Chicago's Legal Latte

Parties can resolve their differences outside of court even after litigation has begun, and whether it’s at the initial proceeding or getting close to trial. There is arbitration and mediation which may assist or completely resolve the issues in dispute. Depending on the dollar amount alleged in a case, a case may be mandated to go to arbitration. Arbitration is more like a trial, and mediation is more like a settlement conference. At the arbitration, you will present evidence and ask questions of the parties. However, a mediation is more like a settlement conference, in which the mediator listens to both parties’ arguments, but seeks to problem solve and create resolution for the parties. In this podcast, attorney Heidi Kuffel discusses both of these legal solutions.

One thing that many business owners do not realize is that if their company does not pay its employment taxes, they can be held individually responsible for a significant portion of the unpaid taxes. This means that while the company’s liability will essentially be forgotten when the business closes, this personal liability remains, and must be paid, even after the business is closed. In this podcast, attorney Joshua Nesser discusses the circumstances under which this “Trust Fund Recovery Penalty” can be assessed and what individuals should do if they think they will, or already have been assessed.

As parents get older, they often consider adding their children to bank accounts in order either to ease the administrative burdens of daily financial interactions, or as a very basic form of estate planning. In this podcast, attorney Brian Warens discusses the unintended and undesirable consequences of parents adding children to bank accounts and how to avoid the same.

One of my employees had filed a wage claim against me – what do I do now? In this podcast, attorney Lance Ziebell discusses what a wage claim is and how to defend one.

A new maintenance law took effect on January 1, 2015 that provides a strict calculation for how much maintenance – formerly known as alimony – a spouse will pay in a divorce. This podcast, with attorney Kristina Regal, explores what the new law says – and what it doesn’t say.

What does the Court need to finalize a divorce decree? What, if any items can be dealt with at a later time? Listen to Attorney Jenét Pequeño from Lavelle Law describe the process of getting the final documents that the court needs to finalize a divorce. Learn what the court looks at in terms of settlement provisions and how it is dealt with. The process can be filled with challenges that would make somebody second guess going it alone.

Often at odds with each other, the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois and the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild finally crafted some sweeping and overdue changes to craft brewing laws in Illinois loosening up tight restrictions on how and when craft brewers sell beer and how much they can brew. This new legislation was signed into law on August 24, 2015. In this podcast, attorney Kelly Anderson explains the specifics of this new legislation.

Often times, employment contracts contain restrictive covenants which operate to restrict the employee in some way upon the employee’s termination or resignation. The question of whether a restrictive covenant is enforceable is one of law and depends upon the reasonableness of its terms. In this podcast, attorney Jennifer Burt discusses the different types of restrictive covenants, their enforceability, and their limitations.

This podcast focuses on the steps necessary to clean up a person’s public record of a criminal arrest. Attorney James Doerr explains expungements and sealings of records.

In this podcast, attorney Steve Migala discusses what a "deed in lieu of foreclosure" is and its advantages. A "deed in lieu of foreclosure agreement" is a contract between a defaulting borrower and a lender who has filed or is contemplating a foreclosure proceeding. The parties agree to settle the matter by having the borrower voluntarily surrender the real property to the lender in exchange for the avoidance of the foreclosure proceeding, which may include the lender's agreement to release or limit remedies against the borrower, any guarantor or other collateral.