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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Continue Reading The Dirty Secret Behind ERP Implementations

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…
Continue Reading Cannabis Product Recall: 7 Critical First Moves [2026]

Illinois passed Senate Bill 714 as part of a statewide initiative to address rising automobile insurance costs and concerns about unfair and discriminatory ratemaking practices affecting drivers. Illinois had been one of only two states without a formal process for reviewing or challenging insurance rate increases. The legislation expands the State’s authority to challenge automobile insurance premium increases. Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the bill into law on August 4, 2026, and the law will take effect on July 1, 2027.

The law imposes several new consumer protections on automobile insurance carriers, including:

  • requiring insurers to provide 30 days’ notice before

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Continue Reading Illinois Auto & Homeowners Insurance Reform Laws Take Effect July 2027

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?

A contested will can create immense heartache for families in an already difficult time. It’s understandable that parents would want to minimize the possibility of fighting between children because of the contents of their will.
You can make a will much harder to challenge, but no document is completely contest-proof. A Barrington, IL estate planning attorney can help you put a plan together in 2026 that’s built to hold up.
Who Can Legally Contest a Will in Illinois?
Under 755 ILCS 5/8-1, an interested person may petition to contest a will’s validity. An interested person generally means someone with…
Continue Reading Can I Prevent My Children From Contesting My Will?

Whenever a celebrity gets divorced, we read about eye-popping numbers of support awarded. The commentary inevitably shifts to “the kids don’t cost that much to raise” and “she doesn’t need all that money.” In an Illinois divorce, similar sentiments are couched in the objection to a guidelines support award as being a “windfall.” Windfalls In An Illinois Child Support Award Child support is ordered in Illinois based on “the guidelines.” “The court shall determine child support in each case by applying the child support guidelines unless the court makes a finding that application of the guidelines would be inappropriate” 750 ILCS 5/505(a)(2)(emphasis…
Continue Reading Windfalls In An Illinois Divorce

A crash inside a construction zone is its own kind of disorienting experience. You were driving. Something happened. And now you’re sitting with injuries, a damaged vehicle, and a stack of questions you don’t know how to answer. Maybe you felt the zone was poorly marked. Maybe the lane narrowed without warning. Maybe you’re just […]
The post How Can Road Construction Contribute to Car Crashes? appeared first on SAM LAW OFFICE LLC.
Continue Reading How Can Road Construction Contribute to Car Crashes?