Webinars
Guardianship, Powers of Attorney and other Forms of Surrogates for Disabled Adults
Presented by Joe Scally, J.D. of The Child & Family Law Center
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
7:00-7:30 p.m.
Call 847-926-0101 for information
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Announcements and Upcoming Events:
Illinois Alliance of Administrators of Special Education Fifteenth Annual Winter Conference
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February 20 and 21, 2014
Springfield, IL
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ED Eligibility for Students with Mental Health Issues
Presented by Micki Moran and Laura Sinars
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Is your group or organization having and event? Email us or call our office at 847-926-0101 with the information and
The Child & Family Law Center will be happy to publish it in our newsletter.
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Lisle Office
The Child and Family Law Center is pleased to announce the opening of a branch office in Lisle, Illinois. Attorneys Micki Moran and Joe Scally will meet with clients by appointment at 5950-E Lincoln, Lisle, IL.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call 847-926-0101.
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Read and Subscribe to Micki Moran's Blogs:
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In addition to traditional divorce services,
The Child and Family Law Center now offers:
Divorce Mediation
Services
Please call us at 847-926-0101 for more information.
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The Child and Family Law Center provides representation and consultation in the following areas:
- Special Education and School Law
- Juvenile and Criminal Law
- Mental Health and Disability Law
Check our website for a complete list of our services
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The Child and Family Law Center, Ltd.
1950 Sheridan Rd.
Suite 201
Highland Park, IL 60035
phone: 847-926-0101
fax: 847-926-8500
Consultations by appointment in our Lisle, IL office. Please call for information.
We provide representation in the following Northern Illinois counties: Cook, Lake, DuPage, Kane, McHenry,and Will.
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Hello and Welcome. Each month The Child and Family Law Center of the North Shore, Ltd. will provide articles of interest and updates on areas that our office deals with on a regular basis. We appreciate and welcome feedback, so please feel free to send us an email at [email protected] with questions or suggestions.
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Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Effective Communication with Teachers and Administrators:
The Top Ten Ways to Improve your Communication and Effectiveness in Advocating for your Child.
 I am frequently privy to e-mail or other correspondence between schools and parents. Often, I am reading these when things have deteriorated between the parents and staff. Rarely do parents visit our office when things are going well. I spent the morning today reading e-mails between school staff and parents that required me to read them several times to figure out what the other was saying. This isn't because of my difficulties with reading but because the message was getting lost in translation. It was nearly impossible to discern the parents or the school's position on the various issues. This is not uncommon and leads to misunderstanding and animosity. In an effort to help, I thought I would add my input and advice about communications in a bullet point form. - Use a font that is normal size.
- Outline what it is that you want to convey. Pick only 4-5 key points. Pick Your Battles.
- Prioritize what you want and what your concerns are before sending the email. Think big picture. Don't get lost in the details.
- Avoid a critical or abusive tone. If you are upset, sleep on it. Don't send an email in the heat of anger.
- Say something positive even if it is hard to locate that point.
- Pick a key person to email. I typically advise parents to send their concerns to the Special Education Director.
- Don't over communicate. People stop listening.
- If it is a very serious situation that involves safety, mental health or other concerns that are out of the ordinary, pick up the phone. Arrange to meet.
- Review your email before sending.
- Ask for a response by a certain date.
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Juvenile Justice in Illinois: A New Law  Public Act 98-061, effective January 1, 2014, is a new law in Illinois that keeps 17 year-olds charged with most felonies in the juvenile justice system. It is an amendment to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 and changes the definition of "delinquent minor" to include a person who was under 18 years of age (rather than 17) when he or she committed an offense classified as a felony. The new law also changes the age concerning confidentiality of juvenile records, provides that the restrictions apply to persons taken into custody before their 18th (rather than 17th) birthday, makes corresponding changes in the expungement provisions of the Act, and makes other conforming changes reflecting increasing the age at which a minor may be prosecuted under the Act, rather than under the criminal laws, from under 17 to under 18 years of age.
705 ILSC 405/1-7. 1-8, 1-9, 2-10, 3-12, 4-9, 5-105, 5-120, 5-130, 5-401.5, 5-410, 5-901, 5-905, 5-915
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Divorce and the Child with Special Needs
Questions to Ask when Retaining a Divorce Attorney:
- What experience do you have regarding children with special needs issues?
 - What information do you need from me? Typically, I provide a checklist for clients contemplating divorce of the information I need that will help me assess their case. See Below:
- Financial Information and Incomes/Professions of both parents. Your attorney will provide you with an Asset Disclosure Statement that must be completed.
- School/Education Information/Disability related materials.
- Child's current schedule.
- Child care information.
- Information regarding the residence.
- Thoughts about parenting plans. Joint/Shared/Sole custody.
- Do you and your spouse agree on how the children should be raised and on key issues with the children?
- Retirement accounts.
- Special Needs Trusts Documents.
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Meet our new Intern
Jackie Ross 
The Child and Family Law Center would like to welcome our new intern, Jackie Ross. Jackie is a former special education teacher who is planning to matriculate to law school in the fall with the hopes of becoming a special education attorney. She recently moved from Manhattan where she taught students with a range of disabilities in a therapeutic day school. Jackie received her Master of Teaching in Childhood and Special Education from Fordham University after receiving her Bachelor of Science in Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University. Jackie is thrilled to be a part of the fascinating and important work carried out by The Child and Family Law Center and is excited to be an asset to the staff throughout her internship.
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Heroin LLC Series on WBEZ 91.5 In December, Chicago Public Radio station WBEZ ran a series called  Heroin LLC to investigate the impact of heroin on the Chicago Metropolitan Area. "Chicago is a major trafficking route for Mexican cartels and has become a hub for the distribution of heroin across the Midwest. The dangerous result has been an increase in heroin overdose deaths in Illinois." In a two week series, some of the topics explored were how the drug gets here, how it is distributed, who is buying it, and what treatments are (or aren't) available. Interviews with two of our staff members, Micki Moran and Joe Scally, were featured on the December 12 segment exploring access to treatment. Micki and Joe discussed the impact heroin has had on our clients as well as their own families. |
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The Child and Family Law Center of the North Shore is a unique legal practice that specializes in providing legal services to families and children in the areas of special education, IEP consultations, divorce and custody, parenting agreements, mediation, guardianship and juvenile law, including criminal law, DCFS and mental health. Where possible, we have initiated flat fee billing for appropriate matters.
The Child and Family Law Center of the North Shore
1950 Sheridan Rd.
Suite 201
Highland Park, IL 60035
For more information about The Child and Family Law Center of the North Shore, please call 847-926-0101 or visit our website at www.lawforchild.com
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Micki Moran
The Child and Family Law Center of the North Shore |
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