The transition from the summer to fall season usually brings to mind students returning to school, the kickoff of the football matchups and the leaves changing colors. A recent study conducted by sociologists at the University of Washington has revealed another fall seasonal occurrence: an increase in filings for divorce. This report, presented at the […]
Americans love their pets. Recent studies estimate that roughly 78 million dogs and 86 million cats are owned in the United States. In other words, pets reside in nearly 65% of all households. It is not surprising, therefore, that when parties decide to dissolve their marriage, an increasingly contentious issue is what – if any […]
This past week, the Illinois Supreme Court delivered its long-awaited answer to a question which has been debated in the family law community for some time: does the doctrine of “equitable adoption” – first recognized by our Supreme Court in its 2013 decision in DeHart v. DeHart, 2013 IL 114137 – also apply in the […]
On December 30, 2014, Gov. Quinn approved new rules regarding how private conversations can be recorded following the Illinois Supreme Court’s decisions this past March in People v. Clark, 2014 IL 115776 and in People v. Melongo, 2014 IL 114852, which struck down Illinois’ prior eavesdropping law for being overly-broad. Illinois’ previous eavesdropping law was […]
The spotlight on efforts to combat domestic violence continues to shine on groundbreaking changes in policy and procedure developed by a Chicago citywide task force formed last year by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The task force – which is a collaboration between the Mayor’s office, the Chicago Police Department (CPD), the office of the Cook County […]
In March of last year, I authored a blog post, The Illinois Supreme Court Allows Guardians to File Petitions for Dissolution of Marriage on Behalf of Wards in Karbin v. Karbin, which commented on the then-recent landmark decision handed down by the Illinois Supreme Court in Karbin v. Karbin, 2012 IL 112815. In Karbin, our State’s highest […]
The statistics are extremely troubling, and here are only a few. Nationally, every 9 seconds a woman in the United States is beaten, and it is estimated that 1 in every 4 women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. On average, more than three women and one man are murdered by their intimate partners […]
Within the past month, the eyes of the nation have focused on developments in Utah regarding the validity of same-sex marriage in that state, which are likely to have a major impact across the country. Shortly before Christmas, a federal judge struck down the State’s ban on same-sex marriage, finding that it violated the due […]
On January 6th, we reported on the pending application for a stay filed with the United States Supreme Court by the State of Utah, requesting that the High Court halt the enforcement of a December 20th ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby which invalidated Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage on the grounds it […]
The recently-concluded holiday season found parties on both sides of the marriage equality debate embroiled in what may prove to be the next matter decided by the United States Supreme Court on this issue. A decade ago, in 2004, two-thirds of Utah’s voters approved a ban on same-sex marriages, defining “marriage” as occurring only between […]