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Client Spotlight – Helm Group

A group of Helm employees

When Helm Group rebranded, it worked with WilliamsMcCarthy LLP attorneys for not only their trademark but also for additional support.

WilliamsMcCarthy LLP Announces New Partner, Names New President

[vc_row][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Tyler Slack Named Partner; Troy Haggestad Named President ROCKFORD, Ill. (January 13, 2021) – Williams McCarthy LLP, a full-service law firm located in Rockford, is pleased to share that Tyler B. Slack was recently named partner and Troy E. Haggestad has been named the firm’s president. Slack is in the litigation department and focuses […]

Troy E. Haggestad Joins Hope for Haitians Board of Directors

[vc_row][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Troy E. Haggestad recently joined the board of directors for Hope for Haitians, a nonprofit organization founded in Rockford in 2001 to extend aid to people in Haiti. Since its inception in 2001, Hope for Haitians has built 735 homes, housed 4,200 individuals, provided 270,000 people with fresh water, and donated 5,000 animals to families […]

Illinois Employers – Are You Aware of IEPA Amendments?

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This article originally appeared in the Novmeber 2019 issue of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce VOICE. Asking a prospective employee his or her salary history is a long-standing job interview question, and often the starting point for negotiating an applicant’s starting salary. Illinois employers may not realize that as of September 29, 2019, it’s illegal […]

Illinois Employers Should Update Their Expense Reimbursement Policies

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Illinois employers must now reimburse employee expenses because of an amendment to the Wage Payment and Collection Act that went into effect on January 1, 2019. The amended Act now requires Illinois employers to reimburse employees for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee within the employee’s scope of employment and directly […]

Protect Your Employees from Third Party Harassment

[vc_row][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text] Most employers are well aware of the unlawfulness of harassment in the workplace, either by a supervisor or co-worker. A lesser known situation arises when your employee is harassed by a third party who is not your employee, such as an on-site vendor or customer. The law is very clear that employers have […]

Pregnancy Accommodation Law Benefits Employees, Families and Illinois Businesses

[vc_row][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text] Published by Troy E. Haggestad and Timothy J. Rollins on January 31, 2018 [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Many Illinois businesses and employees are familiar with the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (“PDA”) and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”).   Fewer seem aware of the relatively recent Illinois Pregnancy Accommodation Act (“PAA”), which applies to all employers […]

Court Provides Guidance on Interplay between ADA and FMLA

[vc_row][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text] The differing obligations and requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) are a constant source of difficulty for most employers. On September 20, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, issued a very pro-employer decision that provides […]

Great News for Employers

[vc_row][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Federal law requires employers to pay employees time-and-a-half once they work more than 40 hours in a week. Employers do not have to pay an employee from overtime payments if the employee’s duties are classified as managerial in nature, and the employee is at a certain salary threshold. In 2016, the Obama administration raised […]

A Brief Primer on Rule 191(b) Affidavits

[vc_row][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]The following article was featured in the July 2016, vol. 61, no. 1 issue of Trial Briefs, the newsletter of the ISBA’s Section on Civil Practice & Procedure. When an attorney is faced with the challenge of responding to a 2-619 motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment, he or she may want […]

Admit it, Rule 216 is Confusing

[vc_row][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]The case law interpreting Rule 216 is always evolving, with most of the emphasis on the issue that terrifies litigators, which is blowing the 28-day deadline to answer, and thereby having requests deemed admitted. A second hot topic is the extent to which requests to admit are discovery. Although the Illinois Supreme Court has […]

New Illinois Law Restricts Inquiry Into A Job Applicant’s Criminal History

[vc_row][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Adding to the long list of questions Illinois employers cannot ask job applicants, Illinois passed what is often called a “Ban the Box” law which goes into effect January 1, 2015. The actual law is called the “Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act.” In a nutshell, the Act prohibits employers from considering or even […]

What You Need to Know About The Firearm Concealed Carry Act

[vc_row][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]On July 9, 2013, the Illinois Legislature overrode the Governor’s veto to enact the Firearm Concealed Carry Act (“the Act”), which went into immediate effect. The Illinois State Police was then given a period of 180 days before concealed carry license applications were to be made available. The Illinois State Police issued the first […]