Steven Fagan

If you've been pulled over on Lake Shore Drive or stopped at a checkpoint near the Kennedy, one question is probably on your mind: what actually happens now? The answer depends almost entirely on whether this is your first DUI, your second, or your third. Illinois law treats each one differently, and the gap between a first offense and a third offense is enormous, both in terms of jail time and what a conviction follows you around with for the rest of your life. Here's the short version...

Getting pulled over on Lake Shore Drive at midnight—or anywhere else in the Chicago area—and ending up under suspicion of drunk driving is a genuinely frightening experience. The blue lights, the field sobriety tests, the breathalyzer. Even before a DUI charge is ever formally filed, Illinois law triggers an automatic, administrative consequence that can pull your driving privileges out from under you: the statutory summary suspension. It's one of the most time-sensitive issues in any...

You've probably heard someone mention a living trust at some point—maybe a coworker, a family member, or someone in your neighborhood on the North Shore. And usually, the way people talk about them, you'd think they were the ultimate solution to every estate planning problem. In a lot of ways, they are genuinely powerful. But like anything in law, they come with trade-offs worth understanding before you decide whether one belongs in your plan. So let's be honest about the full picture: what a...