INSIGHTS

The regular exchange of ideas is a significant part of our culture at the firm. We’re always sharing news articles and strategies as well as personal stories with each other. So why not share it with you, too? This is the sort of thing you’d overhear if you spent a few days with us at Goodman law Group | Chicago. Enjoy.

General Contractors Beware: Five Reasons Your Insurance Claim May Be Denied

General contractors buy insurance and enter into indemnity agreements with subcontractors to control the risk associated with their projects. Based on our experience fighting for policyholders, we’ve identified five reasons an insurer might deny your claim, along with steps you can take to help make sure you get the full benefit of your risk-shifting agreements. Untimely Notice: Why Give the Insurer an Excuse to Deny Your Claim? It hurts to be invited late to the party. The same is true when you’re inviting your insurer to the litigation

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How to Secure Coverage for a Biometric Privacy Lawsuit

As most business owners know by now, tools that record, report, and store data related to a person’s unique physical characteristics, including palmprints and fingerprints, voiceprints, and facial, retinal, or iris measurements, have come under the scrutiny of state lawmakers seeking to prevent private entities from collecting biometric information without disclosure and consent. While protecting data privacy is a noble intention, these laws have spawned a substantial number of class action lawsuits, creating some significant challenges for employers and businesses that collect biometric information from customers. Unfortunately, many well-intentioned business

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Get Out Your Dictionaries to Get the Full Insurance Coverage You Bought

Over the past couple of years, many businesses have found themselves defending against class action lawsuits asserting claims under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”). BIPA regulates the use and transmission of biometric information such as handprints. Many businesses use biometric information for employment purposes such as time-keeping or security, as well as for various consumer uses. A BIPA claim, at its core, complains of injury caused by a violation of a person’s right of privacy. The Comprehensive General Liability insurance policies purchased by businesses generally provide coverage

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Let’s Not Return to the Old “Normal”

It is safe to say that virtual coffees and cocktails are inadequate substitutes for the real thing, and we cannot wait to resume in-person meetings. But serving clients remotely throughout the pandemic has challenged us to adopt new tools and approaches, some of which have improved the process of serving our clients. When we retire our covid couture (aka sweatpants), let’s not lose sight of the lessons learned over the last year. Here are some of the changes we hope to make permanent: Virtual Meetings Conducting necessary meetings

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Effective Advocacy

As an attorney who regularly represents clients in high-stakes litigation, my clients look to me to argue their cases. Clients generally perceive advocacy as argument. But in my 31 years as a trial lawyer, I have learned that careful listening is the key to effective argument. The starting point is listening and learning from the client about her concerns and objectives. Effective advocacy also requires listening — and, critically, hearing — the other side. The focus should not be on the fight but, rather, on the resolution. Organizational

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Path in the Woods

Maybe It’s Time to Rethink Your Path

One of the hardest parts of my job is advising a client who has gotten stuck. Maybe they made a bad business decision a few years back but can’t admit it to themselves. Or maybe a once-successful approach is no longer working but “escalation of commitment” — the business school term for holding on too long to a strategy that was once successful — is a barrier to making appropriate adjustments. Legal practice is far from immune to escalation of commitment. Throughout my career, I have seen too

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Seven Questions being Asked by a Clinet

Seven Questions You Should Not Be Afraid to Ask Your Lawyer

1. What can’t I ask?? This is a trick question. There is no question related to the legal services your lawyer has been hired to provide that is out of bounds. And when you ask a question, you should get a prompt and direct answer to it from your lawyer. Of course, the answer may not always be what you want to hear. Depending on your question, the answer may identify other questions that require consideration or additional information before they can be resolved. Just as transparency, full

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Bonnie and David together

How Partnership — in Life and Work — Fuels Our Business

Goodman Law Group | Chicago’s COO Bonnie Goodman brings a unique set of skills and experience to her work for the firm. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a part-time practice as a geriatric therapist, and an accomplished former marketing manager for a Fortune 500 company, Bonnie has a gift for perceptive listening and a heart for service that helps her understand clients’ needs and find creative ways to meet them. Bonnie is the backbone of GLG’s healthy work culture and client-service focus, and David calls her

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Kalli speaking with and associate

Adapting to Serve Our Clients

March 16, 2020, was a rather surreal day for most people, but for me it also marked an important milestone that would not work out quite the way I expected. That Monday, Chicago was on the brink of a shelter-in-place order. It was also my first day back to the office following maternity leave. Like all parents returning to work, I had mixed feelings of trepidation and excitement. Add to that the question of what life would look like during the coming months of the pandemic, and you

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