Bankruptcy Attorney News – Peter Francis Geraci Law, call us at 800 CALL PFG

The Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund sent a thank you to Attorney Peter Francis Geraci for his contribution.  The donation, by Mr. Geraci, will be used to support three member legal service providers: Disability Rights Wisconsin, Legal Action of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Judicare.

The donation will be used to help people in need.  Recently the Disability Rights of Wisconsin (DRW) assisted a woman, named Mary, who was discharged from a county Health Facility.  The Group Home Staff attempts to relocate Mary to a housing community failed.

The DRW took over to help Mary relocate.  DRW was able to help Mary successfully find a housing community and put down a security deposit on an apartment of her own choosing.  Mary now has a place she can call, “home”. Mary said, “I was led out of the desert to an oasis.” when commenting on the assistance from DRW employees.

Donations to the Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund will help prevent homelessness, joblessness, discrimination and other problems.

Melendez 10/3/2016:  “I am so glad i hired this law group. The help i have received has been amazing. They were with me from start to finish. And someone always answered by questions by email or by phone. I never felt like another file on someones desk. They took the time to make sure we selected the best plan for me and my situations.

Now that it is all done, I can say THANK YOU! Getting your help was the best decision I made and I know I wont be messing up this new chance.”

Carolyn 10/5/2016: “I went to PFG and met with attorney Mario. He was very knowledgeable and courteous. I felt at ease and comfortable when he explained my options. He even gave history on law firm. He was so good my niece met with him a month later!!!”

Chris 10/4/2016: “Geraci’s firm handled a Ch13 form e in 2009. Years later, long after the case was over, I needed copies of the petition and discharge. I couldn’t find them. One call to a Geraci office had pdf copies in my email within 10 minutes for me to use for the purposes needed. From the initial consultation, through the process and now years later helping me once again. Many thanks and a hearty recommendation for Geraci’s practice.”

 

Peter had an appointment at the Rockford rescue mission. Peter Francis Geraci and his wife Holly B Geraci raise money for various charities per providing matching funds at www.helpHollyhelp.com. Here is Rus Howard of the rescue mission before channel 23 cameras, explaining the kickoff of the help Holly help $10,000 matching grant challenge for Rockford rescue mission.

Russ explained that challenge grants are a wonderful idea, because instead of just giving money, it encourages members of the community to be aware of the need of others in the community.  In addition, challenge grants encourage others to contribute, and that has a beneficial effect on society as a whole. The history of Rockford rescue mission can be seen on their website, through the link at www.helpHollyhelp.com

Most of the donations, Russ said, that come into the Rockford rescue mission are very small $5, 10 or $20 dollars. The interview with Peter Francis Geraci and Rus Howard can be seen at the channel 23 website or at www.helpHollyhelp.com. If 400 people give $20 each, and that is not too much in the city, like Rockford, with 150,000 residents; that will mean that Rockford residents have matched $10,000, and Peter and Holly will match that 10,000, giving Rockford Rescue Mission a $20,000 boost.

Jonathan Parker and Peter Francis Geraci were scheduled to attend the Winnebago County Bar Association and Federal Bar Association joint continuing legal education program on practice before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The Hon. Diane P Wood, chief judge US Circuit Court of Appeals the Seventh Circuit as well as Donald J Wall counsel to the circuit executive, and James J Grogan deputy administrator and Chief Counsel of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois spoke, ending with a session on role 33 mediation conferences; led by Seventh

Circuit mediator Rocco Spagna, and the Hon. Ian Johnston, US magistrate Judge, with Stephen Balogh of Williams and McCarthy.

 

There was an oversupply of doughnuts, however. Repeated pleas to use the doughnuts were wasted upon this diet conscious crowd. There were about three dozen donuts purchased and only eight or 10 eaten.

Peter and Jonathan were tempted to grab them and take them back to the hungry crew at Geraci law, but did not know if that would be a federal offense or not. Not to mention the strict scrutiny that Holly Geraci subjects Peter to on a constant basis. She does not want him to gain weight and slow down. A good donut has been known to have that effect on him.

After their interview with their new client, Peter and Jonathan headed north on the great River Road, heading towards their next destination. Here’s a picture of Jonathan, at the Port Byron Locks.  Port Byron is a small town just north of East Moline.

 

 

 

Who knows why the giant statue of a man, in a full-sized bicycle, is there-but it is. Some things they just is.

 

Port Byron is also the home of “tug-fest”. “Tug-fest” is an annual contest where a rope is stretched across the Mississippi with a town in Illinois competing against a town in Iowa; and you know what happens?  The townsfolk try to pull each other into the old Main River.

 

You know what this is. It’s roadkill!  If you look close, you can see the vulture help to keep Port Byron roads pristine.  The Mississippi River flyway is a wonderful place to observe nature and there are a lot of lookouts where you can see bald eagles and Golden Eagles on the river. Of course this vulture prefers to get its meet already cooked.

 

Here’s a picture of the cooling towers of the Port Byron nuclear plant which is nowhere near Port Byron, but evidently Byron is a name that somebody in this part of Illinois likes a lot. As our intrepid barristers parameter relayed northward out of Port Byron they came across the Administrative Federal Penitentiary at Thomson Illinois; that is the prison with no prisoners.   Peter Geraci told Judge Castillo that he had no idea why anyone would build a federal prison in a town such as Thompson, between the great River Road in the swamps, and judge Castillo said that he didn’t know either. Anyway the prison is vacant, brand-new but vacant. It just seems like a strange place to build a prison-far from anywhere, but I suppose if anyone was able to get out of it, they would be easy to spot.  Since there is nothing much in any direction except corn…. And vultures.

 

 

 

Geraci Law trial attorneys Peter Francis Geraci and Jonathan Parker traveled to the E. Moline Correctional Ctr., a minimum-security state prison in East Moline Illinois. Why the road trip? Chief judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern district of Illinois Ruben Castillo appointed Peter Francis Geraci, from the federal courts trial bar list of attorneys willing to accept pro bono appointments. The three cases judge Castillo assigned were all filed pro se by a 30-year-old Cook County jail pretrial detainee, alleging bad jail conditions, and lack of proper mental health medication. The assignment is to consolidate the three lawsuits into one complaint, and to proceed with the prosecution of these prisoner claims. When the plaintiff was an inmate at cook County jail, he complained of in January, overflowing toilets, and retaliation for making complaints. He also complained of failure of guards and healthcare workers at the jail do provide him with the medication he was taking before he was incarcerated. He later was sentenced on a criminal charge, and transferred from cook County jail to E. Moline Correctional Ctr.
As Geraci and Parker approached the correctional center, which is three hours west of Chicago on Interstate 88, the sign don’t pick up hitchhikers was the first indication. Rounding a bend, the correctional center appeared high on a hill just east of the Mississippi in East Moline. This is a minimum-security prison. The atmosphere was much different, Geraci said, from the other state prisons in Illinois, some of which are maximum security, and most of which are in downstate Illinois. E. Moline Correctional Ctr. is the only Western Illinois state present. It is just south of the federal prison that stands vacant in Thomson  Illinois, a town of about 600 people

Downtown East Moline is very worn out this is a picture of the main drag at 11 AM that goes along the river as you had to the Mississippi. This road is below the Mississippi River Bluff up on the bluff is a brand-new road that runs between Davenport and Moline and extends into East Moline where all the new stuff is.

 

 

Here’s a view from the east bank of the Mississippi, with Attorney Parker, just north of East Moline. The river is pretty high, and starting to flood little bit. Farther north, by Cedar Rapids Iowa, during our trip, there were serious flood issues up into Wisconsin. This is about 100 miles south of where the blood problems are right now.  The area around the quad cities, Moline Davenport, Rock Island and East Moline, is the only place in its journey to the Gulf of Mexico where the Mississippi runs east to west. There is a kind of a similar area around New Orleans, where the river goes in a crescent, which is what gives New Orleans its name Crescent City.

 Geraci Law 5 Star Reviews From Avvo! 

“Excellent Job: My name is Linda. It got to the point I was buried in credit card debt. You see, I never understood variables, short term goals, long term goals, I used to say “I don’t make goals, that’s boring. ” I have seen Peter Francis Geraci advertising for years & I was driving up Ogden & saw a building w/his face on it. I went in, signed up. I got the BEST LAWYER Christine. Boy, she had my thoughts written down before I spoke them. I didn’t have to worry about a thing. Then there were the 2 Hananwill classes 1 w/Jay & 1 w/John K. At first it was hard because I don’t know shorthand but when I got the pkg from them to do the evaluation and assessment I LEARNED SOOO MUCH!! Next to my bible that packet will be my 2nd bible. this is the very BEST law firm. I will NEVER NEVER go anywhere Else! and I mean that! When I called w/a question no matter which lawyer picked up the phone they knew about my case and had an answer for me. God Bless you Geraci Law Firm. I am witnessing to each & every person that I can about your superb service & care.”

“Smooth Bankruptcy Experience: The lawyer was specific on how the whole process worked. Made me feel at ease with the bankruptcy process. We went thru the creditors to make sure everything was in order. I let him know that there was one missing and he looked into it right away. So I just signed a paper that would allow it to be amended in. Once again the experience was smooth and not scary like I had thought.”

“Guided us Through: From the moment we sat down to discuss our bankruptcy Peter Francis Geraci has guided us through the process at every step. We knew what requirements were needed and given easy access to complete them. When my wife was out of work for several months due to surgery Mr. Geraci was a good liason to the bankruptcy trustee. Customer service was prompt.
All we had to do was follow Mr. Geraci’s instructions and all went well.”

The Chicago “Fibune” is still printing worn out recycled nonsense from self-styled “financial expert” Terry Savage.  This time, Savage (and she has a picture there from 40 years ago) is telling senior citizens who can’t handle their debt to go to an operation called “Debt Counsel for Seniors and the Disabled.” What is that?  It’s good old Jerry Lamet, who gets old people in under the guise of “helping them face the terror of losing their exempt Social Security funds. The game is that he’s talking about their credit report, and how negative items stay on for seven years, and the bankruptcy stays on for 10 years, like it some big deal to us 75-year-old who is being sued by a creditor. He then gets them to pay them $125-$250, and then he claims as low as $25-$30 a month, and what he does for that is tell creditors that they can’t call on the telephone.

Jerry used to be a government lawyer, and then he quit, and became a creditor lawyer, now he sucked up with some lawyer in Florida telling seniors not to file bankruptcy, but to pay him at least five or $600, and then get them hooked up on a monthly thing so that they stay in debt. That’s pretty weird because in Florida, bankruptcies don’t cost much more than that, the lawyers their living on half pay and half sunshine, just like all the old retired people. In addition Florida is the state that provides huge bankruptcy exemptions. Terry Savage and Jerry LaMotte, however are publishing newspaper articles that make it seem like seniors have something to gain by staying in debt. It’s only Terry Savage and Jerry that are gaining by them staying in debt.

On top of it, it sure looks like to me that Jerry’s trying to pick up Social Security disability and fair debt collection act violation cases from these seniors. Most lawyers don’t charge anything if somebody has such a violation, but with the monthly payment plan, you have to wonder what’s really going on. The website claims that have “helped” 14,000 people since 1998. If old Jerry got 750 bucks from each one, he’s collected a cool $10,500,000. Now, 1998 is an eon ago, 18 years. That’s only $583,333.33 a year. From the website it looks like it’s just Jerry and is friend in Florida, and about 10 clerks. But even with 12 people working that’s only about 60,000 a year gross, so there must be a heck of a lot of money coming in from Social Security disability and fair debt collection action practices cases.

Thanks a bunch Terry and Jerry. And thanks a bunch for viewing with your half-baked information. Maybe you should get another of your half-baked reporters like little Kim from Australia to tell only half the story. Kim sure caught his lunch from Tony Preckwinkle when he misquoted or and maligned her in his goofy gossip column. And thank you very much, Fibune, for your bizarre nonfactual reporting today about the 56-year-old from the suburbs who got his brains blown out in front of the face fountain at Monroe in Michigan. You even write in the story that it was outside millennium Park. Sure, by 3 feet. And then you make up a bunch of nonsense about a “person of interest”. When in should just tell us what the gunmen looked like, why he was on a bicycle, why he was without a woman who attacked the dead guys sister when she tried to grab him, why this sister would ask you try to grab a guy who had just blown her brothers brains out at 7:30 PM in the crowd of tourists, or something else interesting. But no, you put a story by Terry Savage on the right-hand column, and waste 20 inches of press on a bunch of nonsense. No wonder your newspaper is busted.

Note to Terry and Jerry: seniors who are in debt benefit greatly by filing a bankruptcy. You try explaining to a sheriff’s deputy and a flak jacket who’s serving you with a summons to appear in court that your Social Security is exempt. You try to get a parking place at the Bridgeview or Maywood courthouse to answer a summons on a debt that you don’t all. You’re way better off filing a bankruptcy case when it gets to this point, especially if the debts are collectible. And what is this nonsense about the credit report. Senior should not be worried about their “credit report”. It’s just another trick by Terry Savage to get them back into debt so that creditors call them with debts they can’t pay, so that Jerry can tell the creditors not to call it even says on his website that he can’t protect them against a court lawsuits. That’s what you get when you tell a creditor to shove off. They sue you.  Seniors are poorly served by this kind of weird “legal advice”.  Terry Savage is not the friend of senior, nor is Jerry. This article is just another example of deliberate misinformation by the Tribune for no good reason. Perhaps there is a reason: not enough car dealers are buying ads in your paper and you have to fill it up with something.

Posted by Heather 9/17/2016: “I was in deep financial trouble and needed help to get out of debt. I wanted to make sure that I had an attorney working with me that could handle my complicated situation. At Geraci Law Offices, Attorney Alex George did not just handle my case, he explained information so that I would understand what was happening. He walked me through everything, step-by-step. Everyone I talked to at Geraci Law Offices was friendly, knowledgeable, and more than willing to help answer my questions. This relieved my stress and helped me move forward, knowing I was in good hands and being taken care of.”

 

Posted by Samuel 9/17/2016: “Hi, I wanted to just share a little about our experience with bankruptcy and how Peter Francis Geraci’s lawfirm helped us. I have to say that the experience was quick, and easy. We hired our attorney at our first meeting. My only thing I did not like that for our second appointment we had a different attorney. He was good as well, but we had already explained our situation to the first attorney only to have our file handed over to someone else, felt a little impersonal, but everything went very smoothly. I recently called the office to inquire about my files which are 3 years old and the person on the other line, not sure if I am allowed to share names, so I will name her “J” was super helpful, friendly and answered my questions in a timely manner. Very professional and very good customer service. Thank you”

Geraci Law has been retained in another maternal birth injury case. A Geraci Law bankruptcy client went to a Chicago hospital for her seven month checkup. Supposedly, she was diagnosed with preeclampsia and despite having a planned delivery at another hospital, the staff at this hospital decided that she needed a cesarean section.

She consented, and was hospitalized after the successful cesarean delivery to recover. In the morning, however, she was found with the IV bag empty, and stopped breathing. She was resuscitated but is now in a coma. As with any possible malpractice case, said Attorney Peter Francis Geraci, “it is a mystery until we obtain the records and get expert opinions. In this case, since the client is in a coma and any nursing home, we are pointing her husband as the guardian, so that we may obtain the records.”  Under Illinois law, the person who cannot give consent to a medical provider to release records, where there is no advanced health care directive, presents a problem.

If it was a death, Illinois law provides that the surviving spouse, or other family members, may obtain the records. The Illinois law regarding obtaining records, when a person is in eight coma, should be changed so that the records can be obtained the same as one the person is deceased.  Unfortunately, when the law was amendeded in 2011, 735 ILCS 5/8-2001.5 only allowed relatives of a deceased person to obtain records for malpractice review, or social security needs, without a formal guardianship proceeding that takes several months to accomplish.