Dan Churney News
Appeals panel: City retirees can press lawsuit vs Chicago City Hall over if constitution requires insurance coverage
An appeals court says earlier ruling that the city is not required to pay for certain retirees' health insurance, but that ruling did not answer the question of what obligations the city still has to those retired workers.
IL appeals court: Attorney McNabola's conduct 'breaches' should cost him $8M fees in muddied $25M injury suit settlement
An Illinois appeals panel has ruled Chicago lawyer Mark McNabola should get $281,000 as his cut from a clouded $25 million personal injury settlement, instead of $8 million, because his conduct at trial put the settlement in "serious jeopardy."
Nando's Peri-Peri chain to pay $1.4M to end biometrics class action over worker fingerprint scans; Lawyers get $470K
A group of Nando's restaurant workers get $643 a piece from class action claiming Nando's broke Illinois' biometric privacy law.
IL Supreme Court says private ambulances can be sued for non-emergency traffic crashes
A divided Illinois Supreme Court has ruled ambulance companies can be sued for negligence in traffic crashes that occur during non-emergency trips
Appeals court says homeowners stalled too long before suing O'Hare over aircraft noise, calls their attorneys 'careless'
A state appeals panel has grounded a suit by Bensenville homeowners against the city of Chicago, which alleged their property rights were violated by noise from nearby O’Hare International Airport, saying homeowners waited too long to sue.
Judge dries up Frigidaire dishwasher class action, says claims are too mixed
A Chicago federal judge has scrubbed a putative class action against Electrolux, which alleges the company's Frigidaire dishwashers catch fire, saying plaintiffs' claims are "too unwieldy" to pursue as a group.
Appeals panel: Once-disabled lawyer needs more than oral agreement to force ex-firm to fork over millions in back pay
An Illinois appellate court has confirmed a Cook County court ruling that a suburban lawyer is not entitled to millions in back pay from his ex-firm, Schiff Hardin.
Illinois high court brushes away lead paint suit, says Medicaid paid for kids' lead screenings so parents can't sue
Allowing the parents to sue in this case would open the door to a host of lawsuits brought by people who never lost anything, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled.
Judge says biometric suit against Southwest Airlines should taxi to adjustment board, not federal court
A Chicago judge dismissed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, which alleged the carrier breached employees' biometric privacy at Midway Airport, saying plaintiffs' claims should go before a federal adjustment board, not a federal judge.
Sterigenics says shouldn't be allowed to be sued for emissions approved by state, federal agencies
State and federal agencies approved operations at a medical device sterilization facility in suburban Willowbrook, the company argues in documents again asking a court to dismiss lawsuits alleging the plant's emissions caused cancer.
Suit: Chicago Teachers Union violates members' rights, forces them to keep paying dues, despite leaving union
A pair of teachers are suing the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Board of Education for allegedly breaching teachers' freedom of speech, by deducting union dues to subsidize the union's political positions without members' consent.
Judge trims, but refuses to ground suit alleging American Airlines' uniforms made workers sick
Chicago judge cuts back suit against American Airlines, but says plaintiffs make plausible allegations
IL Supreme Court says state anti-gambling law doesn't apply to fantasy sports, because fantasy sports aren't gambling
A split Illinois Supreme Court has ruled the loser in a fantasy sports contest cannot get their money back from the winner under anti-gambling law, declaring fantasy games to involve skill, not luck.
Judge says Rockford's hired lawyers may question top pharmaceutical executives in suit alleging Acthar price fixing
Judge lets city of Rockford depose bosses of pharmaceutical-related companies in suit alleging price fixing for hormone therapy drug.
Appeals panel says Wrongful Death Act applies to 'nonviable' fetus aborted because of surgery on mother
A Chicago appeals court has ruled the the parents of an aborted fetus may cite the Illinois Wrongful Death Act to sue two suburban doctors, whom the parents alleged performed an operation on the pregnant mother that harmed the fetus, forcing the parents to abort.
Split IL Supreme Court punts on FOID card enforcement in private homes; Dissent: Refusal to rule is 'wasteful'
A divided Illinois Supreme Court refuses to address whether it is legal to enforce FOID law in private homes
Appeals court says State Farm could be liable for company attorney who allegedly issued 'fraudulent' summonses in auto crash suits
A Chicago appeals panel has reinstated part of a class action against State Farm Insurance, which alleged a company attorney fraudulently served summonses in traffic crash suits.
Judge says health insurer Anthem not responsible for Chicago affiliate's alleged practice of improperly denying claims
Health insurer Anthem can't be held accountable for an affiliated company's denials of coverage, which allegedly violated Medicare rules, a judge has said.
Appeals court: CBOT didn't break antitrust law by challenging firm's stab at electronic trading in 2004
A Chicago federal appeals panel has ruled the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange did not breach antitrust law 16 years ago, by allegedly trying to improperly scuttle a trading firm's electronic trading platform with a flood of regulatory objections.
IL Supreme Court says securities firm is a 'bank' under Uniform Commercial Code, can be sued for funds transferred in hack
The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled a securities firm is a "bank" as defined by the Uniform Commercial Code, in a case in which the firm was sued under the code for allegedly letting a hacker steal funds from a client.