Law Offices of Jeff Smith
Advising Individuals & Entrepreneurs
708 Church St., Suite 235
Evanston, IL 60201
847.475.1700
Thank you for visiting JeffLaw.com, the web site of Jeffrey P. Smith, attorney at law. Links and information here are free for public use; please use the site often as your portal for anything and everything law-related in the Evanston, North Shore, and Chicago area.
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Firm News:
No Rate Increase. 2007-10: Jeff has not increased basic hourly rates since July 1, 2007. These are evaluated annually in view of costs and other factors. The feeling here was that many individuals and businesses in need of legal services have had to adapt to revenue declines of their own, and that if possible this office should not add to what is already a challenging environment for many.
Green Office Measures. Legal services are not a smokestack industry but, cumulatively, every activity has impact on the environment, and we all can take steps to improve, even in an office environment. The vast majority of the paper used in the Law Offices of Jeff Smith for some time now has been 100% recycled; the remainder has significant post-consumer content. All toner and ink cartridges are recycled. Almost all waste paper is recycled, and often paper is re-used even before recycling; confidential documents are shredded and may not be recycled. Jeff works from home and/or remote locations by computer and cell phone on days where it's unnecessary to drive, and has significantly reduced auto miles traveled over the past several years through increased use of bicycle and public transportation. All light is provided by CFC bulbs. Overnight powering of electronic devices has been reduced although we have not yet gone to auto-timed turn-off, which would be better yet.
Obama Voting Rights Team. 2008: Jeff, along with hundreds of other lawyers, worked as part of the Obama campaign's voter protection team in Indiana during the primary, and in Missouri on Election Day in November, to make sure that every voter was able to vote and have his or her vote counted.
Extended Work on Zoning Revisions Helps Neighborhood. 2007-08: Jeff was pleased to work with other Evanston attorneys, residents, and businesses on implementation of Evanston's Central Street Master Plan. On January 28, 2008, the Evanston City Council unanimously passed two ordinances that, combined, changed the zoning ordinance map and text in the 2-mile long "Central Street Corridor." Among the purposes and likely effects will be to preserve existing character of the business districts, sustain and enhance the corridor as a location for its diverse, unique, pedestrian-oriented retail shops, services, and restaurants, encourage retail uses close to transit, and create a pedestrian-friendly and human-scaled streetscape. Click here to review a summary of the zoning changes.
Right to Have Ballots Counted Upheld. April, 2007: This office lent strategic, research, and drafting assistance to help uphold the results of the aldermanic election in Chicago's 49th Ward (Rogers Park). Plaintiffs challenging the close results of the runoff election had asked the Court for the unusual relief of discarding thousands of votes from multiple precincts where, the plaintiffs alleged, there had been instances of vote fraud. This office helped articulate a response demonstrating that the extreme remedy requested would do massive injury to the rights of voters who had voted lawfully. The court ultimately ruled along the lines our client requested, and dismissed the lawsuit.
Evanstonians Assisted on Civic Center Dispute. Feb.-March, 2007: This office assisted an activist group in placing on the ballot for the April consolidated election an advisory referendum asking the citizens of Evanston whether the city governmental seat should remain in the existing Civic Center. Subsequently, when the City placed its own competing "counter-referendum" on the ballot, this office filed suit to have that referendum stricken from the ballot as confusing to voters and thus unlawful. There is very little Illinois case law on this topic, and the complaint was dismissed by the Circuit Court of Cook County; while appeal was possible, the time until the election was very short, and the plaintiffs chose to take their case to the voters rather than a higher court. This was successful when the citizens' referendum was approved with more than 85% of the vote.Click here to download a copy of the plaintiffs' brief; you will need a current copy of Adobe Acrobat� or Adobe Acrobat Reader�.
Copyright and Lanham Act Case Settled. February, 2007: From late 2005 through early 2007, this office defended six companies (and one of their officers) charged by a small designer and her licensing firm with violation of federal copyright and false advertising laws. The designer sent a number of graphic motifs to a distributor, who applied them to products and sold them to pet stores and other retailers nationwide. The artwork license fees were, unfortunately, not resolved between the designer and costumer company. The designer subsequently sued over a dozen defendants, demanding over $1.2 million in damages.
This office aggressively defended about half of the defendants. After we filed motions on behalf of retailers CVS and Ross Stores, those companies were dismissed without any liability. After a more complex motion on behalf of all our clients, all our other retailer clients were also dismissed. Finally, after a pretrial before a federal magistrate judge, the case was settled in entirety, to our remaining clients' satisfaction. The duration and amounts claimed in the case illustrate the importance of getting a contract right at the beginning of a business relationship or transaction, and that investing in legal services can save a lot of legal fees much later.Click here to download a copy of the brief in support of the motion to dismiss one of the retailer defendants; you will need a current copy of Adobe Acrobat� or Adobe Acrobat Reader�.
Jeff Smith Participates in Leadership Evanston Panel. Fall, 2008: For the third municipal election cycle in a row, Jeff joined a panel of local experts on campaign startup, financing, and strategy at the second of the Evanston Community Foundation's weekend seminars on running for local office. Go to Jeff's Election Law page to see the links to various state, county, and local agencies and forms that Jeff referred to in his presentation. Note that numerous links are to PDF documents for which you will need a current copy of Adobe Acrobat� or Adobe Acrobat Reader�.
Supported Charities: The Law Offices of Jeff Smith encourages clients, friends, and site visitors to consider a tax-deductible gift to the following organizations (click a logo to go to website):
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JeffLaw.com
�2002, 2004, 2005 by Jeffrey P. Smith
Launched: July 6, 2002
Last modified: Jan. 9, 2011
