Illinois
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November 13, 2018
7th Circ. Says E-Filing Access Suit Belongs In State Court
The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday reversed an Illinois federal judge's decision forcing a Cook County court clerk to make electronically filed complaints immediately available to reporters, finding that Courthouse News Service’s suit was inappropriate for federal courts to take on and should have been filed in state court.
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November 13, 2018
Sears Seeks Emergency Motion To Sell $900M In Debt
Sears is asking a New York bankruptcy court for an emergency motion to put $900 million in intercompany debt up for sale, saying it has a limited window to turn the debt into cash before the company's credit default swaps go on the block.
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November 13, 2018
Hertz Say Consumer's Words Discredit Suit On Rental Fees
The Hertz Corp. is asking an Illinois federal judge to end a proposed class action claiming the rental car company uses misleading names for some of its rental surcharges, saying the consumer has admitted she did not see the names used for the charges before she rented her car.
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November 13, 2018
Ulta Says Vague Claims Should Sink Stock-Drop Suit
Ulta Beauty Inc. has urged an Illinois federal court to wipe out a proposed class action over a stock plunge that followed reports employees were pressured to resell returned makeup, saying there is no allegation that its top executives were behind the purported policy.
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November 13, 2018
McDonald's Shakes ADA Suit Over Drive-Thru Access
An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday put a stop to a proposed nationwide class action alleging the fast-food chain's "late-night," drive-thru-only policy excludes those who can't drive in the dark, saying the customer's claims are too general to bring the suit.
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November 13, 2018
6 Broadcasters Settle With DOJ To Resolve Antitrust Probe
The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a settlement with six broadcast television companies to resolve a complaint by the DOJ's Antitrust Division in D.C. federal court that the companies shared pricing information, the department announced Tuesday.
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November 9, 2018
DOJ Weighs In At 7th Circ. On Comcast Ad Sales Row
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday at the Seventh Circuit chimed in on a suit alleging that Comcast Corp. illegally monopolized the market for local television advertising, warning that refusing to deal with a competitor is an antitrust violation only in limited circumstances.
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November 9, 2018
Trader Who Stole $3M In Cryptocurrency Gets 15 Mos.
A 24-year-old Chicago trader who admitted to stealing more than $3 million in bitcoin and litecoin from his firm and a group of investors was sentenced in Illinois federal court Friday to a little over a year in prison.
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November 9, 2018
State AGs Call On Whitaker To Recuse Himself From Probe
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, along with 18 other state attorneys general, sent a letter Thursday to acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker asking him to recuse himself from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
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November 9, 2018
Ill. AG Says Contaminated Water Dumped In Chicago River
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has said she slapped four companies with a lawsuit in state court after workers on a 54-story skyscraper project allegedly dumped 6,400 gallons of contaminated water into the Chicago River in June.
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November 9, 2018
H&R Block Hit With Antitrust Suit Over 'No-Poach' Pacts
An H&R Block Inc. tax preparer hit the tax services provider with a proposed class action in Illinois federal court Thursday, claiming the company’s noncompete contracts with employees and its “no-poach” agreements between its corporate offices and franchises have illegally stifled wages and career advancement of thousands of workers.
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November 9, 2018
Atty Taken Off Ill. Rolls In '09 Still Practicing, Regulator Says
An attorney who lost his authority to practice in Illinois in 2009 has continued to represent clients in real estate matters ever since, the state’s attorney conduct regulator has said.
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November 8, 2018
MoneyGram To Pay $125M For Breach Of Anti-Fraud Pacts
MoneyGram International Inc. will pay $125 million after breaching its agreements with government agencies in Pennsylvania and Illinois federal courts following claims that its agents ran international mass marketing and consumer fraud schemes, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.
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November 8, 2018
19 Cities, Counties Say Detained-Minor Rules Flout Flores
Nineteen cities and counties on Wednesday got behind a class asking a California federal judge to block the government’s proposed rule changes regarding its detention of immigrant minors, saying the changes would “directly undermine” core protections and concerns in their case’s consent decree.
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November 8, 2018
Ill. School Districts Are Denying Bus Drivers OT Pay, Suit Says
Two school districts in Illinois' McHenry County got hit Thursday with a proposed class and collective action by current and former bus drivers who say the districts have failed to properly pay them overtime under state and federal wage laws.
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November 8, 2018
Hospital Not Liable For Nonemployee Doc's Kidney Surgery
An Illinois appeals court on Wednesday tossed claims filed against a hospital in a suit accusing a doctor of failing to timely remove a woman’s kidney stone that caused serious injuries, saying because the doctor is an independent contractor the hospital can’t be held liable.
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November 8, 2018
Pyrex Buyers Say Defect Suit More Durable Than The Glass
A proposed class action of Pyrex owners alleging the dishes are prone to exploding challenged the glassware company’s move to reject their defect suit, telling an Illinois federal court on Wednesday that the company is trying to hide behind its package warnings and limited warranty.
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November 8, 2018
EPA's Guidance Kills Hydrofluorocarbon Rule, States Say
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's guidance on implementing an Obama-era rule restricting hydrofluorocarbon use after the D.C. Circuit vacated parts of it violates the Clean Air Act because it effectively nullifies the entire rule, several states and the Natural Resources Defense Council told the circuit court Wednesday.
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November 8, 2018
Sinclair Settles With DOJ To Escape Antitrust Ad Probe
Sinclair has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to end an antitrust probe into its alleged sharing of information with other television station owners for the purpose of fixing advertising prices, the broadcasting conglomerate revealed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday.
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November 8, 2018
Insurer Sues To Duck Covering Stanley Cup Stein TM Suit
Sentinel Insurance Company Ltd. on Wednesday sued two companies that sell beer steins resembling the Stanley Cup to avoid paying for their defense in a trademark infringement suit brought by the National Hockey League, telling an Illinois federal court that a litany of exclusions apply to bar coverage.
Expert Analysis
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It’s Time For Law Firms To Start Talking About Gen Z
Since the oldest members of Generation Z aren’t even finished with law school yet, law firm management is in a unique position to prepare for their entrance into the legal workforce, says Eliza Stoker of Major Lindsey & Africa.
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State Net
How The States Fared In The Midterms
Lou Cannon, editorial adviser and columnist at LexisNexis State Net Capitol Journal, dissects the results of the governor’s races and state legislative chambers in the 2018 midterm elections.
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Top 10 Snap Observations From The 2018 Midterm Elections
The just-completed midterm elections could be called the “cafeteria midterms,” because there was something for everyone. The results offered both encouragement and warnings for Democrats and Republicans looking to 2020, says Frank Donatelli of McGuireWoods Consulting LLC.
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Pharmaceutical Warnings: A Changing Landscape
Pharmaceutical warnings and the way they are regulated and litigated are evolving. Brand-name manufacturers face failure-to-warn suits for generic versions of their products, while generic companies may soon have to update warnings on drugs for which there are no longer brand-name versions, say Chris Essig and Schuyler Ferguson of Winston & Strawn LLP.
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Q&A
Back To School: Yale's Linda Greenhouse Talks Journalism
In this series featuring law school luminaries, Yale Law School lecturer and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Linda Greenhouse discusses her coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court, the conservatives' long game and trends in journalism.
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Opinion
Celebrate Veterans By Improving Their Access To Justice
Attorneys should think beyond the Veterans Day parades and use their time and talents to help the many veterans facing urgent legal issues, says Linda Klein of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC.
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Bringing Alcoholic Beverage Coupons Into The Digital Age
Laws on coupons and rebates for alcoholic beverages vary across the country. Ascertaining the legal status of digital coupons, which may not have been envisioned when a state's laws were written, creates additional wrinkles for companies, says Alva Mather of DLA Piper.
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Opinion
Time To Reclaim Wellness For All Lawyers
The decision last month by Baker McKenzie’s global chairman to step down due to exhaustion indicates that the legal profession needs to mount a broader wellness effort to address long hours, high stress, frequent travel and the daily demands of practice, says Leesa Klepper, director of Thrivewell Coaching.
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Opinion
AGs Are Now The 1st Round Draft Picks Of American Politics
Given their recent track record and growing policy power, state attorneys general should be the group everyone is watching on Election Day. Chances are the winners of these races will move to higher offices soon enough, says Joshua Spivak, senior fellow at the Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform at Wagner College.
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Perspectives
Aggressive Stops And Frisks Won’t Make Chicago Safer
In a recent speech before the International Association of Chiefs of Police, President Donald Trump called for aggressive stop-and-frisk practices in Chicago to reduce violent crime. Beyond the negative consequences of this approach, data supporting its effectiveness is extremely sparse, say Dr. Tara Lai Quinlan and Northeastern University School of Law professor Deborah Ramirez.