Illinois

  • March 18, 2025

    Illinois Asbestos Injury Firm Escapes 'Fraud Playbook' Suit

    A Chicago federal judge on Tuesday tossed a racketeering suit an industrial pipe company brought against a "prolific" Illinois asbestos litigation law firm, finding that the pipe company failed to adequately plead that the law firm formed an "enterprise" with various clients, witnesses, co-counsel and staff.

  • March 18, 2025

    Bank Groups Push For Permanent Block On Ill. Swipe Fee Law

    Banking industry groups moved late Monday to deliver a final blow to an Illinois state law that bans swipe fees on tax and tip portions of payment card transactions, asking a Chicago federal judge to go ahead and finish off the ban before it takes effect this summer.

  • March 17, 2025

    OCC Green-Lights SmartBiz, Centrust Fintech Bank

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced Monday it has given the green light for SmartBiz Loans to roll its new acquisition, CenTrust Bank NA, into a financial technology company called SmartBiz Bank NA.

  • March 17, 2025

    PVC Pipe Co. Faces Investor COVID-Era Antitrust Claims

    PVC pipe maker Atkore Inc. and three current and former executives face a proposed investor class action over the company's alleged involvement in a conspiracy to fix prices for PVC pipes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • March 17, 2025

    New Bills Target 'Patent Thickets' And 'Product Hopping'

    A bipartisan group of senators is backing two bills it says will use the patent system to lower the price of prescription drugs, in part by targeting "patent thickets" and making "product hopping" a violation of antitrust laws. 

  • March 17, 2025

    IPRs Are Going Too Far, Fed. Circ. Told In Samsung Dispute

    A late 1990s tech developer suing Samsung over LED patent claims wants the full Federal Circuit to "confirm the limits Congress placed" on patent challenges, after a panel decided that the patent board could accept patent applications that are not publicly accessible as prior art.

  • March 17, 2025

    Full 7th Circ. Won't Revive Suit Over Late Medicaid Payments

    The full Seventh Circuit has answered the "enormous question" of whether a Chicago hospital can sue the state of Illinois to force the managed-care organizations it contracts with to make timely Medicaid payments, concluding the hospital doesn't have a federal right to prompt payments for fear of turning federal trial courts into "de facto Medicaid claims processors."

  • March 17, 2025

    Illinois Cannabis Social Equity Licensee Sued By Backer

    A company that backs entrepreneurs qualified for social equity cannabis licenses alleged in a new federal lawsuit that a business owner it partnered with reneged on their agreement when he attempted to sell his retail marijuana license to another party.

  • March 17, 2025

    Wash. AG Seeks $32M In Legal Fees In Kroger Merger Case

    Washington's attorney general said the state is entitled to recover $32.4 million in legal fees for prevailing in its lawsuit opposing Kroger's $24.6 billion bid to buy Albertsons, including nearly $10 million for Munger Tolles & Olson LLP's assistance in the state court case.

  • March 17, 2025

    American Airlines Pension Data Suit Transferred To Texas

    American Airlines can ship to Texas a proposed class action alleging the company used outdated statistics to calculate retirees' pension payments, an Illinois federal judge ruled, finding the worker leading the case was one of the only things tying the suit to Illinois.

  • March 17, 2025

    Hair Care Co.'s Hair, Face Scans Violate BIPA, Consumer Says

    Hair care company Living Proof has been sued in Illinois state court by a consumer who says the company illegally collects and uses customers' biometric hair and face geometry to analyze their hair characteristics and recommend products to buy online.  

  • March 14, 2025

    Trump Revokes Paul Weiss Security Clearances

    Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP became the third law firm to have workers' security clearances suspended by President Donald Trump, who signed the executive order Friday, citing the firm's DEI hiring practices and the decision by a former attorney there to assist the Manhattan district attorney's investigation of Trump.

  • March 14, 2025

    Justices Set Deadline In Birthright Citizenship Injunction Row

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday gave states and organizations challenging President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship until early next month to address Trump's request for the high court to limit three federal judge's injunctions that preliminarily blocked the order's implementation across the U.S.

  • March 14, 2025

    11th Circ. Again Upholds Fla. Ban On Under-21 Gun Sales

    Florida's law banning sales of firearms to anyone under 21 is constitutional, a divided Eleventh Circuit ruled Friday on en banc review, finding that America's 18- to 20-year-olds have had their gun rights checked since the nation's founding.

  • March 14, 2025

    Real Estate Recap: Waldorf Reno, DEI Scrubbing, CFIUS Risk

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including a chat with the legal team behind the 10-year renovation of Manhattan's iconic Waldorf Astoria, how real estate companies are dropping mention of diversity, equity and inclusion from public filings, and increasing scrutiny by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

  • March 14, 2025

    Md. Judge Joins Calif. In Reversing Federal Workers' Firing

    A Maryland federal judge has ordered the reinstatement of thousands of probationary employees who were abruptly fired from 18 federal agencies, saying the Trump administration's lack of required notice left states "scrambling" to pick up the pieces.

  • March 14, 2025

    Home Depot Nixes 3rd Lynk Labs Patent Claim At Fed. Circ.

    Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. persuaded Federal Circuit judges on Friday to override the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and throw out another claim in a patent issued to a late 1990s tech developer that later pivoted to LED lights. 

  • March 14, 2025

    ITC To Review Toolmaker's Fish Tape, Safety Helmet Products

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has agreed to investigate an Illinois company's complaint against a competing toolmaker for allegedly infringing three patents covering glow fish tape and a safety helmet system.

  • March 14, 2025

    Judge Vacates Baby Formula Trial Win For Abbott, Mead

    A Missouri judge on Thursday threw out a jury verdict that cleared Abbott Laboratories and Mead Johnson of liability in a joint trial over claims their baby formula causes a serious condition in preterm infants, saying a new trial is necessary because the defense "intentionally violated the court's orders and rulings by improperly introducing the inadmissible evidence to the jury, time after time."

  • March 14, 2025

    Teacher's Widower Wins $10.5M After Fatal Commute

    A Cook County jury has awarded $10.5 million to the widower of a Chicago suburban kindergarten teacher who died after a dump truck with unsecured contents and an inexperienced driver struck another vehicle while she was biking to work.

  • March 14, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs Arbitrator Finding COVID Is No 'Act Of God'

    A distribution service provider failed to support its argument that an "act of God" exemption in a contract it had with a Teamsters chapter allowed the company to reduce workers' hours during the coronavirus pandemic, the Seventh Circuit ruled, keeping in place an arbitrator's conclusion.

  • March 13, 2025

    Vought-Led CFPB Still Wants $43M Order In Debt Relief Case

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau urged an Illinois federal judge Thursday to order the head of a defunct debt-relief company to pay $43 million in fines and restitution, sticking with a Biden-era request for penalties in the case.

  • March 13, 2025

    Interactive Brokers Tells Justices To Skip Trading Patent Case

    Trading software company Interactive Brokers has shot back at a rival's effort to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to look at an "illusory" split between appeals courts over the standard for introducing post-trial fraud evidence in a long-litigated patent case. 

  • March 13, 2025

    Trump Asks Justices To Limit Pauses Of Birthright Order

    President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to limit three nationwide court orders prohibiting the implementation of his executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship, arguing that the coast-to-coast injunctions upended the judicial process and are trying to micromanage the executive branch.

  • March 13, 2025

    Split 7th Circ. Kills Injunction In Indiana Power Line Dispute

    The Seventh Circuit has knocked down an injunction blocking an Indiana right of first refusal law that gives Indiana-based utilities the first shot at securing new transmission project contracts before those from other states.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Privacy Law Trends That Will Continue In 2025

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    While preparing privacy programs for the year, companies should keep in mind several developments from 2024 that will carry over — namely, in the realm of artificial intelligence, passive data collection, combining data from multiple sources, privacy program expectations and managing vendors, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Series

    Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.

  • 5 Drug And Device Developments That Shaped 2024

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    The last year saw significant legal developments affecting drug and device manufacturers, with landmark decisions and regulatory changes that require vigilance and agility from the industry, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Takeaways From SEC's Mixed Results In '24 Crypto Litigation

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    Though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new leadership seems likely to create a more favorable cryptocurrency regulatory environment, it must also confront the consequences of, and lingering questions raised by, the SEC's 2024 policy of investigating and charging cryptocurrency trading platforms for operating unregistered exchanges, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

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    Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

    Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.

  • How Changes In State Gift Card Laws May Affect Cos. In 2025

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    2024 state legislative movements around the escheatment of unused gift card balances and consumer fraud protections should prompt issuers to consider whether changes in company domicile or blanket cash-back policies are needed in the new year, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • The 6 Most Significant FCRA Litigation Developments Of 2024

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    From a key sovereign immunity decision at the U.S. Supreme Court to a ruling on creditworthiness out of the Seventh Circuit, several important Fair Credit Reporting Act cases wound their way through the courts in 2024, each offering takeaways for both plaintiffs and defendants, say attorneys at Shipkevich.

  • An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025

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    As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.

  • Series

    Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

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    In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

  • Justices May Find Gov't Can Keep Fraudulent Transfer Benefit

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    Based on the justices' questions at the recently argued U.S. v. Miller, the Supreme Court appears prepared to hold that the U.S. — unlike any other creditor — is permitted to retain the benefits of a fraudulent transfer to the detriment of other bankruptcy creditors, says Kevin Morse at Clark Hill.

  • 4 Trade Secret Pointers From 2024's Key IP Law Developments

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    Four significant 2024 developments in trade secret law yield practical tips about defending trade secrets overseas, proving unjust enrichment claims, forcing compliance with posttrial orders and using restrictive covenants to prevent employee leaks of confidential intellectual property, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Ledbetter's Legacy Shines In 2024 Equal Pay Law Updates

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    The federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act turned 15 this year, and its namesake's legacy is likely to endure in 2025 and beyond, as demonstrated by 2024's state- and local-level progress on pay equity, as well as several rulings from federal appellate courts, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • Using Contracts As Evidence Of Trade Secret Protection

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    Recent federal and U.S. International Trade Commission decisions demonstrate an interesting trend of judges recognizing that contracts and confidentiality provisions can serve as important evidence of the reasonable secrecy measures companies must take to prove the existence of protected trade secrets, say attorneys at Finnegan.

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