Chicago Divorce Lawyers & Attorneys

More than two years after filing for divorce, the battle between Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen has only become more bitter. Richards, 37, and Sheen, 42, have been fighting over the custody of their daughters, Lola, 2, and Sam, 3, since April 2006. Sometimes they praise each other’s parenting to the press. Other times they accuse each other of sending vile e-mails and indulging in underage porn.

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The image of fathers and fatherhood has taken a beating over the past several decades, and the media has been part of the problem. While there has been some improvement in the past few years, fathers are still frequently unfairly stereotyped. For example, in April the Council on Contemporary Families issued a report on men and housework. CNN’s headline to the story was typical of most media– “Report: Men still not pulling weight on chores.”  In reality, studies which account for the total amount of work that husbands and wives contribute to their households–including housework, child care, and employment–confirm that men contribute at least as much to their families as women do. What the CCF study actually said was that the amount of child care fathers provide has tripled over the past four decades, and the amount of housework men do has doubled. Moreover, men have accomplished this in an era where the average workweek has significantly expanded. The papers reporting the story barely noticed.

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Divorce can be very frustrating, especially for a child. Both parties, the husband and wife, will really fight for the properties and also the custody for their child. They want to be able to get the proper compensation after the divorce. However, the most important thing when settling a divorce is not always the money or the property, both parties will really fight for the custody for their child. For this, if you are getting a divorce, you need a divorce lawyer to properly present your case to the family court. You need to show the court that you have done nothing in your relationship that caused both of you to divorce and also, when getting the child’s custody, you need to be able to show the judge that you can support your child in education, shelter and also the needed parental care. Tell your divorce lawyer the reason why you are getting a divorce and why you are suitable to be in custody of the children instead of the other party. You need to tell your lawyer how much you make annually, your job, and also how you care for the child. Divorce can really have a major impact on a child’s psychology; they will often wonder why you and your partner is getting a divorce. It is very important that you both explain it to your child so that he or she can understand why.

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Do you remember the famous line about divorce from the popular advice columnist Ann Landers? She advised that the benchmark for getting a divorce or not was answering the question “Am I better off with our without this person?” You could also interpret that as….would I be happier if I was divorced?  We’re not talking here about the cases of domestic violence, which are in their own category…or cases of any type of abuse…but rather the typical couple who have no glaring social ill. In 2002, a team of family scholars chaired by Linda J. Waite of the University of Chicago decided to study the question: Does divorce make people happier? What resulted was a study and a report entitled Does Divorce Make People Happy? Findings from a Study of Unhappy Marriages. They looked at couples who rate their marriage as “unhappy” and then re-interviewed them five years later. With different pathways chosen they were able to follow unhappy spouses who chose divorce, separation or stayed married. Common sense would point to the fact that if you’re unhappy and you get divorced, you will be happier compared to those who stayed married “unhappily”. Surprisingly the study showed that..no…people weren’t happier. It’s an interesting study and I recommend you read it to find out what they studied and how they came to this conclusion.

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For this, if you are getting a divorce, you need a divorce lawyer to properly present your case to the family court. You need to show the court that you have done nothing in your relationship that caused both of you to divorce and also, when getting the child’s custody, you need to be able to show the judge that you can support your child in education, shelter and also the needed parental care. Tell your divorce lawyer the reason why you are getting a divorce and why you are suitable to be in custody of the children instead of the other party. You need to tell your lawyer how much you make annually, your job, and also how you care for the child. Divorce can really have a major impact on a child’s psychology; they will often wonder why you and your partner is getting a divorce. It is very important that you both explain it to your child so that he or she can understand why. If you live in Chicago and you’re getting a divorce, you will want to look for a well known divorce lawyer in order to present your case. The lawyer will then advice you on what to expect in the court and what can you do to win the case and get custody for your child.

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The state’s chief public defender is asking judges to order the state Finance and Administration Cabinet to pay for private lawyers for some poor criminal defendants because his agency can no longer afford to represent them. In a letter to judges released Wednesday, public advocate Ernie Lewis warned that public defenders will begin refusing certain types of cases starting July 1 as a result of the $2.3 million budget cut approved this spring by the General Assembly. Lewis said the Department of Public Advocacy cannot afford to fill about 40 vacancies. With caseloads already at unethically high levels, Lewis said, public defenders cannot take on additional cases. “The dilemma that now exists is that the Commonwealth of Kentucky is obligated to provide counsel to poor people charged with crimes, but the legislature has failed to fund that obligation,” Lewis wrote. “DPA will assert that the solution to this is for courts to enter orders requiring the Commonwealth to pay for private counsel.”

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Now attorney Jeffery Luckett faces possible disbarment for allegedly overbilling Cook County for defending poor people in juvenile and child protection cases. Luckett said he worked more than 20 hours a day on 88 separate dates, according to a complaint filed by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. He claimed he worked a total of 40 hours on March 15, 2005, including 14.5 hours in court and 25.5 hours out of court, the complaint said. Luckett, 40, of Homewood, charged the County Board more than $350,000 for work between June 2001 and June 2006, the complaint said. Cook County Commissioner Pete Silvestri, who chairs the county’s litigation committee, said bills like Luckett’s don’t come before the board in detail. “Several commissioners have been concerned about and complained about these bills for a while,” he said. “They’re basically approved by a court without any review of any type by the board. It’s a flaw in the system because there’s really no [thorough] review.

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Jon Theophile Jr. divorced his wife last year and has been paying child support since the separation. “I want to help take care of my children and have done so very consistently in the past,” he said in a letter to the court requesting his monthly support be reduced because he was let go from his job and has been unsuccessful thus far in finding new employment. He paid $140 each week in cash until the January divorce, when the court ordered $158 of weekly child support. “Since I lost my job I have not paid any child support and have fallen behind and desperately wish to regain employment,” his May 29 letter says. Mr. Theophile’s problem is not uncommon, particularly in Baker County where many jobs are linked to the markets hardest-hit during the nation’s recent economic downturn.

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A deputy sheriff who pulled his handgun instead of his Taser cannot be sued by the man he shot, a federal judge has ruled. Given the minimal training Deputy Robert Purnell received, there was nothing to indicate that his mistake “was anything other than an honest one,” Judge J. Frederick Motz wrote.
Since Purnell’s actions were not unreasonable, he is entitled to immunity from suit, the judge ruled. The decision is a loss for Frederick Henry, who filed suit in U.S. District Court after Purnell shot him in the elbow in October 2003. Henry was wanted for failure to pay child support at the time. He had lied to Purnell about his identity when Purnell came to his home in Eden; then, when Purnell stopped him on the road three days later, he ran.

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If you are going to cash in, pay up. That’s the message Superior Court Presiding Justice Joseph F. Rodgers Jr. is conveying to those who owe child support but want to cash in future payments due from the settlement of personal-injury lawsuits. Rodgers began handling all of the so-called structured settlement cases earlier this year, after The Journal reported that a growing number of Rhode Islanders are being lured by late-night television ads to sell payments — which they are scheduled to receive over time as part of lawsuit settlements — in exchange for lump sums. In some cases, Superior Court judges were refusing to approve the transactions, saying desperate people would forfeit too much future money in exchange for the up-front cash offered by specialized finance companies. The companies said they were acting responsibly while providing cash to people with immediate needs who often cannot get more traditional forms of financing.

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