Legal Help in Lincoln Square, From Our Office on Foster Avenue

For people who live or own property nearby, we handle home and small-building purchases and sales, and injury claims. For practices and businesses, we handle healthcare formation and HIPAA compliance, commercial leases, vendor and customer contracts, Illinois privacy and AI rules for employers, employment-based immigration, and cannabis licensing and compliance. Meetings are by appointment, at the office or by phone or video.

Buying or Selling a Two-Flat, Three-Flat or Condo

Small multi-unit buildings are a large part of the housing here. In the Lincoln Square community area, about one in three housing units sits in a building with two to four units, according to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). Buying one of those buildings raises questions a single-family purchase does not.

• The first week matters most. Chicago-area residential contracts commonly include an attorney-review period, usually five business days. That period comes from the contract, so the signed form controls how the days are counted and how notice is given. Send us the contract the day it is accepted.
• Tenants come with the building. A sale does not end existing leases. Illinois law makes a buyer liable to each tenant for the security deposit, its interest, and any prepaid rent, and the seller stays liable too (765 ILCS 710/1.1). The usual answer is a closing credit, confirmed against the leases before closing.
• Moving in changes some rules, not all. Chicago’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance mostly does not cover units in owner-occupied buildings with six or fewer units. Its notice periods for ending a tenancy or raising rent, and its ban on lockouts, still apply to those units (Chicago Municipal Code 5-12-020, 5-12-130(j), 5-12-160). If your plan depends on moving into an occupied unit, the contract should say who gives notice and when.
• Sellers have duties before signing. For property with one to four residential units, including condominiums, the seller must complete the disclosure report and deliver it before the contract is signed (765 ILCS 77/20).

We review the contract inside the attorney-review deadline, negotiate inspection issues, review title, and attend the closing. Real estate consultations are not free. We quote the fee for each closing in writing before we start.

Injury Claims and the Deadlines That Can Run Short

If you were hurt in a crash, a fall, or at work, the first legal question is usually time. Most personal injury lawsuits in Illinois must be filed within two years, usually counted from the date of the injury (735 ILCS 5/13-202). Some claims have a shorter limit. A suit against a local public entity, such as the City of Chicago or a park district, generally must be filed within one year (745 ILCS 10/8-101(a)). A suit against the Chicago Transit Authority also has a one-year limit (70 ILCS 3605/41). Other rules apply to children, to wrongful death, and to claims against the State, so the deadline in your matter depends on its facts.

Hypothetical example: someone who falls on a broken step in a public park and waits 18 months to call a lawyer may already be past the one-year limit, even though a fall on private property would still be inside the two-year period.

Injury consultations are free. Injury cases are handled on a contingency fee, which we explain in writing before you sign, including how case costs are handled.

Opening or Running a Healthcare Practice

Health care accounts for 43.6 percent of the jobs located in the Lincoln Square community area, according to CMAP’s 2026 snapshot of 2023 federal employment data. For a dentist, physician, psychologist, or other licensed professional opening or growing a practice, the early choices are hard to undo: which entity, which owners, whether a management company is involved, and which vendors will hold patient data.

We help set up the entity under the Illinois rules for your profession, prepare owner agreements, and put a day-one compliance package in place, including HIPAA policies, vendor business associate agreements, and a compliance calendar. Mr. Mohamed has served as in-house general counsel and privacy officer for multi-site healthcare organizations. For an established practice, we handle HIPAA Security Rule work, which starts with the risk analysis the rule requires (45 C.F.R. 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(A)), along with business associate agreement inventories and breach response planning. For a new practice, the fee for formation and the compliance package is quoted in writing before work begins. An established practice that wants its current policies and procedures reviewed for gaps can request a free 45-minute gap briefing.

Leasing Space on a Business Corridor

Parts of Lawrence, Montrose, Lincoln, Western and Rockwell are inside Special Service Area 21, according to the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce, which administers it. A Special Service Area is a local tax district funded by a property tax on the parcels inside it, according to the City of Chicago. Before signing or renewing a lease, a tenant should know how the lease passes through property taxes and other building costs. That is a question for the lease itself, and the answer differs from lease to lease.

We review and negotiate commercial leases, including the use clause, the term and renewal options, operating cost and tax provisions, and what happens if the space cannot be used as planned. Lease review is a paid engagement, and the fee is quoted in writing before work begins.

Counsel for Businesses and Employers Near Lincoln Square

The jobs located in the Lincoln Square community area run from health care, the largest sector, to retail, restaurants and other food service, professional services, and manufacturing, according to CMAP. Each kind of employer meets a different set of rules. These are the business matters we handle, in addition to the healthcare and lease work above.

Contracts With Vendors, Platforms and Customers

We review and negotiate master services agreements, statements of work, software subscriptions, data processing agreements and business associate agreements. You receive a memo that explains each position, so your team understands the next contract too. One common surprise: the Illinois Automatic Contract Renewal Act protects consumers and does not apply to business-to-business contracts (815 ILCS 601/20(c)). A vendor agreement that renews on its own is governed by its own notice clause, so a renewal calendar matters.

Biometric Timeclocks, Privacy and AI in Hiring

Illinois regulates several tools ordinary employers use. Under the Biometric Information Privacy Act, a business that collects fingerprints or similar identifiers, for example through a timeclock, needs a public written retention and destruction policy, and must give written notice and obtain a written release before collecting (740 ILCS 14/15(a), (b)). The Illinois Human Rights Act makes it a civil rights violation for an employer to fail to give notice that it uses artificial intelligence for certain employment decisions (775 ILCS 5/2-102(L)). Employers that analyze recorded video interviews with AI have separate notice and consent duties (820 ILCS 42). We identify which rules reach your tools and data, then prepare the policies, notices and vendor terms. Ongoing AI governance and privacy work is available as a monthly retainer with a written report each month.

Employment-Based Immigration for Founders and Key Employees

For founders, physicians, researchers and key employees, and for the businesses and practices that employ them, we prepare EB-1, EB-2 and National Interest Waiver petitions. Every matter starts with a written strategy and eligibility memo that names the recommended category and the missing evidence, before anyone pays for a full petition. This is a separate service from our family immigration work.

Cannabis Licensing and Compliance

For applicants and licensed operators under the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (410 ILCS 705), and under Missouri’s constitutional program, we handle applications, ownership changes, site and lease work, contracts, and the operating controls that keep a license in good standing. Mr. Mohamed has served as in-house general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary for multi-state cannabis businesses.

How Business Engagements Are Priced

Business work is billed as a monthly retainer, a fixed-scope project, or hourly when the scope cannot honestly be predicted. In each case the fee model, deliverables, and anything that could change the budget are confirmed in writing before work begins. An established business that wants its current policies and procedures reviewed for gaps can request a free 45-minute gap briefing. New formations and lease matters are paid engagements.

About This Page and the Neighborhood

Lincoln Square is one of Chicago’s official community areas. Inside it, people also use older names such as Ravenswood and Bowmanville, and neighborhood edges are informal. The City’s own neighborhood map describes its boundaries as approximate. ZIP codes cross these lines, so 60625 covers our office and parts of nearby neighborhoods too. We serve clients across Chicago and Illinois, and Lincoln Square Law is a member of the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce. This page exists for people nearby who want to know what we handle and how to reach us.

If you need to scan or print documents before a meeting, the Chicago Public Library’s Sulzer Regional Library, 4455 N. Lincoln Ave., lists a public scanner and printing on its branch page.

Getting to the Office

• Address: 2248 W Foster Ave, Chicago, IL 60625, on the north side of the street.
• Bus: the CTA #92 Foster stops at Foster and Oakley and at Foster and Leavitt, near the office. The #49 Western runs north and south on Western and connects to the Blue and Brown Lines.
• Parking: street parking may be available on Foster and nearby side streets. Check posted restrictions and street-cleaning notices before you park.
• Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, by appointment only.
• Access: if you need step-free access, an interpreter, large print, or a video meeting, tell us when you schedule so we can confirm the arrangement.

What to Bring to Your First Meeting

Bring the documents closest to the decision you need to make. Clear copies are enough. Do not bring irreplaceable originals unless we ask.

Buying or selling a building or condo

• The signed purchase contract, with the acceptance date
• Every lease, the rent roll, and a list of security deposits and interest paid
• The seller’s disclosure report, and any inspection report
• For a condo, any association documents you already have

An injury claim

• The date, the place, and who owns or runs that place, if you know
• The crash report number, if police responded
• Insurance letters, and a short list of where you have been treated

A healthcare practice

• Your license type, and the names of planned owners
• Any draft lease, management agreement, or vendor contracts
• The date you plan to see your first patient

A commercial lease

• The current lease and any amendments, or the proposed lease
• The renewal or notice date, and recent tax or operating cost statements

A contract, privacy, or AI question for your business

• The contract or draft, and the date you are expected to sign or the next renewal date
• A list of the software and devices that collect employee or customer data, including any fingerprint or face-scan timeclock
• Any hiring tools that screen applicants or analyze interviews
• Your current privacy, retention, or AI-use policies, if you have them

Employment-based immigration

• A current resume or CV and a short list of publications, awards, or press
• Current immigration status and any prior petitions
• The employer’s name, if an employer is involved

How to Reach Us and What Happens Next

Call (312) 257-2260, or start with the short form on our booking page. We first run a conflicts check. If the firm may be able to help, we schedule a conversation with the attorney and tell you which documents would make it useful. We aim to respond to new inquiries within one business day.

Sending a form does not create an attorney-client relationship, and it does not mean we are protecting a deadline. Please do not send Social Security numbers, medical records, or other sensitive details through the form. If a deadline may be close, call. Representation begins only after conflicts are cleared, the firm accepts the matter, and an engagement agreement is signed.

Common Questions About Legal Help in Lincoln Square

Where is the Lincoln Square Law office?

Our only office is in Lincoln Square, at 2248 W Foster Ave, Chicago, IL 60625, on Foster Avenue east of Western Avenue. Visits are by appointment, and phone or video meetings are available.

Do I need a lawyer to buy a two-flat with tenants in Chicago?

Many Chicago-area purchase contracts give each side an attorney-review period, usually five business days, and the signed form controls its terms. A lawyer uses that time to add terms on leases, deposits, and notices to tenants. After it ends, the contract usually stands as written.

Does the Chicago landlord ordinance apply if I live in my two-flat?

Most of it does not. The ordinance excludes units in owner-occupied buildings with six or fewer units. Its rules on notice to end a tenancy or raise rent, and its ban on lockouts, still apply to those units.

How long do I have to file an injury claim against the City or the CTA?

Generally one year, which is shorter than the two years that applies to most Illinois injury suits. Exceptions exist, so call promptly and ask about your specific deadline.

Can a small business near Lincoln Square get help with a fingerprint timeclock or a vendor contract?

Yes. We review biometric timeclocks and other data collection under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, and we review and negotiate vendor, software, and services contracts. Business work is quoted in writing before it begins, as a monthly retainer, a fixed-scope project, or hourly when the scope is uncertain.

Is the first consultation free?

It depends on the matter. Injury consultations are free. An established business or practice can request a free 45-minute gap briefing that reviews its current policies and procedures. Real estate consultations and commercial lease matters are not free, and the fee is quoted in writing before we start.

Related Pages

This page is part of our directory of neighborhoods we serve.