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CH I CAGO TR I AL L A W Y E R S
Chute O’Malley Knobloch & Turcy
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TRIAL ATTORNEYS
MAY 2021
SHOUTING OUT ALL TEACHERS AND NURSES HARD WORK, COMPASSION, AND EMPATHY WORTH EMULATING
(773) 906-4063
ChuteLaw.com
Naperville Office 475 River Bend Road Suite 101 Naperville, IL 60540 Chicago Office 218 North Jefferson Suite 202 Chicago, IL 60661
Each year in the month of May, two different observances honor two professions that honestly don’t always get the appreciation they deserve. The first full week of May is National Nurses Week, and May 4 is National Teachers Day. Nurses and teachers are some of the hardest working, patient, and compassionate people you’ll ever meet. So, because I have the pleasure of knowing and sometimes working with people in these professions, I thought I would use this space to appreciate teachers and nurses as best I can. My mother was a French teacher for 42 years, teaching grades 6–8 in the public school system for that entire time. So, even fromwhen I was young, I appreciated how teachers help their students succeed in life. I had several teachers who were incredibly influential in my own life, too. In my sophomore year of high school, my government teacher was the first mentor I had who pushed me toward law school. Then, in college, my professor for constitutional law and business law became instrumental in helping me prepare for law school after graduation. He gave me a lot of good advice prior to my taking the LSAT and while I was filling out law school applications. The best teachers and professors are the ones who help you put the best foot forward into your future. They give you the tools to make a career out of your passions. While teachers provide people with direction as they discover their passions and pursue a career, nurses give their patients direction following an injury or some other sort of health care emergency.
a nurse. My mother-in-law is a nurse, and so is my niece, who just started working at the George Washington University Hospital as a perinatal postpartum nurse. Also, my daughter just got accepted to Villanova’s nursing program, so she’ll be moving to Philadelphia in the fall. Just as is the case with teachers, my appreciation for the work nurses do is very personal. On another note, I honor the work nurses do specifically because of how it helps me do my job. Nurses are instrumental resources for personal injury attorneys. The information they give us about our patients’ health is vital to our ability to build a strong case and for our client to receive the compensation they deserve. Nurses are continually ranked as the most ethical and honest professionals, according to a Gallup poll from last year. They rank above grade school teachers, journalists, engineers, and even other health care professionals. That makes sense to me, though — they’re the true one-on-one caregivers. They help the patients on a daily basis, much more than doctors do. On that same Gallup poll, it appears as though lawyers don’t rank very high in terms of honesty and ethics. That said, though, knowing so many nurses and teachers continues to inspire me to bring their stellar qualities into my law office. Every day, we strive to treat our clients with compassion and represent them zealously in the courtroom. So long as we continue to meet people at the lowest point in their lives, we’ll do our best to give them direction to help them rise.
PERSONAL INJURY WORKERS’ COMPENSATION WRONGFUL DEATH
I have a number of family members and relatives who are nurses, or who are working toward becoming
–Tom Chute
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STRAIGHTEN THE SLOUCH
3 Tools to Help You Perfect Your Posture
Slumping our shoulders is a form of poor posture that often results in neck, shoulder, and back pain. It can be a hard habit to break, so sometimes people need a little more than self-correction to improve their posture. Enter posture correctors: tools specifically designed to help correct a person’s posture. Though they should not be used regularly, they can help remind your body of what a correct posture is and how to maintain it without support. Here are three correctors that can help you. Truweo This supporter is for anyone who is on a small budget and looking to improve their posture. The Truweo posture corrector is used by wrapping around the shoulders — both over and under clothing — and can be adjusted for optimum comfort. It is lightweight, breathable, washable, and can be worn for all activities. Whether you are sitting at a desk, working out, or walking, Truweo will be there to offer you the extra support you need. Find it now on Amazon! Forme Wearing both a corrector and a bra can be uncomfortable, which is why Forme is perfect for anyone hoping to avoid that discomfort.
The Forme sports bra offers an under-bust band for posture improvement and also includes eight functional panels
to help you stay comfortable, especially during physical activity. You can find this and other health-conscious clothing items at Forme.science. Aspen If you need lower-back support, this posture corrector is a great choice. Easily fitted under or over clothes, this device can ease back pain caused by fatigued muscles, spasms, or flare-ups in addition to offering lumbar support. The Aspen Lumbar Support is completely adjustable, so you are in control of the amount of pressure applied. To learn more about this item, visit the Aspen website at AspenMP.com. Before deciding which corrector you should use, talk to your doctor. They can help you choose the best option for this journey of posture correction and overall health improvement.
THE 3 STRANGEST CELEBRITY LAWSUITS
Stories about celebrities can be enjoyable or awkward, but no matter what happens, they usually create great material for Buzzfeed or Reddit users. This also includes celebrity stories involving the law, which bring on a lot of head-scratching and legal action — like these three strange cases.
husband, Jay-Z, hired a surrogate to give birth to their daughter, Blue Ivy, in 2012. Internet trolls who saw her pregnant belly roll as she sat down for an interview fanned the flames of this theory, and soon, a lawsuit emerged. A woman claimed she was the true biological mother of Blue Ivy, and she asked for compensation and DNA testing to prove it. Previously, the same woman claimed to be the birth mother of North West, the daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, but the court threw out the case.
Simon Cowell pays for a chef ’s disappearing shoes. Known for his unrelenting critiques and setting the stage for some of the world’s biggest names in show business, Simon Cowell has amassed enough wealth to afford a private chef. When one such chef came by his house for a job interview, she was asked to remove her shoes, but according to court documents, she never received her shoes back. The chef claims to have tried multiple times to retrieve the shoes — which were outfitted with $500 orthopedic insoles — but never succeeded. She sued Cowell for the shoes and gas money, and the “America’s Got Talent” star shelled out.
Mila Kunis ruff les some feathers. Actress Mila Kunis was sued for $5,000 by her childhood friend, Kristina Karo, in 2015 because Kunis allegedly stole a chicken from Karo when
they were still children in Ukraine. Karo, an aspiring singer, claimed the theft resulted in extreme emotional distress and prevented her from pursuing the American dream. According to Kunis, the theft occurred when she was 7 years old and Karo was just 1 month old. Kunis and her husband, actor Ashton Kutcher, speculated that the case was all a publicity stunt to promote Karo’s upcoming music video, and the case was eventually dropped.
Internet conspiracy theory results in a court case against Beyoncé
The internet is a wild place, and conspiracy theories are often born on its digital channels. One such theory was that Beyoncé and her
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ILLINOIS LEGALIZES RECREATIONAL MARI JUANA USE
How Will This Affect Illinois Workers?
Whenever I travel around the state talking to various groups about workers’ compensation issues, someone always asks me about how legalizing marijuana will impact Illinois workers who can now use it legally. On Jan. 1, 2020, Illinois legalized recreational use of marijuana. The state’s change in drug policy toward cannabis also means workplace protections for cannabis users. Employers can’t discriminate against employees who use lawful products off the premises of their employer during nonworking and noncall hours . That said, employers can continue to adopt and enforce zero-tolerance/drug-free workplace policies. Employers can still discipline marijuana users if the use “impairs an employee’s ability to perform the employee’s assigned duties” through different forms of punishment including termination.
So, how do employers determine if an employee is under the influence of a drug? Employers usually aren’t specifically trained to assess impairment levels of employees for various types of drugs or medicines. Do employers have to be cautious not to violate the nondiscrimination provisions of the law? These questions have all played out in cases this year. The stakes go up when marijuana use is discovered through an employee’s post-accident blood or urine testing. Many companies require a chemical test after a reported work accident, and employees can be terminated without workers’ comp benefits if they refuse. Employers can also deny benefits if they determine that the employee’s intoxication caused the injury. According to the statute, evidence of a certain amount of cannabis in the employee’s system at the time of the accident will determine whether the employee was intoxicated at the time the employee incurred the accidental injuries. The problem is that there is not yet a “legal limit” for cannabis intoxication like there is for alcohol. The measurable level of cannabis that remains in a person’s system can vary greatly, making it difficult to determine how recently they used it and if it caused their injury. Expert testimonies from forensic pathologists, who are asked to speak on the correlation of concentration level to its corresponding level of impairment, are often necessary. So far, this has proven a difficult route for employers to defeat most injured workers’ claims for benefits.
EASY & HEALTHY GREEN RICE
PUZZLE TIME!
This rice recipe is perfect for getting your kids to eat their greens without realizing it!
Inspired by 101Cookbooks.com
Ingredients
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1 cup tightly packed spinach leaves 1 cup tightly packed kale leaves, stems removed 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock 2 tbsp full-fat coconut milk
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1/2 cup yellow onions, finely diced
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1/2 cup green peppers, diced 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
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3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tsp kosher salt
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1 cup long-grain white rice
Directions 1. In a blender, purée spinach and kale with vegetable stock, coconut milk, and salt. Set aside. 2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, sauté onions and peppers in olive oil until soft. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. 3. Stir in rice and cook and toast for 1–2 minutes before adding the blended mixture. Increase heat to bring to a boil. 4. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until liquid has evaporated, 15–20 minutes. 5. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.
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K T C O
Chute O’Malley Knobloch & Turcy
llc
TRIAL ATTORNEYS WHAT’S INSIDE
1 2
Shouting Out All Teachers and Nurses The Support Your Posture Needs
Mila Kunis Got Sued for That!? (And 2 Other Weird Celebrity Legal Cases)
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HowWill Legal Marijuana Affect Workers?
Green Rice Recipe 4
3 Strange ‘Facts’ About Groundhog Day
THE EVEN STRANGER LORE
Behind the Already Strange Groundhog Day
You don’t have to think too hard about Groundhog Day to really grasp how bizarre of a holiday it really is. Every year, thousands of people gather in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to watch a medium-size rodent purportedly predict how much longer winter will last, and millions more probably watch from their homes all over the country. However, would you believe the lore surrounding Groundhog Day is actually a lot stranger than the festivities would initially let on? Below are some actual “facts” about the holiday that have endured through the decades. Punxsutawney Phil is canonically over 130 years old. The first Groundhog Day celebration took place in Punxsutawney in 1886. According to Punxsutawney Phil’s inner circle (we’ll get to them later), Phil is the only groundhog who has been using his shadow to predict the weather since the beginning. There has not been a series of groundhogs — there has only been Phil. He has supposedly lived for so long by ingesting “Groundhog Punch,” or the “elixir of life,” every year, making him effectively immortal. Punxsutawney Phil has an inner circle of followers. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Groundhog Day” or tuned in to watch the festival live, you might have noticed that Phil was surrounded by a group of men in old-fashioned suits and top hats. These men
are not random actors; they are Phil’s inner circle, and they are responsible for caring for Phil and arranging the festivities for Groundhog Day every year. Who would have thought that a groundhog would have an entourage? Punxsutawney Phil and his inner circle have a secret language. When Phil predicts whether there will be six more weeks of winter, he does so from inside a box, out of view of anyone — including his inner circle — who can verify what
Phil sees. So, how does his inner circle know what to announce? With a secret language, of course! The president of the inner circle talks to Phil in “Groundhogese” and then communicates Phil’s decision to the public. While these “facts” are highly suspect, the existence of lore behind this strange minor holiday definitely lends itself to making Groundhog Day an enduring, novel piece of American history.
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