News

Dear Clients, Family, Friends and Colleagues:

We hope that this message finds you and all of your family and loved ones safe and healthy as we continue to make life and work adjustments.

News from the Courthouse

We wanted to provide you with the latest update from Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans. He has extended the postponement of most civil court cases until May 18, 2020 (which we expect the other nearby counties to closely mirror). While we understand this may be difficult on many of you, we know this was done to continue to protect our citizens’ health and safety.

What We Can Do For You

With that being said, we wanted to make sure you understand that even though the courts are closed temporarily due to Covid-19, your cases and our work continues with the following updates from Judge Dickler’s most recent Administrative Orders as follows:

–Emergency Matters: Judges remain available to address emergency motions; they have been conducting hearings in writing, remotely, via Zoom hearing or in person if absolutely necessary for such issues as Emergency Orders of Protection.

–Non-Emergency Matters: Non-Emergency Motions can continue to be submitted and addressed by the court; typically, a party has 21 days to respond in writing, and the other party has 7 days to reply, and courts have the authority to rule on these matters during this time period;

–New Matters: You can still file for a new divorce, new parentage case, new custody case, and any new domestic relations case; the Clerk’s filing remains up and running and we at Allen & Glassman, Chartered remain committed to having new client consultations, whether that be by phone, Zoom, FaceTime or other methods;

–Agreed Orders: If the parties or counsels on their behalf agree on any temporary issues, agreed court orders can be submitted electronically and entered by the court; also, this applies to final orders on cases and includes such matters as QDRO’s (Qualified Domestic Relations Orders).

–Prove ups: The courts are conducting prove up hearings to finalize cases and are doing so remotely, with all required paperwork submitted and approved by the Court in advance.

–Mediation: Gemma B. Allen & Todd M. Glassman are both cook county approved mediators and can mediate your case while courts remain closed; also, pending cases are still being mediated, whether that is via Zoom or other similar methods.  Furthermore, they are both also available as lawyers for lawyer assisted mediation with all the services and retired judges and other trained professionals that perform and continue to offer mediation services.

–Parenting Issues: The parties’ regular parenting time schedule shall continue to be followed. The parties are to act in the best interests of their children and should not do anything that would imperil the physical health of any child. We can discuss and help resolve any parenting issues that come up as a result of this. Also, Gemma, Todd, and the rest of the A&G team are all highly skilled in all parenting issues and can help assist you in any ongoing parenting issues you are experiencing, as well as Todd being a Cook County approved Guardian Ad Litem/Child Representative.

-Modifications: The rules have not changed, but life certainly has.  These are handled in the same fashion as other non-emergency matters fully described above.  The process can still be started based on a substantial change in circumstances and parties do not have to wait to get out in front on those issues.

Nothing has changed for us in terms of continuing to work around the clock for our clients. If you have any questions or needs, contact us at any time. We will continue to provide you with updates as they come in.

Continue to stay safe, healthy and well.

Best,

A & G Team