Greetings!
As is the case with literally everyone else in the U.S., and throughout the world, the COVID-19 virus has affected our way of doing business.
We all are doing things differently than we did before. Everyone in our office is working from home, and court dates have been few and far between. While there have been no trials during the State’s stay-at-home orders, other pre-trial matters and emergencies are taking place. We are filing our court documents, conducting hearings and mediations, taking depositions, and meeting with clients, witnesses and experts, remotely by Zoom or telephone.
The truth is that, while this enormous transition has been an adjustment for everyone, the changes have been relatively seamless. Cases are moving forward.
So although the manner in which we do business has temporarily changed, we have been able to do just about everything we did before the pandemic. We have been able to enjoy frequent contact with our clients, old and new, and since the rest of the world has been forced to transition along with us, it’s often been easier to connect than it was during times of commuting, travel and in-person meetings.
These days, we all need to be open to trying new ways to communicate. Those ways are readily available, and we are making sure that we stay in touch with everyone we need to!
We wish you and your family well. Please call or email us if there is anything we can do to help you.
Stay healthy!
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Stephen I. Lane
Managing Partner
312-332-1400 - office
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"Danger gathers upon our path. We cannot afford — we have no right — to look back. We must look forward."
Winston Churchill
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COVID-19 testing in Illinois
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You probably have questions about COVID-19 testing — how the test is given, and why there are challenges with its availability.
This Chicago Tribune article explains the different testing options we have in Illinois, including the drawbacks of antibody testing, and provides key dates about each type of test.
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Congrats to the Lane & Lane team!
We recently learned that we are among the Top 25 Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Chicago. Nearly 900 firms were evaluated and considered for this recognition. The criteria is based on professionalism, credibility, reputation, experience, and availability.
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Noah Brown, son of Lane & Lane Partner Mark Brown, recently graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Congratulations to Noah! He is planning to attend law school in the fall.
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Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Now Live in Illinois
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If you have family, friends or colleagues who do not qualify for regular unemployment benefits, this news is important to share with them. Please keep in mind our legal expertise is personal injury and we are unable to assist you with PUA applications.
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On May 11, the Illinois Department of Employment Security's (IDES) Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Program went live.
The PUA program is the unemployment program that was passed by the federal CARES Act to provide benefits to those who do not qualify for regular IDES benefits (known as unemployment benefits). This includes people who were laid off within 30 days of starting a new job, do not have enough employment credit in the last 18 months to qualify, or independent contractors. PUA benefits are handled by IDES. Here's how the process works.
- IDES requires applicants to apply and be rejected for regular IDES benefits BEFORE applying for PUA benefits.
- It appears that a pending appeal of whether someone is qualified for regular IDES benefits will temporarily block them from applying to PUA.
- PUA benefits will be retroactive to the unemployment triggering event, to February 2, 2020.
- The maximum benefit is $600 per week.
Who Can File for PUA
Individuals
who had an Illinois regular unemployment insurance claim, but have run out of those benefits (i.e., exhausted 26 weeks of regular unemployment insurance and 13 weeks of Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation)
An employee of a nonprofit church or religious organization
that does not pay unemployment. (If you work for religious organization that has voluntarily elected to pay unemployment, you must file a regular unemployment claim.)
Individuals who have been“self-employed” for only the last 18 months and pay taxes on that income (i.e., have not earned any wages as a W-2 employee). Self-employment includes:
- Sole proprietors who do not pay unemployment contributions
- Business owners
- Being issued (Form 1099) from a business to report income for tax purposes
- Filing a Schedule C (Form 1040) tax form to report profit or loss from business
You can also file for PUA if you:
- Have been diagnosed with COVID-19
- Have a member of your household who has been diagnosed with COVID-19
- Are providing care to a household or family member
- Have primary caregiving responsibility for a child or other person who is unable to attend school or another facility as a result of COVID-19
- Are unable to reach the place of employment because you have been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine
- Were scheduled to start work and do not have a job as a result of COVID-19
- Have become the major support for a household because the head of the household died as a result of COVID-19
How and Where to File a Claim
Here are IDES guides to regular IDES benefits:
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If you hear of an organization or individual taking measures to help
Chicago-area residents manage the impact of COVID-19, please email the story to us (
info@lane-lane.com
) to include in our next newsletter.
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Mask Donations to the Jail System. Prisons and jails have been major hotspots for the spread of the coronavirus. Chicago-native and rapper G Herbo (Herbert Randall Wright III) is partnering with the Alliance for Safety and Justice to donate 20,000 protective masks to the jail system.
Here's the story.
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- Trucker Tuesdays: snack bags given to truck drivers at the toll plaza to thank them for moving the goods that keep our country moving
- Feed the Frontline: meals for the Intensive Care Unit at Advocate Trinity Hospital
- Good Neighbor Program: 10,000+ pieces of personal protective equipment for elderly and at-risk members in the area
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Food Delivery Service.
Chicago Delivers was a campaign of
The Chicago Partnership, a multi-ethnic, multi-denominational team of leaders from local churches. The program provided vouchers/gift cards for groceries or meal deliveries to neighborhoods on the South and West sides of the city. They established this service because they saw that the African American and Latino communities in Chicago were taking the biggest hit from COVID-19.
Learn more here.
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Chicago Theatre Workers Relief Fund. More than 80 Chicago-area theaters in the city and suburbs teamed up to raise funds for this Fund to benefit artists who have lost work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are selling a limited edition t-shirt, "Chicago Acts Together," featuring the Chicago skyline and the names of the participating companies. All of the proceeds benefit the fund.
Learn more here.
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PAWS Chicago Online Store. For many of us, pets are people, too, and right now PAWS needs support for their work during the COVID-19 crisis. Specifically, they need PPE, medicine, disinfecting towels and other supplies to care for all the homeless animals and rescues. To learn more,
visit their online store to donate funds or buy PAWS apparel.
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If you or someone you care about has been injured by someone else's negligence or fault,
and you're ready to take action to obtain justice - the full, fair and complete compensation you deserve - please contact our Chicago-based personal injury law firm today.
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Questions? Call us at 312-332-1400 or
contact us
.
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