News from February 2022
DeVore to run for Attorney General: Lawyer who has repeatedly challenged Pritzker's COVID powers announces candidacy
Downstate lawyer Tom DeVore, who led the case that secured a court order blocking Pritzker's school mask mandates, says he will seek to challenge Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who he said has acted as Pritzker's "personal attorney" rather than "the people's legal counsel"
Southside Recycling developers to renew court fight, demand $100M+ from city for denying permit
The owners of the Southside Recycling metal recycling plant say the city's permit denial was motivated by politics, not science, and warned businesses from attempting to do business with the city, a "not reliable partner."
IL Supreme Court may be next stop for Pritzker's continued fight to reimpose school mask rules, other COVID mandates
Gov. JB Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul each promised to ask the Illinois Supreme Court to undo lower court rulings declaring Pritzker's COVID school rules to be non-existent, null, void
Pritzker is ‘out of the picture’: DeVore responds to dismissal of COVID-19 school mandate appeal
Attorney Tom DeVore, who represents the Illinois students and parents suing Gov. J.B. Pritzker over his COVID-19 mandates for schools, responded to the Fourth District Appellate Court ruling and provided clarity on the court’s statement that school districts have “independent authority.”
'No actual controversy': Pritzker appeal of COVID school mandates TRO dismissed
Appellate justices declined to step in, saying a decision by a committee of state lawmakers to not allow Gov. JB Pritzker to renew his school mask mandate and other COVID-related school rules means the state, at this time, has no rules to enforce, and the Springfield judge has no rules to restrain
Raines-Welch, wife of House Speaker Chris Welch, announces candidacy for Cook County judge
Attorney ShawnTe Raines-Welch in her announcement highlighted both her own credentials and her relationship to the powerful House Speaker
Walgreens OK to claim Blue Cross wrongly using Walgreens' ex-lawyers in suit alleging pharmacy chain inflated prices
Blue Cross Blue Shield is suing Walgreens for allegedly overcharging for discount drugs, but a Chicago judge is allowing Walgreens to counterclaim that Blue Cross is improperly making use of a law firm that once advised the pharmaceutical retailer on its markdown program.
Appeals panel: Cook County judge wrong to deny trust a chance to continue malpractice suit vs lawyers after plaintiff's death
A state appeals panel says the dispute over lawyers' work over the sale of a Barrington Hills property should have been allowed to continue with a substitution of plaintiffs
Attorneys: Appeals court still must rule on Springfield judge's ruling, despite JCAR rejection of Pritzker's COVID school rules
Tuesday, a committee of Illinois lawmakers refused to allow Gov. JB Pritzker to renew his "emergency" COVID school rules. But a key legal question concerning the limits of Pritzker's powers should be addressed by a state appeals court, said attorneys for Pritzker and those for students and parents
Bite-Sized Legal Food Webinar Series on February 17, 2022
Bite-Sized Legal Food Webinar Series on February 17, 2022.
Banasek and Boeckman to Present to Chicago Dental Society
Banasek and Boeckman to Present to Chicago Dental Society.
Clearview mostly whiffs on try to toss massive biometrics class action over online 'face scraping'
Chicago federal judge rejects arguments tech firm's data scraping, facial database didn't break privacy laws
School mask mandate suspended following vote of state's rulemaking body
The Joint Committee of Administrative Rules (JCAR) voted today to stop Gov. JB Pritzker's attempt to reissue emergency rules that would have required school districts to enforce masking for K-12 public and private schools.
Russian Sanctions/Export Controls Update
Russian Sanctions/Export Controls Update.
So, You Think You Are Ready for Global Inclusion, Equity and Diversity. What Now? on February 16, 2022
So, You Think You Are Ready for Global Inclusion, Equity and Diversity. What Now? on February 16, 2022.
Judge forecloses Cook County's long running lawsuit vs Bank of America over alleged discriminatory mortgage lending
Bucklo rules county can't prove BOA intended to discriminate, finds no evidence increased foreclosures hurt public budget
Chicago Public Schools should be held in contempt for continuning to enforce mask mandate, says students' lawyer
Attorney Tom DeVore has asked a Springfield judge to require CPS and its CEO Pedro Martinez to explain why they shouldn't held in contempt for essentially ignoring the judge's order blocking enforcement of school mask mandates
Bti Consulting Names 7 Morgan Lewis Partners as 2022 ‘Client Service All-stars’
Bti Consulting Names 7 Morgan Lewis Partners as 2022 ‘Client Service All-stars’.
Timeclock vendor Kronos agrees to pay $15M to end fingerprint scan class action; Lawyers to get $5M
According to settlement documents, nearly 172,000 class members - people who used Kronos fingerprint scanning timeclocks to punch in and out of work shifts - could be in line for payments of $290-$580 each
Lawsuit: Chicago, Cook County vax passports do nothing vs omicron, 'patently irrational,' unconstitutional
A group of Chicago and Cook County residents have sued the city and county, saying the vaccine passport orders deprive people of their rights without coming close to achieving their stated goals of reducing the spread of the omicron COVID variant