by Attorney Eric D. Puryear Divorce or child custody cases that involve multiple states can have an added layer of complexity, making it all the more important to handle such cases carefully.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear In Iowa, several laws protect consumers. One law is the Iowa Debt Collection Practices Act, which applies to creditors, debt collectors, and collection agencies and prohibits them from engaging in deceptive and abusive collection tactics. The other one is the Iowa Consumer Credit Code, which prohibits creditors from engaging in abusive collection practices.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear Attorneys can and do commit malpractice. This article discusses legal malpractice in general, as well as an example in which our firm successfully obtained a jury verdict for thousands of dollars against Rock Island, IL lawyer Jack A. Schwartz for his malpractice and breach of contract.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear If a residential tenant fails to pay rent or otherwise breaches a term of the lease, a landlord in Illinois may not engage in self-help but needs to follow the legal process in obtaining an eviction.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear I previously discussed the firing of racist Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation Crime Lab analyst Amy Pollpeter. On August 19, 2016 I received an unsolicited advertising letter from her, offering her services as an expert witness in connection with her new company Forensic DNA Consulting Resources. For the reasons discussed below, I certainly will not purchase her services and cannot imagine how any attorney in their right mind would want to do so either.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear A child custody or divorce case can be one of the most important events in a person’s life. It can also be one of the more expensive events too. However, there are things that a person can do to help minimize that expense while also seeking the best possible outcome for the case.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear Amy Pollpeter, who had been an analyst with the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations (DCI) crime lab for 10 years, was fired after making a racist facebook post.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear Over the years, I have consulted with many people who were disqualified from possessing a gun due to a criminal conviction, a protective order, etc. Some of those people have told me that they knew themselves to be prohibited, but tried to buy a gun anyway to see what would happen. Doing so is a very bad idea.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear Many people do not realize the legal effect of paying a traffic ticket, and are surprised to learn that “just paying the ticket” is a plea of guilty that can have significant consequences.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear There are many ways that a criminal charge can be resolved. A deferred prosecution is one of the more favorable of those ways.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear The police killing of concealed carry permit holder Philando Castile is a troubling, for a variety of reasons, as are the killings of the 5 police officers in Dallas, TX that soon followed. I discuss the civil rights and gun rights implications of those killings on my gun rights website in this article.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear Over the last year, we have noticed an increase in amount of time that the Illinois State Police (ISP) take to process appeals of denials of Firearms Owner Identification (FOID) cards and concealed carry permits. Sadly this is nothing new, as the ISP has been improperly delaying firearms-related matters for many years.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear A promissory note is a written agreement or contract between two parties in which the creditor agrees to pay back at determined intervals a sum of money to a lender. Promissory notes include, but are not limited to, money given for student loans, car loans, and personal loans.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear Iowa law requires that the parents in a divorce or child custody case take a court-approved class. This class is called Children in the Middle in
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear In Iowa, business owners have a duty to exercise reasonable care in the maintenance of their premises for the protection of lawful visitors—that is, invitees.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear Under Iowa law, a person who is a chronic substance abuser can be civilly committed. The purpose of such a commitment is to
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear Under Iowa law, a person who is “seriously mentally impaired” can be taken into custody and committed to a mental health treatment hospital until they are no longer seriously mentally impaired.
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear Contact information for the Henry County, Illinois Public Defender is shown below:
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear Contact information for the Rock Island County, Illinois public defender’s office is shown below:
by Attorney Eric D. Puryear Contact information for the Iowa Public Defender’s Appellate Defender’s office is shown below: