By Misty J. Cygan, Attorney at Law Aileron is a trained emotional support dog. Business owners and their customers are perfectly used to service dogs who assist people with disabilities in getting around and performing daily tasks. But newer on the animal assistance front—and more murkily defined—are emotional support animals,…
The growth of e-commerce and the resulting physical distance between parties in various transactions, along with advances in technology more broadly, have helped lead to the rise of online dispute resolution, a digital offshoot of traditional alternative dispute resolution that provides greater efficiency and convenience to the parties involved. While…
Under a new Illinois law, non-compete agreements must be premised on a legitimate business interest and narrowly tailored in terms of time, activity, and place. In addition, under the newly enacted Illinois Freedom to Work Act, employers are prohibited from entering into non-competes with employees who make less than $13/hour.…
Can Student Loans Ever Be Discharged? Yes, and there’s a new tool to help bankruptcy lawyers deter mine whether clients qualify Contrary to common perception, not all student loans can be wiped out in bankruptcy court. Although the Bankruptcy Code does protect federal loans and some private loans from discharge,…
BIG WOES FOR ZILLO Zillo, the gigantic online real-estate database company, has a gigantic headache, legally speaking. It is currently the target of a class action lawsuit in Illinois. Zillow is the website that allows a person to search for properties for sale–properties located just about anywhere. And Zillow’s cornerstone feature–Zestimate–allows…
CYBER-SECURITY–A VITAL PRECAUTION It is time for businesses to give cyber-crime protection high priority; the sooner the better. The mounting numbers of cyber-attacks on businesses are a serious threat to every sort of commercial enterprise. Cyber intrusions have become really dangerous, sophisticated, and commonplace. Businesses are attacked (whether they know…
DRIVERLESS CARS: THE FUTURE OF PRODUCT LIABILITY LITIGATION? Any business that will contribute to the production of driverless vehicles must give serious thought to the risk of products-liability lawsuits. And that includes suppliers, even of minor parts. We may think of driverless cars as a phenomenon of the future, but that…
Blockchain and Chicago Businesses In September of 2015, the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Software and Society’s World Economic Forum[1] predicted that by 2025, 10% of GDP will be stored on blockchains or blockchain related technology. If you are a Chicago business owner and you are unsure what…
Illinois Employers beware of new law protecting Pregnant Employees If you are an Illinois employer and haven’t yet taken action on the new pregnancy protection amendment to the Illinois Human Rights Act, it’s time to get moving. The new amendment (HB0008), which went into effect January 1, 2015,…