Illinois

  • March 14, 2024

    EPA Slashes Ethylene Oxide Emissions Levels For Sterilizers

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized new Clean Air Act standards that it said will reduce emissions of ethylene oxide from commercial sterilization facilities by 90%, an action the agency said is necessary to help reduce the impact of the carcinogen on communities.

  • March 13, 2024

    AI Auto Damage-Assessing Giant Accused Of Monopoly

    Tractable Inc. is hitting back at CCC Intelligent Solutions with counterclaims in an ongoing trade secrets spat, alleging in a new motion CCC has leveraged its dominant share of the auto collision-assessment market to stifle consumer choice and increase prices in violation of antitrust laws.

  • March 13, 2024

    HP Says It's Upfront About Blocking Ink Cartridges

    HP has urged an Illinois federal judge to throw out consumers' claims that it has a monopoly over the replacement-ink cartridge market and used software updates to block consumers from using cheaper rival cartridges in HP printers, saying it "goes to great lengths" to disclose that its printers are intended to work only with cartridges that have an HP security chip.

  • March 13, 2024

    FTC Bid To Block Kroger's $25B Albertsons Deal Set For Aug.

    An Oregon federal court has scheduled an August hearing on the Federal Trade Commission's challenge of Kroger's planned $24.6 billion purchase of fellow grocery store giant Albertsons, a deal also under attack by state enforcers in Washington and Colorado.

  • March 13, 2024

    FERC Can't Change Power Auction Results, 3rd Circ. Rules

    The Third Circuit has wiped out the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's tweak to the results of an electricity capacity auction run by the nation's largest regional grid operator, saying it amounted to retroactive rate-making in violation of the filed-rate doctrine.

  • March 13, 2024

    Kirkland-Led Wind Point Closes Its Largest Ever Fund At $2.3B

    Chicago-based private equity shop Wind Point Partners, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, on Wednesday said that it closed its latest fund after securing $2.3 billion in commitments, marking the firm's largest fund raised to date.

  • March 13, 2024

    New Co.'s Lack Of Records Dooms Bid For H-2B Truck Drivers

    A U.S. Department of Labor appeals board has upheld the denial of a transportation company's request for drivers under the H-2B visa program, ruling the company's payroll records and sales summaries did not prove a need for foreign, temporary workers.

  • March 12, 2024

    Geico Policyholders Lose Cert. Bid In Pandemic Premium Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday denied class certification in litigation claiming that Geico profited off the COVID-19 pandemic by charging excessive car insurance premiums, ruling that the policyholders who filed the lawsuit had not shown that their damages model could be calculated on a classwide basis.

  • March 12, 2024

    Quaker Hit With False Ad Suit Over Pesticide In Oat Products

    The Quaker Oats Co. faces a proposed class action in Illinois federal court alleging it markets its oat-based foods as being safe, healthy and nutritious while touting its commitment to high quality standards, despite omitting the risk of a toxic chemical pesticide in its products.

  • March 12, 2024

    Ill. High Court Hopeful Wants More Transparent Bench

    An intermediate appellate judge vying to join Illinois' highest court says sitting justices need to be far more transparent and take an active role in combating actual and perceived conflicts of interest.

  • March 12, 2024

    Hytera Can't Go To Chinese Court In $540M Motorola IP Fight

    An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday granted Motorola's request for an order blocking major Chinese radio company Hytera from pursuing a bid in China to keep Motorola from shutting down a Chinese case in which Hytera claimed it doesn't use Motorola's intellectual property.

  • March 12, 2024

    Walgreens, Kenvue Unit Sued Over Benzene In Acne Products

    Walgreens, Kenvue unit Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. and Genomma Lab face a trio of proposed consumer fraud class actions in California federal court by customers who alleged their acne treatment products contain unsafe levels of benzene, but that each of the companies failed to disclose its presence in their labeling.

  • March 12, 2024

    ERISA Preempts Part Of Ill. Law Amedment, Judge Rules

    The portion of an amendment to an Illinois law regulating temporary labor forces agencies to modify their Employee Retirement Income Security Act plans, a federal judge ruled, granting a group of staffing associations and agencies' bid for an injunction.

  • March 12, 2024

    DOJ Tells Justices Bribery Law Covers Gratuities

    The U.S. Department of Justice urged the nation's top court Monday to find that a federal law prohibiting public officials from taking bribes also extends to illegal gratuities that don't require a quid pro quo, arguing that "context and history" backs its position in a closely watched case that has put multiple criminal corruption cases on ice in Illinois.

  • March 12, 2024

    DC Circ. Questions MPLX Alternatives In FERC Decision

    D.C. Circuit judges on Tuesday pressed attorneys for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the agency's decision allowing crude oil transportation company MPLX to charge market rates on its Ozark Pipeline, questioning in particular how much capacity would be available on other lines if shippers needed an alternative to supracompetitive pricing.

  • March 12, 2024

    Ill. Judge Confirmed As Progressives Seek Faster Approvals

    The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm a U.S. magistrate judge to the Northern District of Illinois and a vice president at Capital One Financial to the Western District of Virginia as a large progressive legal organization wants the Senate to ramp up its judicial confirmations.

  • March 12, 2024

    Sheppard Mullin Adds Ex-Latham & Watkins Atty In Chicago

    Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP has hired as a partner in its Chicago office an attorney who formerly worked for accounting firm KPMG and also spent 18 years at Latham & Watkins LLP.

  • March 11, 2024

    White Male Law Student Claims Bias From Chicago Bears

    A law student on Monday lodged race and sex discrimination claims against the Chicago Bears in Illinois federal court, claiming that the NFL team wrongly refused to hire him as a "legal diversity fellow" because he's white and a man.

  • March 11, 2024

    Ill. Pizzeria, Md. Pizza Chain Get Partial Wins In 'Ledo' TM Row

    Family-owned Illinois pizzeria Ledo's Inc. and Maryland-based Ledo Pizza chain scored partial victories in a four-year-old trademark fight after a federal judge issued an order that partially granted both sides' summary judgment bids over the eateries' use of the name "Ledo" for their respective businesses.

  • March 11, 2024

    Ill. Court OKs $48M Award In Brain Damage Med Mal Suit

    An Illinois state appeals court has affirmed a $48.1 million award in a suit accusing an emergency medicine physician and a hospital of improperly placing a breathing tube in a patient and causing permanent brain damage, saying certain jury instructions given by the trial court were not erroneous.

  • March 11, 2024

    Jury Hears 'This We'll Defend' Shirts Infringed T-Shirt Co.'s TM

    Chicago-based T-shirt company Grunt Style on Monday urged an Illinois federal jury to hold a California competitor liable for selling shirts featuring the slogan, "This We'll Defend," asserting the competitor's sales constitute willful infringement of a trademark held for more than a decade.

  • March 11, 2024

    Tech, Retail Industries Say No To Patent Eligibility Reforms

    A coalition of tech companies, retailers and tech activist groups lined up on Monday in opposition to the latest legislative effort to limit patent invalidation in the courts, warning that unseating legal precedents over eligibility would lead to a coming "wave of crippling litigation."

  • March 11, 2024

    7th Circ. Won't Reinstate Ex-Cops' Retaliation Suit

    The Seventh Circuit refused to revive allegations that an Illinois city pushed out a police officer who complained about a colleague's sexual comments and a lieutenant who asked for a different shift because of sleep apnea, saying a trial court was right to toss the claims.

  • March 11, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Delaware's Court of Chancery became a hot topic in New Orleans last week as litigators and judges at an annual convention acknowledged the First State's corporate law preeminence is under scrutiny. Back home, the court moved ahead on disputes involving Meta Platforms, Abercrombie & Fitch and Donald Trump.

  • March 08, 2024

    Real Estate Authority: SEC Climate Regs, State Of The Union

    Law360 Real Estate Authority covers the most important real estate deals, litigation, policies and trends. Catch up on key news from this week by state — as well as how President Joe Biden aims to improve affordable housing and what the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate rule means for public real estate companies.

Expert Analysis

  • Understanding Illinois' Temp Worker Obligation Updates

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    Recent amendments to the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act would significantly expand the protection for temporary workers in the state, impose new compliance obligations on staffing agencies and their client companies, and add significant enforcement teeth to the act, say Nicholas Anaclerio and Ellie Hemminger at Vedder Price.

  • Level Up Lawyers' Business Development With Gamification

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    With employee engagement at a 10-year low in the U.S., there are several gamification techniques marketing and business development teams at law firms can use to make generating new clients and matters more appealing to lawyers, says Heather McCullough at Society 54.

  • Mallory Ruling Leaves Personal Jurisdiction Deeply Unsettled

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    In Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway, a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court recently rolled back key aspects of its 2017 opinion in Daimler AG v. Bauman that limited personal jurisdiction, leaving as many questions for businesses as it answers, say John Cerreta and James Rotondo at Day Pitney.

  • 5 Ways Firms Can Rethink Office Design In A Hybrid World

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    As workplaces across the country adapt to flexible work, law firms must prioritize individuality, amenities and technology in office design, says Kristin Cerutti at Nelson Worldwide.

  • A Midyear Look At How AI Is Affecting Lawyers

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    The past six months have been a notable period for advancements in artificial intelligence and generative AI, and as we head into the second half of the year, we must review the implications that AI has for the legal industry, including how lawyers will be advising clients on use of AI technology, says Natasha Allen at Foley & Lardner.

  • False Ad Snapshot Shows Risks Of Geographic Origin Claims

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    A look at recent and historical cases involving deceptive use of geographic origin descriptors show that companies proclaiming they are American, but that sell products originating from outside the U.S., could be at risk under unfair competition laws or Federal Trade Commission enforcement, say attorneys at Carlson Gaskey.

  • NY, Minn. Set Pace For Employee Breastfeeding Protections

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    Breastfeeding employees have gotten increased legal protections through recently effective amendments in New York and Minnesota, and the laws underline the need for employers to watch for state-level legislative efforts to extend these protections beyond federal requirements, say John Litchfield and Miranda Curtis at Foley & Lardner.

  • Opinion

    Bar Score Is Best Hiring Metric Post-Affirmative Action

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling striking down affirmative action admissions policies, law firms looking to foster diversity in hiring should view an applicant's Multistate Bar Examination score as the best metric of legal ability — over law school name or GPA, says attorney Alice Griffin.

  • As Biometric Privacy Laws Grow, Cos. Must Up Transparency

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    As more states begin to introduce biometric privacy legislation, it's imperative for businesses collecting biometric data to proactively address prior notice, disclosure, collection and deletion directives, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Piecing Together The Blockchain Evidentiary Hurdles

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    There are common challenges to introducing blockchain evidence at trial and a lack of uniformity in evidentiary codes at the state and federal levels means litigants must carefully navigate the uncertain blockchain puzzle, says Brett Sager at Ehrenstein Sager.

  • Ghosting In BigLaw: How To Come Back From Lack Of Feedback

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    Junior associates can feel powerless when senior colleagues cut off contact instead of providing useful feedback, but young attorneys can get back on track by focusing on practical professional development and reexamining their career priorities, says Rachel Patterson at Orrick.

  • Wash. Health Privacy Bill May Affect Cos. Across Industries

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    Washington’s recently enacted My Health My Data Act — a comprehensive privacy framework for companies that handle consumer health — will likely apply to companies outside the state and the health care industry, and may result in more privacy litigation than we have seen under any other state privacy statute to date, says Jenny Colgate at Rothwell Figg.

  • Why 7th Circ.'s BIPA Insurance Analysis Is Significant

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    The Seventh Circuit's ruling in Citizens v. Wynndalco is the first appellate opinion on one of the three major exclusions raised by insurers faced with a duty to defend alleged violations of the Biometric Information Privacy Act and could foreshadow future BIPA opinions favoring policyholders, say John Vishneski and Adrienne Kitchen at Reed Smith.

  • How Spending Clause Ruling May Affect Medicaid Litigation

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Health and Hospital Corp. v. Talevski preserves an important avenue for health providers and beneficiaries to use the Civil Rights Act to sue state Medicaid agencies in a landscape that has steadily narrowed potential paths for challenging state violations of spending clause legislation, say attorneys at Hooper Lundy.

  • Opinion

    States Must Fight Predatory Real Estate Listing Agreements

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    As momentum against long-term real estate listing agreements continues to grow, states should take action to render existing agreements unenforceable and discourage future unfair and deceptive trade practices in real estate, says Elizabeth Blosser at the American Land Title Association.

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