Resources | Publications

In less than a decade, Illinois went from treating cannabis as a criminal issue to developing a heavily-regulated legal medical and adult use cannabis industry. Illinois law uses cannabis as a blanket term covering regulated products, including cannabis-infused products, such as edibles. Medical cannabis is a term that covers the same types of product as cannabis, but refers to products…

Read the full article by ABA here. Pursuing legal relief against foreign parties and assets is a complex task that requires a well-developed plan to achieve a cross-border recovery. Globalization has created new challenges for parties threatened by, or involved in, cross-border disputes. Internet communication has made electronic transactions seamless and easy to operate anywhere in the world. Tax havens…

Client calls are coming in droves regarding the need to engage in estate planning if Joe Biden wins the White House and the Democrats have a majority in the Senate.  And for good reason. There is every reason to think that the currently high estate tax exemptions will be substantially reduced as part of a tax overhaul relatively early in…

The COVID-19 Pandemic has changed the landscape of taking and defending depositions.  Due to social distancing guidelines and travel restrictions, almost every deposition is taken remotely, and will be for the foreseeable future.  Below are a few considerations and suggestions for preparing for and taking your deposition in this new era: (more…)…

On July 22, 2020 the Chicago City Council passed the “Fair Notice” ordinance (the “Ordinance”) which requires longer notice periods for landlords who seek to terminate, not renew or increase rental rates for residential leases. Under the new Ordinance, a landlord must provide a tenant with prior written notification of its intent to terminate, not to renew, or increase rent…

***This article has been updated from the version posted on May 29th, 2020*** Actions Taken by the Circuit Court of Cook County In General Effective July 6, 2020, the Circuit Court of Cook County will begin hearing all matters in all Districts and Divisions with the exception of jury trials.  Unless otherwise ordered, all attorneys and self-represented litigants shall be…

On June 17, 2020, the Chicago City Council passed the “COVID-19 Eviction Protection Ordinance” (Ordinance O2020-3501), enacting a provisional moratorium on evictions based upon the failure to pay rent if the tenant has suffered any loss, reduction or delay in receipt of income or employment attributable to COVID-19 (a “COVID-19 Impact”).  Under the terms of the moratorium, a landlord pursuing…

On June 5, 2020, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (“PPPFA”) was enacted, amending key provisions of the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”). The changes provide relief to borrowers of PPP loans in the form of expanded forgiveness and increased flexibility in the use of loan proceeds. Businesses…

In an opinion for our troubled times, Northern District of Illinois Bankruptcy Judge Donald Cassling granted debtor Hitz Restaurant Group (“Hitz”) some reprieve from § 365(d)(3)’s strict requirements due to a combination of COVID-19 shutdown orders and a favorably-worded force majeure clause. (more…)…

In this second of a three-part series, Breslow discusses the Internet Tax Freedom Act and whether the digital world has really been protected from the tax man. Adoption and Intent of the ITFA Initially adopted in 1998 under the Clinton administration with the mantra “no new internet taxes,” the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) was made permanent on February 24,…

View the PDF from Turnaround Management Association's Journal of Corporate Renewal here. John W. Guzzardo and Nathan E. Delman, with John B. Pidcock of Oxford Restructuring Advisors LLP, discuss how Red South Beach responded to the COVID-19 crisis by quickly taking a number of actions designed not only to survive but to emerge financially stronger once the crisis is over.…

Actions Taken by the District Court On Tuesday, May 26, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois updated, for the fourth time, its General Order 20-0012 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The District Court’s original General Order extended all deadlines, whether set by the court or otherwise, by 21 days. On March 30, an Amended…

Actions Taken by the Bankruptcy Court The COVID-19 pandemic notwithstanding, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois remains open for business, although not business as usual. Recognizing the need to maintain social distancing, the Court has made several significant changes to its daily operations. After two months of hearing routine motions telephonically, the Court has implemented…

Chicago Anti-Retaliation Ordinance On May 20, 2020, effective immediately, the Chicago City Council approved an ordinance that prohibits employers from terminating or demoting an employee because the employee stayed home from work in compliance with a health order or to care for a person subject to a health order.  Employees who are terminated or demoted will now be able to…

May 12, 2020 As COVID-19 presses state and local governments to continue their shutdown orders, some businesses are incurring extensive expenses and losses. Whether the business is open with limited capacity, allowing employees to work from home, or closed until the orders are lifted,  businesses are asking if and how insurance can provide relief. This article provides information on the…

While the world continues to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic, the current interest rate environment creates excellent opportunities for advanced estate, income and creditor protection planning.  The following are eight tips/opportunities that should currently be considered in the current market environment: (more…)…

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Executive Order 2020-30 issued on April 23, 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic offers relief to commercial tenants throughout the state by placing restrictions on evictions of commercial tenants. Following in the footsteps of New York and California, Gov. Pritzker banned state agencies from enforcing evictions of all non-residential premises unless “the tenant has been…

Out-Of-Court Distressed Asset Purchases, a Primer The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted businesses and commercial relationships worldwide, cutting wide swaths of through entire sectors of the economy.  The current government regime of subsidizing whole industries and individual businesses is still evolving.  Commercial lenders have been incentivized to forbear and defer defaults – but the piper must eventually be paid.  Enterprises that…

The Small Business Reorganization Act (SBRA) was enacted in February 2020 with no one anticipating the global pandemic. Today, the financial consequences have hit small businesses hard. The SBRA, commonly known as Subchapter V, may provide much-needed relief to small businesses as they struggle through the crisis. With the Subchapter V election likely to surge during and after the pandemic,…

Many current businesses own cyber insurance policies that actually may not cover incidents or claims that are the result of an employee using his/her own personal device(s) for Work From Home (“WFH”) purposes for their employer. This is an easy mistake for employees as WFH is the current norm. As with all insurance contracts, whether there is coverage or not…

While the Illinois dispensing organization conditional licenses have not been awarded yet, we are hopeful they are coming soon. That being said, here are the two questions I get asked most about the current Illinois dispensing license applications: Will COVID-19 cause the IDFPR to delay granting licenses on the scheduled date of May 1, 2020; and If I do not…

Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission Updates After initially voting 9-0-1 to approve a new emergency rule that created a rebuttable presumption that the workplace is the cause of an employee contracting COVID-19 to the extent such employee works for an essential business, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (the “Commission”) met yesterday, April 27, to formally withdraw the rule.  The Illinois Manufacturers’…

In Treasury Department Notice2020-23 (released April 9, 2020) and Internal Revenue Service update to Notice2020-18, the IRS provided additional relief for taxpayers amid the COVID-19 crisis by extending key deadlines for Like-Kind (Section 1031) Exchanges.  Specifically, the Notices extended some of the due dates related to the identification and final exchange periods.  These time periods are generally 45 days and 180…

Families First Coronavirus Response Act On April 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued temporary regulations (the “Rule”) to implement the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), providing additional guidance to employers and employees on how to provide and take expanded family and medical leave or paid sick leave (collectively, “Leave”) under the FFCRA.  A copy of the…

The Coronavirus crisis has arrived. This global pandemic has placed a hard stop on economic activity across the board, sending markets into freefall and skyrocketing unemployment claims to unprecedented heights. Chapter 11 filings are anticipated to surge, forcing bankruptcy courts to clean up large swaths of the crisis’ aftermath. But for now, it is anyone’s guess when the uptick in…