Illinois

  • October 02, 2024

    Convicted Judge Owes Feds Retirement Funds, 7th Circ. Says

    A former Illinois judge convicted of running a $1.4 million mortgage fraud scheme must cough up assets from her retirement accounts to cover her restitution obligations, the Seventh Circuit ruled Wednesday, agreeing with a Chicago district court that the government can access her retirement savings to satisfy that debt.

  • October 02, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Lab Co. Settles Bogus Testing Claims With Feds For $27M

    Precision Diagnostics Toxicology Lab, one of the nation's largest drug testing laboratories, has agreed to pay $27 million to resolve allegations that it billed Medicare and other federal healthcare programs for medically unnecessary tests, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

  • October 02, 2024

    Madigan Can't Duck Bribery Claims After High Court Ruling

    An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday declined to dismiss bribery charges against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling limiting the reach of a bribery statute that once criminalized gratuities, while also refusing to sever his case from his co-defendant's.

  • October 02, 2024

    TikTok Can't End Browser Privacy MDL

    An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday held TikTok and parent company ByteDance to multidistrict litigation in which users claim the video platform's in-app browser illegally tracks activity on third-party sites, and gave the plaintiffs a chance to replead one claim under California law.

  • October 02, 2024

    Bullying In Law Is Pervasive, Drives Turnover, Ill. Attys Say

    Nearly a quarter of those who responded to a recent large-scale survey of Illinois lawyers said they had been bullied at work within the last year, with those numbers spiking among women and other traditionally underrepresented attorneys in the profession, a report released Tuesday found.

  • October 02, 2024

    Justice Roberts Names Judicial Conference Committee Chairs

    Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has reshuffled the leadership of the U.S. Judicial Conference, naming five new committee chairs and extending the terms of five current chairs by one year.

  • October 01, 2024

    Mich. Court Says It Can't Force Gov't To Speed Up U-Visas

    A Michigan federal judge dismissed a proposed class action from U-visa petitioners who sued over government processing delays, saying federal courts lack power to force the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to process visas in a required time frame.

  • October 01, 2024

    Military Contractor's Widow Can Continue Death Benefit Suit

    A widow's pursuit of $670,000 in benefits following her husband's death in Afghanistan while training the country's police force can continue, an Illinois federal judge ruled, trimming claims against the man's employers and benefits administrators but leaving her breach of contract claim against an insurer intact.

  • October 01, 2024

    Boeing Can't Escape Investors' 737 Max Fraud Suit

    An Illinois federal judge trimmed but refused to toss a proposed securities class action against Boeing over claims that it harmed investors by misrepresenting the 737 Max's safety, pushing back against defendants who wanted him to reach the same conclusion as the suit's previously assigned judge.

  • October 01, 2024

    Ill. Judge Won't Crack Jury's $18M Egg Price-Fixing Verdict

    An Illinois federal judge said Monday that he wouldn't disturb a jury's since-trebled $17.7 million award to Kraft and three others that claimed two of the nation's largest egg producers and two industry groups conspired to raise prices, saying the jury heard enough to support their claims.

  • October 01, 2024

    Estate Exaggerating Value Of Exec's Tax Tipoff, DC Circ. Told

    A Dutch bank executive's estate is "vastly" overstating the significance of his tips to the IRS in seeking a whistleblower award for his reporting of tax schemes, the U.S. government told the D.C. Circuit, urging it to uphold the U.S. Tax Court's denial of the award.

  • October 01, 2024

    Jenner & Block Welcomes Davis Wright's Chicago Head

    Jenner & Block LLP announced the addition of the former Chicago office leader at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on Tuesday, touting the longtime financial litigator's skills in litigation and regulatory counseling.

  • September 30, 2024

    MoneyGram Beats Investor Suit Over Anti-Fraud Compliance

    An Illinois federal judge on Monday tossed a proposed securities class action accusing MoneyGram International of lying about its anti-fraud compliance, finding that the suing investors did not adequately plead any misleading statements or that MoneyGram's executives acted with an intent to deceive.

  • September 30, 2024

    Consumer 'Overslept' On Some Drowsy Cough Syrup Claims

    An Illinois federal judge said Monday a consumer can continue her suit alleging Tussin cough syrup's "non-drowsy" label is deceptive because the syrup made her sleepy, but ruled she waited too long to pursue warranty breach claims.

  • September 30, 2024

    AT&T Exec Seeks Bribery Acquittal After Mistrial

    Former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza asked a federal judge Friday to acquit him outright on charges that he illegally influenced ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to support legislation that would have benefited the telecommunications giant, days after a jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared in his bribery case.

  • September 30, 2024

    Speedway Workers' BIPA Suit Headed To Trial

    An Illinois federal judge said Sunday that Speedway must defend itself at trial against a now-certified class of employees who say the gas station chain required employees to scan their fingerprints to clock in to and out of work for years without ever obtaining their informed consent. 

  • September 30, 2024

    Insurer Says BIPA Row Not Covered Due To Prior Settlement

    The insurer for a Chicago-based seat manufacturer told an Illinois federal court it owes no coverage for an underlying lawsuit accusing the company of violating the state's Biometric Information Privacy Act, noting it already reached a coverage settlement with the company in a prior BIPA class action involving similar claims.

  • September 27, 2024

    7th Circ. Doubts Artist Proved French Montana Copied Work

    Two Seventh Circuit judges seemed unsure Friday that they saw enough evidence of copying to reverse rapper French Montana's summary judgment win over claims that he infringed a California producer's sound recording copyright to make his song "Ain't Worried About Nothin'."

  • September 27, 2024

    SEC Fines Firms, Sues Ex-Reps' Over Cherry-Picking Scheme

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday that Illinois-based Cetera Investment Advisers LLC and formerly California-based First Allied Advisory Services Inc. have each agreed to pay $200,000 to settle claims that two investment advisers formerly associated with both firms ran separate, multiyear, cherry-picking schemes that harmed investors.

  • September 27, 2024

    Banks Beat Credit Line Disclosure Suit After CFPB Weighs In

    An Illinois federal judge has thrown out a proposed class action accusing two Midwestern banks of failing to provide required repayment disclosures to borrowers, agreeing with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that these disclosures aren't actually required for the type of account at issue.

  • September 27, 2024

    Apple, Visa And Mastercard Want Out Of 'Tap Pay' Fee Suit

    Apple, Visa and Mastercard on Thursday urged an Illinois federal court to toss several retailers' proposed antitrust class action accusing the three of conspiring to restrain competition in point-of-sale transaction payment networks, saying in separate motions that allegedly unlawful agreements they entered "expressly preserve" Apple's right to compete.

  • September 27, 2024

    Tattoo Artist's $3,750 Award Scrapped In Video Game IP Row

    An Illinois federal judge scrapped a $3,750 damages award for a former tattoo artist who sued World Wrestling Entertainment and two video game companies for depicting her tattoos on a wrestler without permission, saying the jury's award was based on undue speculation.

  • September 27, 2024

    L'Oréal Can't Turn Off Try-On Tool BIPA Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Friday refused to dismiss a proposed class action accusing L'Oréal USA of violating Illinois' biometric privacy law with its virtual try-on tool, saying the beauty giant failed to give the plaintiff constructive notice of its arbitration terms and that she'd done enough at this stage to plausibly allege it collected her biometric identifiers.

  • September 27, 2024

    EPA Will Review Wood Stove Emissions Rules To Settle Lawsuit

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed to revisit its emissions standards for residential wood-burning stoves, resolving 10 states' D.C. federal court lawsuit accusing it of slacking on its obligation to do so.

  • September 27, 2024

    Super Babies Cancel DC Comics, Marvel's 'Super Hero' TM

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has canceled DC Comics and Marvel Characters Inc.'s jointly owned trademarks for "super hero" and variations of the term after a U.K.-based business that creates stories of super hero babies argued the term is generic and has been abandoned by DC Comics and Marvel.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • A Look At State AGs Supermarket Antitrust Enforcement Push

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    The ongoing antitrust intervention by state attorneys general in the proposed Kroger and Albertsons merger suggests that states are straying from a Federal Trade Commission follow-on strategy in the supermarket space, which involved joining federal investigations or lawsuits and settling for the same divestment remedies, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Series

    Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

  • 7th Circ Joins Trend Of No CGL Coverage For Structural Flaws

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    The Seventh Circuit, which recently held potential structural instability did not count as property damage under a construction company's commercial general liability policy, joins a growing consensus that faulty work does not implicate coverage without tangible and present damage to the project, say Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty, and Elan Kandel and James Talbert at Bailey Cavalieri.

  • Opinion

    States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions

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    Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.

  • Navigating The Extent Of SEC Cybersecurity Breach Authority

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's broad reading of its authority under Section 13(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act in the R.R. Donnelley and SolarWinds actions has ramifications for companies dealing with cybersecurity breaches, but it remains to be seen whether the commission's use of the provision will withstand judicial scrutiny, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • 7th Circ. Exclusion Ruling Will Narrow BIPA Coverage

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    The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in Thermoflex Waukegan v. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, holding that the access or disclosure exclusion applies to insurance claims brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, departs from the majority rule and opens the door to insurers more firmly denying coverage under general liability policies, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For Nationwide Race-Based Hair Protections

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    While 24 states have passed laws that prohibit race-based hair discrimination, this type of bias persists in workplaces and schools, so a robust federal law is necessary to ensure widespread protection, says Samone Ijoma and Erica Roberts at Sanford Heisler.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law

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    Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

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