Why people ask this first
For a great many survivors this is the question that decides whether they contact anyone at all.
It is not a small or vain concern, and it deserves a straight answer rather than reassurance.
The straight answer
Court filings are public documents by default. There are established steps for asking a court to
allow a claim to proceed without the claimant’s name appearing publicly, and those steps are
routinely used in cases of this kind.
They are not automatic. A court decides, and the decision depends on the circumstances. Anyone
who guarantees you anonymity at a first conversation is overselling.
What we do about it
We raise it before anything is filed, not afterwards. You would know what protection has been
sought and what has been granted before your claim becomes a public document.
Before anything is filed
Nothing about a first conversation is public. Contacting us creates no record anywhere, and if
you decide to go no further there is nothing to become public. Confidentiality applies from the
first conversation whether or not you go ahead.
This page describes Illinois law in general terms. It is not legal advice and it cannot tell you whether your own claim is in time, that depends on facts this page does not know. A conversation costs nothing and will give you a real answer.