CHICAGO, Ill. — When our client walked into CTM Legal Group, he had one goal: get his dog back.

He had adopted his dog — whom we'll call Max — from Chicago Animal Control in October 2024. The paperwork was in his name. The adoption was his. Max was his emotional support animal, documented by his physician. By every measure, Max was his dog.

But when the client's romantic relationship ended badly, his ex-partner left the home — and took Max with him.

"Our client came to us having already done a remarkable job on his own," said Paul Ryan, the CTM attorney who handled the case. "He had filed the lawsuit himself, in the right court, in the right division, before the right judge. He just wanted to make sure he had an advocate in his corner to get across the finish line."

That advocate made a difference.

The case proceeded as a detinue action — a legal claim for the return of personal property — in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The defendant argued that he had a partial ownership interest in Max, pointing to a contribution he had made toward the dog's expenses. He also pointed to a series of text messages in which the client, in the heat of a painful breakup, had threatened to surrender Max to an animal shelter.

It was the kind of evidence that can derail a case. Ryan was ready for it.

At trial, Ryan presented the full picture: our client had desired the dog, selected him, adopted him, signed the paperwork, and brought him home. The shelter threat, Ryan argued, was exactly what the court ultimately found it to be — the desperate words of a person in emotional pain during a relationship collapse, not evidence of abandonment or indifference.

"The texts looked bad on the surface," Ryan said. "But when you put them in context — the full conversation, what our client was going through, the fact that he was simultaneously pleading for Max's return in the very same exchanges — the picture becomes very clear. He loved that dog. He never stopped wanting him back."

The court agreed, finding the client's attachment to Max genuine, his testimony credible, and his right to possession superior to the defendant's. The defendant was ordered to return Max. The handoff took place in the parking lot of a Chicago Police Department district station — a neutral ground befitting a hard-fought dispute.

Max came home.

"This case is a reminder that the law reaches into every corner of people's lives," Ryan said. "A dog is family. Our client knew that, and he was willing to fight for that in a courtroom. We were proud to fight alongside him."

CTM Legal Group handles a wide range of civil litigation matters, including detinue actions, consumer rights cases, landlord-tenant disputes, and more, serving individuals and businesses throughout the Chicago area.