In the case of wrongful termination, having good evaluations and a good attendance history is important so that you can disprove the company’s reason for terminating your employment.

Employment Lawyers in Chicago Are Essential

No matter what type of workplace discrimination you have been subjected to, having a skilled attorney on your side is vital. He or she will not only go to bat for you in court, but will help with the problem of proving that discrimination actually happened.

Do You Need a Probate Lawyer in Chicago?

Probate is never something you want to go through. This process can take an enormously long time, and can result in assets in a will or estate not going where the decedent wanted them to go. A probate lawyer in Chicago can offer a number of different benefits and advantages here, though. In fact, having a skilled attorney can actually keep a will or estate from being hung up in probate.

Representation during Estate Litigation

If you are a party to an estate currently going through probate, it is vital that you have legal help. A Chicago probate attorney can represent all the parties named in a will and help ensure the best outcome from this litigation. In addition, an attorney who specializes in probate proceedings can also help settle a number of different disputes.

A Probate Lawyer in Chicago Offers a Range of Assistance Types

The right probate attorney will be able to provide a range of different services. For instance, such an attorney can help settle claims against the estate from creditors and other family members not named in the documentation. In addition, a Chicago probate attorney can help settle disputes with heirs, and even with recovery of assets if necessary. Trust litigation and contested guardianships can also be settled by these professionals.

Choosing the Right Professional

Of course, not all probate attorneys are the same. You need to ensure that the attorney you hire has a history of settling cases as amicably as possible and as quickly as possible. The longer the case is in probate, the longer beneficiaries have to wait for assets and the greater the chance that assets will not be allocated correctly. Working with the right attorney can shorten probate time significantly and help ensure as much satisfaction as possible for beneficiaries.