Ep. 203 How Can You Get Justice When The Legal System Fails You?

In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss my quest for justice in a real estate transaction where I was sold a defective condo.

This episode will surprise many people, but I am at my wit’s end. My goal is to get in touch with journalists, reporters, etc., to help me spread the word about the injustice in our legal system.  

These are case documents I reference during today’s episode. These are the case documents from both sides of the case–the Plaintiff (me) and Defendants (filed on 7/15/2022, and uploaded on 8/8/2022 for ruling, see attached).

Anyway, being at my wit’s end is a phrase I rarely say or feel. I’ve only ever felt this way three times in my life.

1. When my dad passed away from colon cancer six months before I graduated from college.
2. Back in 2018, when I lost everything. I lost my job, my savings, my apartment, and the list goes on… I took L’s left and right that year but didn’t give up.
3. Now, unfortunately, this is the third time in my life that I can honestly say I’m at my wit’s end again. The condo I purchased that was supposed to be completely renovated turned out to have major material defects. It does not have a heating system nor does it have insulation to prevent noise nuisance issues. That means that I can hear my upstairs neighbor walking, talking, sneezing, vacuuming, the list goes on, but you get the point, I can hear everything.

Before I go further, let me answer the question, “Did you hire a home inspector?” The answer is yes. However, in my case, having a home inspector still would not have mattered… Therefore, please listen to the entire episode and review the court documents before making this incredibly obvious comment. 

Case Documents

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hnkVu7wTKXE1BjBYOxEQH3B–mqpVdf9

Also, one more thing to add to this ongoing nightmare is that I unintentionally bought into a condo building complex owned by family and friends. To fix these defects, I had to take everyone involved to court, bringing us to my current lawsuit.

Since I have a fairly diverse audience before I get into the specifics of my lawsuit, some folks may not be aware of the statistics that I’m about to share: 

1. The current homeownership rate for Black Americans is 43.4%, significantly less than White Americans at 72.1%. https://www..com/insurance/homeowners-insurance/home-ownership-statistics/#ethnicity

2. Regardless of whether Black Americans have good credit, there are countless stories of Black Americans facing difficulties trying to obtain loans to purchase homes. 

3. Even if Black Americans are fortunate enough to own their home if they wish to sell their home, they run into issues with the possibility of receiving a low appraisal due to their race. 

I left a couple of articles on the website, but feel free to use Google because you’ll find plenty more in addition to the ones I have on the website (I left a couple of articles, but feel free to Google more)

Speaking from personal experience, I can attest to the fact that many of these statistics occur due to people in powerful positions being unfair. I was confronted with this unfair mentality throughout my entire lawsuit. Whether Judge Neil H. Cohen’s prejudice towards me is due to racism, I am the only Black person involved in this lawsuit, or my educational background and/or economic status, I do not know.  What I do know is that Judge Neil H. Cohen has a bias against me, and he is using my lawsuit to demonstrate this fact.

Legally, I, the Plaintiff, won my lawsuit because the defendants and their attorneys have NO defense against my concrete evidence. You can’t make up not having a functioning heating system nor a defective ceiling. To expedite the matter in resolving this case,  not only did I offer Judge Cohen and the Defendant’s attorneys the opportunity to see the material defects themselves, my briefs have page after page of concise, detailed allegations together with undeniable evidence that consists of quotes, emails, videos of the defects, laws, and are loaded with facts. Yet, Judge Neil H. Cohen still refuses to rule in my, the Plaintiff’s favor. 

Rather than rule in my favor, Judge Neil H. Cohen has tried a variety of tactics to prolong this lawsuit.  Judge Neil H. Cohen has tried to pass on the case. For one reason or another, Judge Neil H. Cohen kept moving around the court hearing ruling dates, and the list of confusion goes on and on. Finally, Judge Neil H. Cohen, on 9/28/2022 made a defective, biased ruling of dismiss without prejudice.

Let’s not get without prejudice twisted. Judge Neil H. Cohen, 9/28/2022, biased, defective ruling of “dismissed without prejudice” is a complete illusion of him being fair-minded. Dismissing my case (#2021CH03658), on 9/28/2022, without prejudice is a shrewd way for Judge Neil H. Cohen not to rule in my the Plaintiff’s favor while pretending that he is being “helpful” and “fair-minded” by giving me another chance to refile my briefs.  As you can see from the attached case documents, the plaintiff briefs are correct “as is” (filed on 7/15/2022, and uploaded on 8/8/2022 for ruling, see attached).  

The mere fact that Judge Neil H. Cohen did NOT dismiss my case (#2021CH03658) with prejudice is evidence of this fact.  I believe the reason Judge Neil H. Cohen did not dismiss my case with prejudice is that such a ruling would confirm the corruption within the courtroom. Dismissing my case (#2021CH03658) with prejudice will raise questions as to why he excused all of my concrete, undeniable evidence. 

By law, the defendants and their defense attorneys lost the lawsuit (case #2021CH03658). The defendants’ attorneys had/have NO defense against my, the plaintiff’s evidence! Therefore, the defendants legally lost the lawsuit against me. Despite this fact, Judge Neil H. Cohen refuses to rule in my favor. 

Instead of ruling in my, the Plaintiff’s favor, I believe that Judge Neil H. Cohen is using 9/28/2022 defective ruling of “dismiss without prejudice” to set the stage for another one of his tactics. In other words, if I re-filed my briefs, this would give Judge Neil H. Cohen an opportunity to STRIKE ALL of my concrete, undisputed evidence. Therefore, weakening my case (#2021CH03658) so the lawsuit can be re-directed into the hands of the defense attorneys. 

Based on Judge Neil H. Cohen’s unfair, biased, clever, September 28, 2022, ruling, it appears that Judge Neil H. Cohen is using his office as a judge to arrange and accomplish his own distorted sense of justice whereby he can personally pick and choose who he wants to win or lose said lawsuit. Judge Neil H. Cohen fails to realize that Illinois has an established legal system. Therefore, a judge is NOT allowed to personally pick and choose who he wants to win said lawsuit. Using the judge’s office this way is an injustice! 

Within Illinois legal system, all individuals are to be treated fairly, regardless of their race, education, and economic status. Illinois due process requires legal matters to be resolved according to established rules and codes set forth by the laws established. Justice is a concept that stands for fairness and righteousness, while the law is a tool in which to serve this justice. In other words, in making a ruling, justice and law should be identical.

However, this is not always the case with some judges such as Judge Neil H. Cohen. Although Illinois has laws that govern everything, we still have some judges like Judge Neil H. Cohen who choose not to properly apply justice.  It is apparent, with 9/28/2022 ruling, that Judge Neil H. Cohen forgot that justice and law are strictly connected. Judge Neil H. Cohen’s defective, clever tactic of ruling to “dismiss without prejudice” is putting in motion an injustice.  

When a judge leaves the standard of the legal system and rules according to his own personal opinion rather than the law, he is NO longer performing as a judge.  His behavior is unbecoming of a judge. Dismiss without prejudice is a clever way for judges such as Judge Neil H. Cohen to rule based on their own personal preference as to who should win or lose a lawsuit. 

Again, I believe that Judge Neil H. Cohen’s ruling to dismiss without prejudice is a clever tactic to NOT rule in my, the Plaintiff’s favor, while subtly trying to re-direct the entire lawsuit into the hands of the defense attorneys.  Judge Neil H. Cohen’s ruling on 9/28/2022, is NOT following established Illinois laws. In his defective ruling, Judge Neil H. Cohen, fails to realize that a court must consider my complaint based on the established legal system, not a judge’s biased, distorted rule dealing with formatting. 

Besides, according to Illinois laws [Pursuant to 735 ILCS 5/2-603(a) and 735 ILCS 5/2-603(c)] my briefs have merit. Therefore, they should be accepted for proper adjudication. Instead of subjectively viewing the evidence presented and making a legitimate, legal decision, Judge Neil H. Cohen chose to squabble over “formatting.” Once again, as you can see from the attached case documents, the plaintiff briefs are correct “as is” (filed on 7/15/2022, and uploaded on 8/8/2022 for ruling, see attached).  

Judge Neil H. Cohen is trying to nitpick code §2-603 so he can create a loophole whereby he does NOT have to rule in my, the Plaintiff’s favor. Despite all the concrete undisputed evidence I was able to present, along with case laws, Judge Neil H. Cohen decided to dismiss my case due to formatting. You heard that right…formatting. Again, see attached case documents from both sides, Defendant and Plaintiff (filed on 7/15/2022, and uploaded on 8/8/2022 for ruling, see attached). 

Judge Neil H. Cohen overdramatizing trivial matters, such as formatting and NOT objectively managing the evidence and facts presented, is his attempt to create his own personal pleading standard, thus, creating a loophole so that he can personally determine who should win or lose this lawsuit. Again, legally, I, the Plaintiff, won the lawsuit because the defendants’ attorneys had/have NO defense against my evidence. In an effort to NOT rule in my favor, a pro se, Judge Neil H. Cohen’s, clever ruling was “dismiss without prejudice.” 

Speaking of me being a pro se, here is the CliffsNotes version behind this matter. I hired Attorney Keil M. Larson to represent me in this lawsuit.  Later on within the lawsuit, I discovered for one reason or another, was sabotaging my case. By the way, unethical behavior appears to be a pattern for him (check out the website for an article about him and an email I received from another one of his former clients).  As you can imagine, this entire situation is turning into a real nightmare straight from hell. Anyway, I kicked my questionable attorney to the curb and I am now also in the process of suing him for his incompetence and leveraging my evidence to benefit himself. 

Complaints regarding Keil M. Larson

Estate administrator alleges Law Offices of Keil Larson failed to protect man’s estate (News article)

Anyway, since my lawsuit is a simple open-and-shut case, and I had all my evidence, my mom and I took over handling the case ourselves. I did my research and followed procedures to filing the documents needed to handle this simple open-and-shut lawsuit. In fact, during one of the court hearings, Judge Neil H. Cohen stated my case wasn’t rocket science, and he understood what I was saying, and there would be no need for oral arguments. 

In order for Judge Neil H. Cohen to state the aforementioned, he had to have read my briefs. And, my briefs were comprehensible for adjudicating.  Again, attached are the case documents that were (filed on 7/15/2022, and uploaded on 8/8/2022 for ruling, see attached). As you can see, there is no need to prolong this lawsuit.  Judge Neil H. Cohen just needed to be fair-minded and adjudicate the briefs placed before him according to the law.

There was a court hearing scheduled for today, November 3rd, 2022. There is absolutely no reason for me to attend November 3^rd, 2022, court hearing. I believe that Judge Neil H. Cohen wants me to appear at in November 3^rd, 2022, court hearing so he can attempt to intimidate me into refiling my briefs (again, these were filed on 7/15/2022, and uploaded on 8/8/2022 for ruling, see attached). I will NOT waste my time refiling these documents!  My briefs are correct “as is”; it is the judge that’s incorrect!

Judge Neil H. Cohen’s biased, defective ruling of 9/28/2022, “dismiss without prejudice,” would make any fair-minded person question – is Judge Neil H. Cohen a judge duly commissioned to hold court sessions? Based on the handling of my simple open and shut case (#2021CH03658) Judge Neil H. Cohen is NOT qualified to try and/or decide controversies and administer justice. Judge Neil H. Cohen’s unjust application of the law has created his own sense of bias justice as to what type of person should win or lose a lawsuit.

Despite ALL the concrete evidence I have presented, I still can’t get justice. The injustice within Illinois’ legal system is incredible! Judges such as Judge Neil H. Cohen do not rule according to Illinois’ established laws. Depending on who the litigant is, it is apparent that Judge Neil H. Cohen picks and chooses which rule of law he wishes to “strictly” adhere to.

For example, Illinois law requires separation and appearance papers involving all parties involved in a lawsuit.  Judge Neil H. Cohen did NOT “strictly” follow Illinois’ law regarding parties filing separation and appearance papers. Case in point, Judge Neil H. Cohen allowed one defendant 3 or 4 times to go back and forth from being represented by an attorney to being a pro se.  All of the aforementioned was done without filing separation and/or appearance papers. 

The same applies to defense attorneys. Prior to 9/28/2022 ruling, Judge Neil H. Cohen allowed one of the Defendant’s attorneys to be removed from the case and replaced with another attorney. This was done without both attorneys filing their required separation and appearance papers. 

However, my former attorney was ordered to file separation papers when I took over my lawsuit. I, the plaintiff, was ordered to file my appearance papers, email them to the judge’s chamber, and put the defendants’ attorneys on CC (which I did).  It appears that Judge Neil H. Cohen only enforces rules with litigants like me. 

Again, I am the only Black person going against very affluent white people and their attorneys’ firms.

The justice I seek is really  quite simple:

1. I should get some of my money back because this is not a completely renovated condo. By the way, there are NO permits on file with the City of Chicago to even substantiate the claim that this condo was even renovated (I found that out during the lawsuit).
2. I want to receive money back so I can fix the defective ceiling. I already have a company in mind that I plan on hiring, but I need the funds to do so.
3. I want the condo board to enforce their own bylaws, which specifically state that those living on the 3rd floor and above have installed the highest soundproofing flooring material.
4. Since I do not have an electric heating system, I want to get new in-wall heating/air conditioners because this is the only way I can heat my condo unit.

Again, if you have any connections within the media, please send them my way. I would really appreciate it if you share this story because my goal is to gain as much exposure as possible for this case.

I would never wish what I’m currently experiencing on my worst enemy. This is extremely unfair! I’m sharing my story in hopes to not only receive the justice that I seek but to bring attention to the “loopholes” those who work within the legal system are using to prevent people from receiving justice.

These loopholes will undoubtedly lead to a further increase in the growing homeownership gap between Black and white Americans if injustices like mine continue to occur.