Contrary to myth that dentists suffer outsized divorce rates, the divorce rate for dentists is approximately 25% which is lower than the nationwide average. Still, dentists do get divorced and the dentists who own their practices may have to divide the value of their dental practice in an Illinois divorce. This article serves as a guide to dentists and their spouses who must value and divide a dental practice in an Illinois divorce. A Dental Practice Appraisal Must Begin With Defining What Is Being Valued What is a dental practice worth? The answer depends on what is actually being valued.
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Compliance with pay transparency laws is no longer as simple as adding a salary range to a job posting and moving on. As state pay transparency requirements and compliance obligations continue to expand nationwide, regulators are increasingly focused on whether employers’ disclosures are meaningful, accurate, and supported by actual compensation practices. As lawmakers and regulators continue to refine pay transparency requirements, employers should view compliance as part of a broader compensation strategy rather than a standalone posting obligation.
Continue Reading Pay Transparency 2.0: Key Employer Takeaways on the Shift in Pay
Transparency Compliance

Kogut & Wilson associate Sabrina Karakaya attended Collaborative Divorce Illinois’ (CDI) Basic Interdisciplinary Collaborative Practice Training, gaining the fundamentals of the collaborative process and the roles of interdisciplinary teams utilized within the process.
Through the interactive introductory program, Sabrina explored the collaborative divorce process from start to finish, including working alongside attorneys, mental health professionals and financial neutrals as part of a collaborative team. The training provided Sabrina with the opportunity to further develop her experience resolving divorce disputes outside of the courtroom, with a focus on agreements tailored to family priorities and alternatives to litigation.
Sabrina is experienced in…
Continue Reading Sabrina Karakaya Completes Collaborative Practice Training with Collaborative Divorce Illinois

Smith LaCien LLP is proud to announce that five of our attorneys have been recognized on the prestigious 2027 Illinois Super Lawyers®list. Congratulations to Carla A. Colaianni, Brian LaCien, Todd A. Smith, Allyson C. Cox and Andrew W. Mason on this well-deserved recognition.

We are proud of the exceptional advocacy, dedication and commitment these attorneys bring to their clients and the legal profession every day.
Continue Reading Five Smith LaCien Attorneys Named to 2027 Illinois Super Lawyers® List

Super Lawyers, https://www.superlawyers.com/about/selection-process/, has selected me as one of their Super Lawyers for 2027.

The Super Lawyers rating service picks top lawyers each year using peer feedback and independent research.

Using their patented selection process, incorporating 12 markers of professional work, they select the top 5% of attorneys to their  list each year. The objective of Super Lawyers’ patented multiphase selection process (U.S. Pat. No. 8,412,564) is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource when searching for legal counsel.
My Super Lawyers profile is here.
Thanks to…
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Crash News | Chicago

A 20-year-old Chicago man has been charged with DUI and reckless homicide after a crash on the Stevenson Expressway left an SUV passenger dead early Saturday morning. According to Illinois State Police, Armando Gonzalez Vargas was driving southbound on Interstate 55 near Wentworth Avenue around 4:30 a.m. when his GMC Suburban collided with a white Nissan SUV. Court records indicate Gonzalez Vargas was traveling more than 20 mph over the speed limit before the crash.

The GMC then left the roadway and struck a concrete barrier. A passenger in the vehicle, 26-year-old Carlos Vasquez, was pronounced…
Continue Reading Chicago Man Charged with DUI in Deadly Accident on Stevenson Expressway

Most ERP implementations fail — not because of the software itself, but because of unrealistic expectations set right from the start. In this video, I break down the “dirty secret” behind why so many companies pour millions into new ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, etc.) only to end up over budget, behind schedule, and disappointed. Key takeaways:

  • Why 70-85% of ERP projects miss timelines, budgets, and expected business benefits.
  • How vendors’ sales hype ( “out-of-the-box in months!”) sets customers up for failure.
  • The hidden costs most organizations ignore: data migration, customizations, change management, training, and long-term support.

…
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I AM NAMED AS TRUSTEE IN A TRUST, WHAT IS MY LIABILITY? When people create a trust, they appoint a trustee. The trustee is the person or entity with the authority to administer and oversee the assets and funds held Read More….
The post I AM NAMED AS TRUSTEE IN A TRUST, WHAT IS MY LIABILITY? appeared first on Law Office of Andrew Szocka, P.C..
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An Illinois Appellate Court rejected an inmate’s claims in a FOIA lawsuit against a sheriff’s department in King v. Livingston County Sheriff’s Office.An inmate filed a FOIA request with a sheriff’s office seeking records pertaining to racial profiling by a specific police officer. The sheriff’s office responded that it had no responsive records because the officer was not employed by the sheriff’s office but a city police department. The inmate sued, and the circuit court ruled in favor of the sheriff’s office. On appeal, the Appellate Court also found no violation of FOIA in the sheriff’s office’s response, holding…
Continue Reading No Violation of FOIA Where Records Not in Possession of Responding Public Body

Sagent Pharmaceuticals v. Farco USA, LLC, et al., No. 25 C 14080, (N.D. Ill. May 5, 2026) (Kocoras, J.).Judge Kocoras granted in part and denied in part defendants’ partial Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss in this Defend Trade Secrets Act, Illinois trade secret, and breach of contract action. Sagent alleged that three former employees conspired with German pharmaceutical manufacturer FARCO-PHARMA to replace Sagent as the exclusive U.S. distributor for GLYDO, a lidocaine jelly product, by forming defendant Farco USA.The Court held that direct evidence of trade secret misappropriation is rare, and that Sagent’s allegations plausibly pled…
Continue Reading Suspicious Downloads, Personal Email Forwarding, and Lies to Investigators Sufficient to Plead Trade Secret Misappropriation

Nobody wakes up excited about cannabis license renewal. It is the least glamorous item on an operator calendar, right up there with fire extinguisher inspections. Then one morning the portal says “expired,” your vault is full of product you cannot legally move, and your landlord still wants rent on the first.
Renewal is a compliance audit wearing a paperwork costume.
What happens if I miss my cannabis license renewal deadline?
In most states, you stop operating. Immediately. A cannabis license renewal is not like a driver license where you pay a late fee and carry on — several states…
Continue Reading Cannabis License Renewal: 9 Critical Deadlines [2026]

A cannabis product recall starts the way most disasters do: quietly. A lab retest comes back hot. A customer posts a photo. A regulator emails on a Friday at 4:50 p.m. What you do in the next six hours decides whether this is an expensive week or an existential one.
Quarantine first. Argue about fault later.
What do I do first when a cannabis product recall hits?
Quarantine the affected lots and stop distribution before you do anything else — before you call the regulator, before you draft a statement, before you decide whose fault it is. Then pull the…
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People who are incarcerated in Illinois do not lose their right to necessary medical care. If an inmate suffers serious harm because necessary medical care was denied or unreasonably delayed, a civil rights lawsuit may be possible. When prison officials or medical providers know that an inmate has a serious medical condition and deliberately fail to provide appropriate treatment, the denial or delay may violate the inmate’s constitutional rights. That distinction matters. A bad medical outcome does not automatically create a lawsuit. Neither does every disagreement with a prison doctor. But repeatedly ignoring serious symptoms, withholding prescribed medication, delaying necessary…
Continue Reading Denied Medical Care in an Illinois Prison: Can Inmates Sue?

One person was killed and another was hospitalized after a two-vehicle crash on the Stevenson Expressway early Saturday morning on Chicago’s Southwest Side. According to Illinois State Police, troopers responded to the crash in the southbound lanes of Interstate 55 near Wentworth Avenue, close to the Bridgeport neighborhood, at about 4:30 a.m.

One person was pronounced dead at the scene, while another victim was injured and taken to a local hospital for treatment. Southbound I-55 was temporarily closed while authorities investigated the crash, with traffic diverted to southbound Interstate 94. The lanes have since reopened.

The cause of the crash…
Continue Reading Chicago I-55 Crash Today: 1 Dead, 1 Hurt on Stevenson Expressway Near Wentworth Ave

A family home is often one of the most valuable things a parent leaves behind. It can also be one of the most emotionally difficult assets to deal with. One child may want to keep the house, while another may need their share of the inheritance in cash. There may still be a mortgage, and someone has to keep paying the insurance while the estate is being settled.
What happens to the home in the days and weeks after a parent dies depends largely on how the home was owned and what estate planning your parent did before death. If…
Continue Reading What Happens to the Family Home When a Parent Passes Away?

Under Illinois law, both parents are obligated to financially support their children. Illinois uses the “income shares” method to calculate child support. This method considers both parents’ incomes, the child’s needs, and how parenting time is divided. The parent ordered to pay support is called the “obligor.” Failing to pay child support can lead to serious penalties.
If you have been ordered to pay child support, it is important to make each payment in full and on time. If you can no longer afford your court-ordered child support payments, a Wheaton, IL family law attorney can explain your options.
Continue Reading What Happens If You Fail to Pay Child Support in Illinois?