A living will permits you to express your wishes regarding resuscitation and life maintaining measures in the event you later become incapable of communicating your desires. It can help you try to avoid what some believe to be an undignified existence by allowing you to decline medical treatment, food, and water if these things are “artificially” keeping you alive. The choice is yours to make and physicians will honor your wishes if the proper documents are submitted.

A durable power of attorney for health care, on the other hand, allows you to appoint another person to make decisions for you regarding your medical care in the event you cannot. This power is broader than the living will. It, too, covers situations where you may be terminally ill and need resuscitation or other life maintaining measures to stay alive. Your agent, or attorney-in-fact, can decline these treatments if you give them that power. It also applies to situations where a health care decision is required but you cannot make that decision yourself (i.e., you are unconscious as a result of injury). Your agent could authorize or decline medical treatment on your behalf.

A durable power of attorney for finance allows you to appoint another person to make decisions for you regarding your real and personal property. This power is broad and covers situations where you are terminally ill or unconscious as a result of injury, but still living. Your agent, or attorney-in-fact, can manage your financial affairs as you so wish.

If you decide to create either a living will or a durable power of attorney for health care and/or finance, you will need to consider several things before you complete the documents. You will have to provide the name and contact information for the individual(s) that you nominate to make decisions for you in the event that you cannot make them.

Be sure to inform the person you nominate of your wishes. You can permit or refuse to permit donation of your organs for transplant. You can also permit or refuse to permit donation of your body for scientific or educational purposes. Some people wish to spend their last days at home rather than in a hospital. Some people wish to nominate one person to act as their attorney-in-fact for health care and another for their finance. You can express your wishes regarding these issues in these documents. Finally, you can express your wishes about funeral arrangements.

1. is a fiduciary appointed by the board of trustees of a retirement system or pension fund in accordance with Section 1-109.1;
2. has the power to manage, acquire or dispose of any asset of the retirement system or pension fund;
3. is either –
a. registered as an Investment Advisor under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940;
b. a bank, as defined by that Act, or
c. an insurance company; and
4. has acknowledged in writing that he is a fiduciary with respect to the retirement system or pension fund.
5. the terms “Investment Manager” and “Investment Advisor” are used interchangeably.

The Investment Manager/Advisor/Broker with discretion over buying or selling securities for the fund may not be the custodian of the investment instruments.

Pension boards should review percentages quarterly for compliance with the Investment Policy. Funds with assets under $2.5 million are allowed 10% in separate accounts and/or mutual funds, which may not grow in excess of 10% provided that the contract has not been changed.

If market values do not exceed the allowable percentage then no rebalancing is required. Investment Policies of each fund should stipulate the percentage allowable in the various types of authorized investments.

Pension funds invested in separate accounts, mutual funds and/or individual stocks should calculate the market value of those funds to determine the percentage held vs. the allowable percentage under the law. Use the expertise of the Investment Manager to assist with this task. If the percentage exceeds the allowable amount, the fund must reduce the allowable percentage and document the reduction. The reduction as to which investments are sold is at the discretion of the pension board and applies only to the aggregate percentage. Documentation of the percentage calculations should be maintained at the pension fund.

There are seven types of Federal Judges: (1) Supreme Court justices, (2) court of appeals, (3) district judges, (4) U.S. Court of International Trade, (5) bankruptcy judges, (6) magistrate judges, (7) U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Supreme Court justices, court of appeals, district judges and the U.S. Court of International Trade are established by Article III of the Constitution. Names of nominees are recommended by senators or sometimes members of the House. The President then makes his nominations. The Senate Judiciary Committee conducts confirmation hearings for each nominee. Article III Judges are appointed for life and never get a pay cut to exercise what the Constitution calls the “judicial power of the United States.” The reasoning behind this is to guaranty Article III Judges will never fear making politically or socially unpopular decisions.

There are no official requirements to become an Article III Judge. However, throughout U.S. History all were private attorneys, state judges, other federal court judges or law professors prior to their Article III nomination and confirmation.

Bankruptcy, magistrate, and U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judges are not Judges under Article III of the Constitution. These judges are appointed for specific terms and are not protected from a guarantied no pay reduction. There is a statutory requirement for bankruptcy and magistrate judges to be lawyers.

Bankruptcy judges are appointed by the majority of the US court of appeals to exercise jurisdiction over bankruptcy matters. Bankruptcy judges are appointed for 14 year terms and handle almost all bankruptcy matters.

Magistrate judges are appointed by the majority vote of the active district judges of the court to exercise jurisdiction over matters delegated by the district judges and assigned by statute. Magistrate judges are appointed for 8 year terms and their duties vary from court to court.

U.S. Court of Federal Claims are appointed by the President. U.S. Court of Federal Claims is a special court that hears claims for money damages in excess of $10,000 against the United States. U.S. Court of Claims judges are appointed for 15 year terms.

Typically, probate matters involve family members who are also dealing with the loss of a loved one. To prevent family members from becoming long term litigants be open and upfront with one another. Knowledge is a powerful tool. Even in situations that involve family, keeping informed is important. It is a simple task to require notification of events. It is a difficult task to recreate the past to correct a wrong doing.

Often, representatives do not intend to make a mistake, but mistakes can happen anyway. By receiving notice of every event in probate, you have the ability to take an active role. Information such as listing a property with a real estate agent or letting it sit as a FSBO for a year is imperative for heirs and legatees to be aware of.

Representatives can not waive your notice rights for you and will not take issue with you wanting to be notified. Understanding that everyone deals with death differently does not change your need to ensure your loved ones intentions are honored. The best way for heir and legatees to honor their loved ones is to hold onto their rights and not waive notice.

Any person having a claim for labor, material under the Bond Act will not have any such right of action unless he filed a verified notice of said claim with the officer, board, bureau or department awarding the contract, within 180 days after the last item or work or the furnishing of the last item of materials, and shall have furnished a copy of such verified notice to the contractor within 10 days of filing of the notice with the agency awarding the contract.

Compliance with the Bond Act’s six month post project completion limitations period is a jurisdictional requirement. Without having jurisdiction, the Court can not entertain your claim. The Act clearly states that no action shall be brought until the expiration of 120 days after the date of the last item of work or the furnishing of the last item of work or the furnishing of the lost item or materials, nor shall any action of any kind be brought later than 6 months after the acceptance by the State of political subdivision thereof of the building project or work.

General contract law is applied to bonded private construction projects. It is important as a subcontractor to beware of the contractual limitations to bring an action against a general contractors bond.

It takes a lot of time and effort to accomplish a successful short sale. Cooperation and hard work is needed. The seller and lender are both in tough positions. The seller can no longer afford their home and can not pay the mortgage. The lender has no desire to take the home or go through costly foreclosure proceedings.

The seller has to start the ball rolling by finding the right department and person within their lender to assist in this process. It takes many phone calls and letters to get a person with authority from the lender. Also, do not make the mistake of trying to go through the lenders mortgage work out department if you really just need to get out of the property and mortgage.

The seller has to provide the lender with many documents before lenders even consider the option of a short sale. Some of these documents include: (1) preliminary net sheet, (2) hardship letter, (3) proof of income and assets, (4) copies of bank statements, (5) comparative market analysis, and (6) letter of authorization.

The seller should contact a real estate agent, accountant and attorney. Many agents will reduce their commission amount on a listing that needs to sell short. Accountants can explain and go over the tax ramifications (which vary for each individual). Attorneys can help negotiate with the lender and buyer, determine if the loan qualifies for a deficiency judgment, work within foreclosure proceeding, and close the transaction.

Be aware that the lender is not in a hurry to agree to a short sale. The lender will take as much time as it wants and will periodically ask for more information. Lenders will only agree to a short sale if it makes financial sense.

The buyer has to have a lot of patience, be willing to cooperate with the lender and, most importantly, have the money to purchase the real property.

• Contractors bringing a claim against lenders, purchasers and encumbrances must (1) record claim or bring suit within 4 months of the last day completed work, and (2) file suit within 2 years. Contractors bringing a claim against the owner must file suit within 2 years.

• Subcontractors bringing a claim against owner occupied single family residents must give notice of lien to the occupant of the resident within 60 days of first furnishing materials or labor. Subcontractors bringing a claim against owner, lender, purchaser and encumbrances must (1) give notice of lien within 90 days of the last day completed work, (2) record claim or bring suit within 4 months of the last day work completed, (3) if no notice is given, subcontractor has lien for amount shown on contractor’s sworn statement; and (4) file suit within 2 years.

• Demand for suit. Any party of interest can demand that the claimant file suit to enforce their lien within 30 days or the lien is forfeited.

• Private construction lien claims attach to the real property.

• Time Requirements are Jurisdictional; thus, if you miss a date, the courts have no authority to enforce your rights.

B. Perfecting a Lien Claim – Public Construction Projects

• There is no time period for providing Notice of Lien.

• Give written notice of lien to public entity.

• For State Project – must provide sworn statement of claim

• Upon receiving the Notice, the public entity must hold all monies or other form of payment due the general contractor for 90 days. If no suit is filed within 90 days the public entity can release the money. If suit is filed within the 90 days the public entity must hold the funds until the final adjudication of the suit or may deposit the funds with the clerk of the court where the suit was filed.

• If the public entity no longer has any contract funds at the time it receives the notice, then there is no recovery.

• Must file suit for accounting within 90 days of giving Notice of Lien. The public entity does not have to be a party to the lawsuit. The state of Illinois cannot be a defendant, but other public entities may.

• On State Projects, suit shall be commenced and a copy of the complaint must be delivered to the Director not less than fifteen days prior to the date when the appropriation from which the money is to be paid will lapse.

• A public lien is a claim against money, bonds, warrants, or other means of payment from the public body.

• Mechanics lien’s are not permitted against Federal Buildings.

C. The Miller Act governs Federal construction project.

• Every person who furnished labor or material has a right to sue under the Miller Act against a payment bond upon the expiration of 90 days after his last day of work.

• A sub-subcontractor must provide the general contractor written notice of its Miller Act claim within 90 days of his last day of work.

• The Miller Act provides that no suit shall be commenced after the expiration of one year after the day on which the last of the labor was performed or material was supplied.

• The Miller Act’s requirement of bringing suit within the prescribed time is a condition precedent to the right to maintain the action.

For the average person, the law is very clear. Do not record conversations with other people without their consent. That means every party that is part of the conversation must consent to the recording. If there are four people having a conversation all four must consent to it being recorded. Two people out of the four parties to a conversation can not consent to the conversation being recorded.

There are two very important reasons for either gaining everyone’s consent or not recording the conversation at all. First, the unconsented recording of a conversation will never be admissible in any civil or criminal procedure. Second, that unconsented recording is a Class 4 felony (1-3 years jail time) for the first offense, a Class 3 felony (3-7 years jail time) for subsequent offenses, and a Class 1 felony (4-15 years jail time) if recording a police officer, state’s attorney, assistant state’s attorney, attorney general, assistant attorney general or judge.

The term conversation under the eavesdropping statute means any oral communication between two or more persons regardless of whether one or more of the parties intended their communication to be of a private nature under circumstances justifying that expectation. Thus, people do not even need the expectation of privacy. If you want to record the conversation, you have to ask everyone to agree to the recording.

A basic way a person commits eavesdropping is when he intentionally uses a eavesdropping device for the purpose of hearing or recording all or any part of any conversation or intercepts, retains, or transcribes electronic communication unless he does so with the consent of all of the parties to such conversation or electronic communication.

Remember, you are not helping yourself or your situation to record a conversation without everyone’s consent.

If we want to go back to the beginning of it all the story goes like this: I was born in Evanston, lived in Rogers Park, at 4 years old moved to McHenry with my family, went to Landmark, Valley View, Parkland, and Marian Central Catholic High School, then went to DePaul University for undergrad and DePaul Law School for Law School.

Don’t worry, my education didn’t stop there. I had some of the best mentors in the practice of law: Paul Brocksmith taught me how to write as a lawyer, Marc Lipinski taught me how to stand up for my clients no matter what and who gave me the education in the Fred Lane Trial Techniques class for professionals. The National Association of Women in Construction taught me through their blue print reading course and I became certified as a construction industry technician (Not that you need any additional certifications to be a lawyer in the State of Illinois). While I was blooming as an amazing trial attorney, other people started to recognize gifts in me that I did not even see.

Feel free to look at my results to see some of the things I have done. I thank Harry McKee for recognizing how good I am at trial early on in my career. It was before Judge Pallmeyer in Federal Court, and I was just out of school. Harry was my boss, at the time, and was generous enough to allow me, a young attorney, to question the witnesses. What was even more amazing when he came back to the office and told his partners that I have talent. YEAH for me… but more YEAH for the client.

I have enjoyed an active trial practice for the last eight years. Sometimes cases do have to go to trial, but not all of them. Alternative dispute resolutions are a great format to work out matters.

Another former boss convinced me how well I relate to people… and to take the 40 hour mediation training course from DePaul University College of Law Center for Dispute Resolution certification (Not that you need any additional certifications to be a lawyer in the State of Illinois). Listening to the needs and interests behind the problem settle disputes with much more control and power to the parties involved.

No matter what your legal need, it’s likely that I can help you. I guaranty that I will listen to you. If desired, we can come up with an action plan from there. Give me a call (815) 403-6866.