Personal Injury Cases: What You Should Know

A substantial part of civil litigation cases is from personal injury cases. When someone suffers because of the carelessness of another person or party, it is their right to seek justice for their injuries. The U.S. Department of Justice has reported that there are over 400K personal injury claims every year.

Personal injury is the legal term for an injury to someone's body, mind, emotions, or reputation rather than harm to property. An accident claim should involve liability, fault, and damages, and these need to be proven to be linked, indicating that the defendant is responsible for the injuries incurred. These could have been caused by the defendant’s negligence, reckless conduct, or intentional misconduct.

Although filing a claim can be intimidating, working alongside a skilled personal injury lawyer can help make the complicated legal process less frightening. At Hannafan & Hannafan you will have a personal injury lawyer who is ready to fight for you and help obtain the settlement you deserve.

Tech in the Legal Field: Looking at CLM

2025 is around the corner in just three short years, and by this time, every organization will be able to rely on their contract lifecycle management (CLM) to be the central source for all contracts.

Today, many companies have already centralized multiple functions into one single system - finance, HR, customer relations, and sales. It is natural then for these organizations to centralize how they manage contracts — from negotiation through execution and after termination. Similar to the other functions, this will help firms reduce cost, manage risk and improve performance.

For example, when contracts are centrally available and their terms are properly tagged, it will be more efficient and accurate to update numerous contracts that require an alteration (e.g., due to a regulatory change).

At the Heart of Legal Delivery : Client Service

The Business to Consumer space (B2C) has set new standards with regard to a customer’s more personalized, user-centric experience for all forms of business interaction. Legal services are no exception.

Data will be the key to enabling law firms to become more customer-centric. Like many of the world’s most successful B2C businesses, legal teams will use detailed analytics to constantly refine their processes and improve their service delivery.

White Collar Crime on the Rise

White collar crime is steadily rising due, in large part, to our technologically advancing society. As everyone is relying on the increased use of cellular phone and computers, white collar criminals can more easily access personal and financial information.

Estimates have shown that 25% of households will be victimized by a white collar crime at least once in their lives. The average amount of money stolen in an armed robbery is just over $3,000; while an average white-collar crime can easily bring losses over $500,000.

Be aware! According to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, Property and Mortgage Fraud is the fastest growing white-collar crime. Depositories filed nearly 1.43 million suspicious activity reports last year, up almost 18% from 2020.

Will Video Hearings Continue After COVID Dissipates?

Using virtual technology for court procedures has been very successful and popular in Illinois so much so that judges are discussing continuing its use in some situations after the threat of COVID-19 lifts.

For example, the Hon. Judge Diann Marsalek, Acting Presiding Judge of the Traffic Division, plans to continue to use teleconferencing for minor traffic cases to save litigants from having to take time off work, spend money on transportation, and come to court to resolve cases that involve only fines.

“People like to move on with their lives,” said Judge Marsalek said of the division’s efforts to continue to resolve cases despite the pandemic. “They don’t like to be stuck in a holding pattern.”

A new approach may be here to stay — for appropriate cases.

SuperLawyer Once Again!

As 2022 opens, we are excited to announce that Blake Hannafan has once again been selected as an Illinois SuperLawyer.  This is Blake’s ninth straight year named as a SuperLawyer.

SuperLawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievements. Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a patented multiphase selection process. Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with independent research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Selections are made on an annual, state-by-state basis.

Five Tips on Preventing Employment Litigation

Whether large or small, legal issues crop up which can jeopardize your business. In addition to business litigation issues that can arise, companies can also face employment litigation which can be very damaging. It is not only expensive but also can ruin a firm’s reputation. There are steps, however, that you can take to prevent employment litigation. The following five strategies can help reduce your employment issues:

1. Have written procedures for conduct. Companies should have written rules for conduct that not only forbids discriminatory behavior but also provides consequences for employees that do discriminate against others.

2. Provide sufficient training. Several types of training can help maintain a safe workplace. For example, safety training, sexual harassment and discrimination training, etc. can help prevent future litigation. It is best to offer this training to all employees, not just the managers.

3. A Suggestion Box: employees should have a way to submit a complaint, information about harassment or a violation, or a suggestion for improvement. And, they should be able to do this anonymously should they wish.

4. Establish dispute resolution procedures. It is important to prepare ahead of time. By defining processes before they are needed, companies are headed in the direction of resolution.

5. Don’t wait to contact an attorney. No matter is too small for a lawyer. If there is a complaint or matter at hand, an attorney can help resolve the issue swiftly and efficiently.

Should you need employment litigation assistance, Hannafan & Hannafan is here to help. Please contact us today to schedule a consultation.

Are There Advantages to Conducting Trials Virtually?

Faced with the uncertainty of COVID, many courts have begun conducting motion and evidentiary hearings via Zoom. Over the past year and a half, many of us have gotten used to using Zoom to replace in-person meetings. While there are downsides to court hearings handled virtually, are there advantages as well? Here is a look at a few of the pros for this venue:

1. Timing. In person trials have been backlogged because of COVID, but by using Zoom technology, parties can start to make progress and receive decisions on their cases.

2. Convenience. Litigants do not need to deal with travel to court, parking or security lines, as they can attend the hearings from the comfort of their homes or offices. And, they save money by not having to pay for their lawyers’ travel time either.

3. Witness Credibility. Some judges believe that virtual hearings allow them to truly assess witness credibility. The reason for this: prolonged eye-to-eye contact, often on a large screen in their courtrooms. There are fewer distractions and more focus on the witness than in a traditional courtroom.

4. Exhibits. Video conferencing will force attorneys to be better prepared and reach agreements with opposing counsel as to exhibits.

When COVID eventually winds down, there may be some cases that still use virtual technology.