Illinois

  • June 27, 2025

    Jury Adds $30M More To Fleet Tech Co.'s Trade Theft Trial Win

    An Illinois federal jury on Friday more than doubled the $28.9 million in damages it awarded a day earlier to a fleet management technology firm after finding a garbage truck manufacturer poached its former executive and capitalized on stolen trade secrets, slapping a $30 million punitive award atop the initial verdict.

  • June 27, 2025

    M&A Tops Baker McKenzie's 59-Strong Partner Class For 2025

    Baker McKenzie announced that 59 attorneys will be promoted to partner by the start of July, with the number of internal hires decreasing from last year while lateral recruitment remained the same, at 48, over the past 12 months.

  • June 27, 2025

    Walmart Crime Record Checks Harm Black Workers, Suit Says

    Walmart shirked civil rights law by using criminal background checks that screened out Black workers who wanted to be rehired for roles they previously held after the retail behemoth took over management of an Illinois distribution center, according to a new suit filed in federal court.

  • June 27, 2025

    Justices Limit Universal Injunctions But Defer On Citizenship

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump can partially implement his executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship, in a ruling that significantly limits the ability of federal district court judges to issue nationally applicable orders against presidential edicts and policy initiatives.

  • June 26, 2025

    OpenAI Loses Data Hold Round In News Orgs' Copyright Fight

    A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday refused to overturn a ruling that directed OpenAI to preserve ChatGPT logs in ongoing copyright infringement litigation brought by news organizations against the company and Microsoft, after hearing an hourslong "tutorial" about the ins and outs of generative artifical intelligence.

  • June 26, 2025

    Student Loan Servicer Must Face Class Action Fraud Claims

    A Chicago federal judge has kept alive a proposed class action accusing student loan giant Great Lakes Educational Loan Services Inc. of misleading borrowers about how it would automatically apply payments above their monthly minimums owed, though he trimmed an unjust enrichment claim from the suit.

  • June 26, 2025

    Fleet Tech Co. Wins Nearly $29M In Trade Secret Theft Trial

    An Illinois jury awarded fleet management technology firm Sonrai Systems LLC more than $28.9 million Thursday, finding a garbage truck manufacturer the company had worked with had poached an executive and used confidential information he stole to develop a competing product.

  • June 26, 2025

    DHS Releases Grant Funds After Chicago Suit Targets 'Pause'

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released at least some of the counterterrorism grant fund reimbursements it had recently suspended for Chicago and certain other cities, but Chicago officials say the move isn't enough to end a lawsuit it launched over the allegedly unconstitutional pause.

  • June 26, 2025

    Juul Faces Possible Revival Of Price Discrimination Suit

    A vape wholesaler is urging an Illinois federal judge to reconsider an order ending its lawsuit accusing Juul Labs of giving a rival wholesaler a better deal on e-cigarettes, arguing its failure to explicitly identify the geographic market in which it competed should not have sunk the case.

  • June 26, 2025

    YouTube, Google Near OK On $6M BIPA Deal With 21K Users

    A California federal judge indicated Thursday that he'll give preliminary approval to Google and YouTube's $6 million deal to end a proposed class action alleging the companies unlawfully collected the biometric data of around 21,000 Illinois YouTube users through the platform's video editing tools, saying he believes it to be "a very sound settlement."

  • June 26, 2025

    Judge Tosses Biogen MS Drug Antitrust Suit, For Now

    An Illinois federal court tossed a proposed class action accusing Biogen of reducing competition for its multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera through payments to pharmacy benefit managers, after finding that only some drug pricing lists would have been affected.

  • June 25, 2025

    Ill. Appeals Court Won't Undo Biometric Privacy Class Cert.

    An Illinois state appeals court has refused to disturb a lower court's order certifying a class of employees suing over time clocks that scanned and used their biometric information, ruling that the common claim in the case presents a question that "is suitable for, if not demanding of, class-wide resolution."

  • June 25, 2025

    Swiss Re Says Botched Representation Led To Inflated Deal

    Swiss Re told an Illinois federal court Wednesday that counsel representing it in underlying actions related to a medical malpractice suit failed to adequately advise and defend the reinsurer, consequently forcing it into a large settlement even though its coverage had not yet been triggered.

  • June 25, 2025

    OTC Pills Are Opioid In Disguise, Consumer Says

    A Georgia company that produces an over-the-counter supplement branded as "ZaZa" was hit with a proposed class action Tuesday from a consumer who said the supplement's active ingredient is a highly addictive substance with effects comparable to opioids, which the manufacturer has hidden from consumers.

  • June 25, 2025

    Class Certified In Suit Over Oil Market's Historic Price Crash

    A Chicago federal judge has certified a class of futures traders who claim Vega Capital London Ltd. and 12 of its traders caused a historic oil crash with an aggressive price manipulation scheme that resulted in oil futures going negative for the first time, saying the plaintiffs have met all the requirements for certification.

  • June 25, 2025

    Auto Lender's Ex-Exec Gets No Prison For Role In $67M Fraud

    An auto lender's former operations chief was sentenced Wednesday in Illinois federal court to one day of time served alongside a year of supervised release, three months of which served as home detention, for his role in a fraud that caused more than $60 million in losses.

  • June 25, 2025

    The 5 Big Enforcement Trends White Collar Attys Must Know

    The Trump administration has made clear its intent to prioritize U.S. interests, eliminate transnational cartels and cut government fraud, waste and abuse — but questions remain about the administration’s approach to foreign bribery, crypto, public corruption, self-disclosure and clemency as we head into the second half of the year.

  • June 24, 2025

    Wash. Judge Blocks Trump Admin's EV Charging Funds Freeze

    A Seattle federal judge Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from withholding funds for electric vehicle charging infrastructure projects in 14 states, but stopped short of applying it to two other states and Washington, D.C., and stayed the order to give the administration time to appeal.

  • June 24, 2025

    Arkansas Insurance Dept. Fights Teamsters Plan's ERISA Suit

    The Arkansas Insurance Department is looking to sink a challenge to a state insurance regulation filed by a Teamsters healthcare plan, telling an Illinois federal judge that the regulation isn't preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and, besides, the plan can't sue the department.

  • June 24, 2025

    State AGs Sue Trump Admin To Stop Billions In Grant Cuts

    A coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia filed suit Tuesday in Massachusetts federal court, accusing the Trump administration of unlawfully using a single clause "buried in federal regulations" to nix billions of dollars in federal grant funding to the states.

  • June 24, 2025

    E-Verify Restrictions Are Not Preempted, Illinois Argues

    The federal court handling the U.S. government's lawsuit targeting a recent Illinois statute restricting the use of electronic employment verification systems on prospective hires should reject the government's injunction request and dismiss the case instead, because the statute steers clear of federal immigration law, the state asserted.

  • June 24, 2025

    Walmart Must Face Trial In Customer's Oil Slip-And-Fall Suit

    Walmart failed to get a man's slip-and-fall lawsuit dismissed Tuesday, after an Illinois federal judge ruled that a jury needs to determine if the shopper should have seen and avoided the cooking oil spill that caused his injuries.

  • June 24, 2025

    SEC, Ex-Chicago Hedge Fund Ink $5.8M Deal In Fraud Suit

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has settled with a now-defunct Chicago investment firm in its lawsuit accusing the firm of mismanaging $1 billion in assets, ahead of a trial, with the firm and its co-defendants agreeing to fork over more than $5.8 million collectively.

  • June 24, 2025

    Abbott Hit With Genetic Privacy Suit Over Hiring Practices

    Abbott Laboratories was sued Tuesday in Illinois federal court by a former worker alleging the company's onboarding materials asked for his family's medical history in violation of a state law aimed at protecting residents' genetic information.

  • June 24, 2025

    Medline Can't Get $2.4M Tax Incentive, Wash. Panel Affirms

    Medline did not qualify for a $2.4 million remittance of sales tax paid toward the construction of a state warehouse, a Washington state appeals panel affirmed Tuesday, saying the medical supplier failed to show that it merited a key tax incentive.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Competitive Weightlifting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The parallels between the core principles required for competitive weightlifting and practicing law have helped me to excel in both endeavors, with each holding important lessons about discipline, dedication, drive and failure, says Damien Bielli at VF Law.

  • The Case For Compliance During The Trump Administration

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    Given the Trump administration’s shifting white collar enforcement priorities, C-suite executives may have the natural instinct to pare back compliance initiatives, but there are several good reasons for companies to at least stay the course on their compliance programs, if not enhance them, say attorneys at Riley Safer.

  • Opinion

    Undoing An American Ideal Of Fairness

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    President Donald Trump’s orders attacking birthright citizenship, civil rights education, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs threaten hard-won constitutional civil rights protections and decades of efforts to undo bias in the law — undermining what Chief Justice Earl Warren called "our American ideal of fairness," says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Opinion

    DOJ's Visa Suit Shows Pitfalls Of Regulating Innovative Tech

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    A policy of allowing free-market mechanisms to operate without undue interference remains the most effective way to foster innovation, and the U.S. Department of Justice's 2024 case against Visa illustrates the drawbacks of regulating innovative technology, says attorney Thomas Willcox.

  • Employer Tips For Wise Use Of Workers' Biometrics And Tech

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Employers that collect employee biometric data and operate bring-your-own-device policies, which respectively offer better corporate security and more flexibility for workers, should prioritize certain best practices to protect the privacy and rights of employees and safeguard sensitive internal information, says Douglas Yang at Sheppard Mullin.

  • How Ill. Ruling Could Influence Future Data Breach Cases

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    The Illinois Supreme Court's recent decision in Petta v. Christie Business Holding, which was based solely on standing, establishes an important benchmark for the viability of Illinois-based lawsuits arising out of data security incidents that defendants can cite in future cases, say attorneys at Wilson Elser.

  • Expect To Feel Aftershocks Of Chopra's CFPB Shake-Up

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    Publications released by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau personnel in the last days of the Biden administration outline former Director Rohit Chopra's long-term vision for aggressive state-level enforcement of federal consumer financial laws, opening the doors for states to launch investigations and pursue actions, say attorneys at Hudson Cook.

  • The Rising Need For The Selective Prosecution Defense

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    In a political climate where criminal and civil prosecution on the basis of political affiliation, constitutionally protected speech or other arbitrary classification is increasingly likely, existing precedent shows why judges should be more open to allowing a selective prosecution defense, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Opinion

    Inconsistent Injury-In-Fact Rules Hinder Federal Practice

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    A recent Third Circuit decision, contradicting a previous ruling about whether consumers of contaminated products have suffered an injury in fact, illustrates the deep confusion this U.S. Supreme Court standard creates among federal judges and practitioners, who deserve a simpler method of determining which cases have federal standing, says Eric Dwoskin at Dwoskin Wasdin.

  • In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege

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    Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.

  • Disability Ruling Guides On Cases With Uncertain Causation

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    In Dime v. MetLife, a Washington federal court’s recent ruling in favor of a disability claimant instructs both claimants and insurers on the appropriate standard for establishing and making a disability determination when there is limited medical evidence explaining the disability’s cause, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • CFPB's Message To States Takes On New Weight Under Trump

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's January guidance to state enforcers has fresh significance as the Trump administration moves to freeze the bureau's work, and industry should expect states to use this series of recommendations as an enforcement road map, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • National Bank Act Rulings Facilitate More Preemption Analysis

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    Two recent National Bank Act preemption decisions from an Illinois federal court and the Ninth Circuit provide the first applications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s May ruling in Cantero v. Bank of America, opening the potential for several circuit courts to address the issue this year, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.

  • It Starts With Training: Anti-Harassment After 'It Ends With Us'

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    Actress Blake Lively's recent sexual harassment and retaliation allegations against her "It Ends With Us" co-star, director and producer, Justin Baldoni, should remind employers of their legal obligations to implement trainings, policies and other measures to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, say attorneys at Morrison Cohen.

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