What Services Does an Illinois Wrongful Death Lawyer Provide?
As a starting point, you must hire a lawyer to file a valid wrongful death suit. Illinois court rules do not permit a person who is not a licensed attorney to file a lawsuit on behalf of the estate of a deceased person. Any lawsuit filed on behalf of the estate of a deceased person by a person who is not a licensed attorney is considered a nullity. In fact, there was a recent decision issued by the Illinois Appellate Court where a wrongful death lawsuit was filed by a lawyer on behalf of the estate of his mother. The lawyer had let his registration lapse, and the trial court dismissed the lawsuit as a nullity. The Appellate Court ruled that the trial court properly dismissed the lawsuit as a nullity because even though the person who filed the lawsuit was an attorney, he was not licensed at the time the suit was filed.
