Illinois business law

September 14, 2026

Your LLC Does Not Protect You as Much as You Think

Business owners form an LLC and treat the acronym itself like a force field. Once it’s filed with the state, the thinking goes, personal assets are off limits no matter what happens in the business. That belief is doing a lot of unnoticed work in the phrase “limited liability company,” and the word carrying that weight is limited, not total.

Illinois courts do respect the LLC structure, and they don’t strip that protection away lightly. But there are specific, common ways business owners undo their own protection without realizing it, usually years before anything goes wrong, when the habits that create the exposure were formed.

The Legal Standard, in Plain Terms

July 24, 2026

Can a Business Owner Use AI to File a Law Suit Without a Lawyer?

by George Bellas

Generative artificial intelligence is changing pro se litigation. Law.com reports that lawyers and judges see more self-represented litigants using AI to prepare court filings, sometimes effectively and sometimes with serious errors. The increase is also causing courts to reconsider their case-management procedures and the guidance they provide to self-represented litigants.

A business owner may believe, “My company was cheated, so I can file the complaint myself.” But, if the claim belongs to the company, the owner’s AI-generated complaint may create an unauthorized representation problem before the merits are ever reached.

The Seventh Circuit of the Federal Court recently observed that approximately 60% of its caseload includes at least one self-represented party (pro se litigation). AI did not create pro se litigation, but it has dramatically made it easier to produce a complaint, brief, or motion that looks as though it was prepared by a lawyer.

May 11, 2026

Noncompete Agreements in 2026: What Illinois Business Owners Need to Know

by George Bellas

What is the current status of noncompetes?

The FTC’s sweeping 2024 rule that would have banned nearly all noncompete agreements nationwide never took effect. Federal courts blocked it, and the FTC formally abandoned its appeal. There is currently no federal ban on noncompetes.

What about Illinois?

December 17, 2025

Corporate Transparency Act Update for Illinois Businesses

by Bellas & Wachowski - Attorneys at Law

Illinois business owners have been closely following developments under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), particularly given the uncertainty created by conflicting court decisions and shifting enforcement positions. A recent federal appellate ruling provides important legal clarity, although practical compliance obligations for Illinois entities remain limited for now.

Federal Appellate Court Upholds the CTA

On December 16, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a unanimous decision in National Small Business United v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, holding that the CTA is constitutional. This ruling overturned a March 2024 federal district court decision that had invalidated the statute.