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COOK COUNTY RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Federal Court

S. IL federal judges rescind policies critics said discriminated vs white male lawyers

By Jonathan Bilyk |
In letters to their chief judge, the federal judges acknowledged the policies, which encouraged law firms to allow young lawyers, who are female or non-white, to argue cases at least created a perception of discrimination 
Reform

'De facto invisible': High costs, court rules, lack of online access can block public from monitoring 'public' court proceedings

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A settlement has resolved a class action vs federal courts over fees charged to access online court documents. But high costs for certain records and varying court rules about public access to court records in Illinois and elsewhere create a legal patchwork that mostly limits public view into the courts
Campaigns & Elections

Spyropoulos wins circuit court clerk race, becomes latest to pledge to modernize, restore trust in embattled office

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Campaigns & Elections

Foxx's No. 2 Lanier loses bid for bench; Cook voters select nominees for 40 open county judgeships

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Only 13 of the 40 open Cook County judgeships produced contested races in the March Democratic primary election. Republicans field candidates for only four judgeships in two suburban subcircuits.
Campaigns & Elections

Bring Chicago Home headed to defeat, in big loss for Mayor, political allies

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Votes were still being counted, but as of Wednesday morning, nearly 54% of Chicago voters had voted to reject the controversial Bring Chicago Home referendum, strongly backed by Mayor Brandon Johnson and his political allies at the Chicago Teachers Union, among others
While the bill likely will go nowhere, it’s unfathomable that it could even be proposed: In the relevant part, a bill now pending in the Illinois legislature would criminalize, as “parental bullying,” any parent who knowingly, with intent to discipline or alter the behavior of a child, says or messages anything that would coerce the child.
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Lawdragon names Cozen O’Connor’s Shaw among Top 500 leading U.S. bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers

CHICAGO, July 17, 2023 — Lawdragon has named Chicago attorney Brian Shaw, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Bankruptcy, Insolvency & Restructuring practice, to its 2023 list of the Top 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers.

Cozen O’Connor attorney Matt DiCianni honored with Rising Stars Award from the National Immigrant Justice Center

Matt DiCianni, a labor and employment associate at Cozen O’Connor, has been honored with a Rising Stars Award from the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC).
Latest News
Lawsuits

Lake County family sues Gree for home fire, injuries caused by defective dehumidifier, subject to recalls, indictments

By Cook County Record |
The lawsuit claims a Gree dehumidifier caught fire in 2022 in the family's Lake County home, in which firefighters rescued one family member from a basement window and found another unresponsive on the floor of an upstairs room.
Lawsuits

Amazon accused in class action of wrongly making Prime customers pay $3 a month to skip commercials

By Cook County Record |
Amazon has been hit with a class action lawsuit, accusing the company of unilaterally changing the terms of service for its Prime video streaming service.
Federal Court

Ancestry can't use arbitration clause in parents' user agreements to end kids' lawsuits

By Scott Holland |
Appeals panel said children aren't a party to parents' contracts for use of DNA test kits
Lawsuits

Judge trims prime chunks of consumer fraud class action vs Beyond Meat

By Scott Holland |
Plaintiffs can't press claims about protein content on package-front labels
Lawsuits

Wingstop hit with biometrics class action for allegedly allowing virtual ordering app to record customer voices on phone

By Cook County Record |
The lawsuit also names as defendant tech vendor ConverseNow, allegedly the supplier of a virtual AI phone order assistant
Lawsuits

Class action claims Target anti-shoplifting camera system violates IL biometrics privacy law

By Cook County Record |
The lawsuit could carry a potentially huge payout for Target Corp., which is accused of improperly scanning the faces of people in Target stores using its anti-theft surveillance system.
Lawsuits

Class action says Ledger owes customers for allegedly misleading about security of its crypto wallets

By Cook County Record |
The lawsuit had been filed in federal court in New York, but was transferred to Chicago federal court
Lawsuits

Class action targets online test prep biz Themis Bar Review over alleged tracking pixels

By Cook County Record |
The lawsuit asserts the company allegedly allowed Facebook to access personal identifying information about users of Themis' website through the use of so-called tracking pixel installed on the website.
Lawsuits

Class action says Quaker Oats failed to tell customers its products contain traces of plant growth regulator chemical

By Cook County Record |
The lawsuit asserts Quaker Oats has violated numerous state consumer protection laws.

Lake County family sues Gree for home fire, injuries caused by defective dehumidifier, subject to recalls, indictments

By Cook County Record |
The lawsuit claims a Gree dehumidifier caught fire in 2022 in the family's Lake County home, in which firefighters rescued one family member from a basement window and found another unresponsive on the floor of an upstairs room.

Amazon accused in class action of wrongly making Prime customers pay $3 a month to skip commercials

By Cook County Record |
Amazon has been hit with a class action lawsuit, accusing the company of unilaterally changing the terms of service for its Prime video streaming service.

Judge trims prime chunks of consumer fraud class action vs Beyond Meat

By Scott Holland |
Plaintiffs can't press claims about protein content on package-front labels

Black female worker says Metra wrongly fired her over Covid vax mandate

By Cook County Record |
The lawsuit claims the commuter rail agency wrongly denied her request for a religious exemption from the 2021 Covid vaccine mandate.

Class action accuses CommonSpirit Health of shorting workers OT

By Cook County Record |
The lawsuit seeks to include thousands of current and former workers at one of the largest Catholic health systems in the U.S.

Chicago City Hall sues Glock, says gunmaker to blame for exacerbating city's 'epidemic' of gun violence

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The administration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has partnered with anti-gun activists to sue firearms manufacturer Glock under Illinois' new consumer fraud law specifically allowing gunmakers to get sued. Glock becomes latest company to be blamed in lawsuits for Chicago's societal woes

IL Supreme Court asked to hear cross-appeals on judge’s order declaring forum law unconstitutional

By Heather Isringhausen Gvillo |
Madison County Associate Judge Ronald Foster’s order declaring Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s forum law is unconstitutional for plaintiffs residing or injured outside of Cook and Sangamon Counties has been appealed directly to the Illinois Supreme Court by both parties for separate reasons.

Realtors to pay $418M to end home seller commission class action; Big changes coming to home sale process

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Lawyers who brought the lawsuits could be in for a big payday, as well, potentially claiming $140 million from the deal, plus $69 million from earlier settlements with large real estate brokerages facing similar claims of alleged collusion to boost real estate agent commissions

Foster declares Pritzker's venue law unconstitutional, refuses to transfer firearm liability challenge to Sangamon County

By Heather Isringhausen Gvillo |
Madison County Associate Judge Ronald J. Foster Jr. declared Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s forum law favoring Cook and Sangamon County is unconstitutional and denied Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s motion to transfer an Alton gun store’s constitutional challenge to both the venue law and the firearm liability law.

Opponents to Chicago property sales tax hike referendum ask IL Supreme Court to step in

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Business groups argued an appellate court's decision reinstating the referendum on the ballot would effectively allow the Chicago City Council and other lawmaking bodies across the state to place any referendum questions on any ballot they wish, regardless if the questions are constitutional

Judge blocks big piece of IL Dems' temp worker regulation law

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A Chicago federal judge ruled that major changes to Illinois' law regulating temp workers and day laborers can't take effect because they are preempted by federal law 

IL courts hit with avalanche of pre-trial jail appeals under SAFE-T Act; Rules rewritten to ease 'staggering' burden

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The Illinois Supreme Court has rewritten rules governing how criminal defendants can appeal judges' decisions to keep them locked up while they await trial, after such appeals rose from 171 in the past 10 years to more than 1,900 in the past five months under Illinois Democrats' SAFE-T Act

Illinois Supreme Court sets new standard on when convicted felons can credibly claim 'torture' by cops

By Scott Holland |
A divided Illinois Supreme Court rejected the attempt by Darrell Fair, who was convicted of murder and armed robbery, but claimed some of his statements while in police custody were coerced by torture. A Cook County trial judge had called such claims "an absolute lie."

Burke convicted; Ex-Chicago Finance chair used power to boost law firm, stack courts, control government

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke was convicted on 13 counts of racketeering, bribery and extortion charges, stemming from shakedowns of developers, businesspeople and the Field Museum, among others. Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot noted Burke his used his power to leverage control of the courts in Chicago and elsewhere

Cook County Judge Carl Boyd suspended from hearing cases after charged with domestic battery

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Cook County Circuit Judge Carl Boyd was charged with domestic battery in an incident Chicago Police say left a woman with a cut on her cheek from broken glass. Boyd has served on the Cook County bench since 2012