Dan Churney News
Appeals court: Drunken driver can't sue Park Forest cop for not arresting him before traffic crash
A state appeals panel has ruled a man cannot sue a police officer in suburban Park Forest for not arresting him for drunken driving, which the man said would have saved him from rolling his car shortly after and suffering injuries.
Parents of terrorism victim may resume suit vs Palestinian group they accuse of supporting Hamas
A federal appeals panel says a Chicago federal judge was wrong to conclude the case doesn't belong in federal court, because she didn't believe the lawsuit against a suburban Palestinian organization could succeed.
U.S. appeals panel: Kin of Hitler's victims must seek comp from French railway collaborators in France, not American courts
A Chicago federal appeals court has ruled France, not the U.S., is the place for the descendants of French Jews to sue the French National Railroad for taking Jews to Nazi concentration camps during World War II.
Split IL High Court says wrongly imprisoned man may sue detectives for malicious prosecution in '93 McLean Co. murder case
A divided Illinois Supreme Court has ruled a man once wrongfully imprisoned for a Downstate murder, has the right to sue detectives for malicious prosecution, saying police may have swayed prosecutors to pursue the misbegotten case.
Appeals court says snack food maker Mondelez improperly tried to thwart union through firings
A federal appeals panel has ruled Deerfield-based Mondelez broke labor law by trying to hinder union activities at a New Jersey plant, which included firing union leaders for "sham" reasons.
Lawsuit settlement: IL Secy of State agrees to stop dragging feet on voter registration law
The Illinois Secretary of State's Office has agreed to make voter registration easier for non-English speakers, as a result of a lawsuit brought by Chicago-based political reform groups.
Judge trims suit claiming McDonald's purged Black executives, franchisees from company
A Chicago federal judge has pared a discrimination suit brought against McDonald's by two executives, which alleges corporate brass thinned Blacks from the company's ranks.
IL high court: Judges must specially approve all process service in Cook County, setting Cook apart from all other IL counties
In a 5-2 decision, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled a process server, serving notice in Cook County for an action filed outside the county, must be specially appointed for the process to be legitimate.
Appeals court says Chicago housing developer can't sue ex-attorneys for what his bankrupt company lost in profits
A state appeals panel has stopped Chicago developer David Dubin's $2 million malpractice suit against his ex-lawyers, saying he has no right to litigate over his company's lost profits.
Judge: Homeowners can't sue their village for merely allowing their homes to be built in flood-prone areas
A Chicago federal judge doused a lawsuit brought by a group of homeowners in Channahon, on the Will-Grundy county line, over claims the village government should pay for damage to their homes from repeated floods.
Appellate court says cops can't count holiday pay toward their pensions
An Illinois appeals panel has ruled Hanover Park's police pension board cannot include officers' holiday pay when calculating pension benefits, because only "fixed" pay — and holiday pay is not "fixed" — may be used to figure pensions.
IL high court says zoning law dispute doesn't stop Dept of Ag from deciding how close marijuana growers can be to neighborhoods
The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled the Illinois Department of Agriculture was within its rights to determine marijuana cultivation centers may be sited within 2,500 feet of residential areas, unless the areas are zoned "exclusively" residential, which could allow other state agencies to interpret state laws as they see fit.
IL appeals panel: Loop hotel developers sued ex-attorneys too late for role in alleged corrupt rezoning
An appeals court has tossed out the window a lawsuit by the would-be developers of a Loop hotel, who alleged their attorneys improperly advised another client how to thwart the project, saying the developers waited too long to lodge their malpractice action.
Melrose Park: Mayor Serpico should be excused from family's lawsuit accusing village of bogus citations, harassment
Melrose Park says Mayor Ron Serpico can't be sued by the family for the alleged harassment campaign, despite Serpico's viral video vulgar verbal badgering of one member of the family, because the village claims the mayor doesn't have the power to enact the ordinances the village says the family violated.
Split IL Supreme Court says criminal justice rules can decide conflict of interest in juvenile custody cases
A divided Illinois Supreme Court has ruled there was no conflict of interest for a Joliet lawyer who was a court-appointed guardian for a child, then later represented the child's mother against neglect allegations, saying rules covering conflict of interest in criminal matters apply to Juvenile Court Act cases.
Time clock maker Kronos wants class action halted while appeals courts mull limits on IL biometrics class actions
A maker of workplace time clocks, which is facing a massive class action under Illinois biometric law, has asked a Chicago federal judge to pause the suit while two appellate panels address questions in two other cases that could affect the Kronos suit and other similar actions.
Sandoval attorney wants deceased state senator's name nixed from SW suburb red light camera class action
An attorney for the late former state Sen. Martin Sandoval says the convicted politician should be dropped from a corruption class action over suburban red light cameras, saying the plaintiffs didn't swap Sandoval's estate for the deceased senator soon enough.
Appeals court: IL state government not required to sue Chicago to force turnover of $11M in abandoned checks
A split appeals panel has ruled the state had the right to refrain from suing the city of Chicago for failing to turn over $11 million in uncashed checks, which whistleblowers brought to the state's attention, because the city's actions did not harm the state.
'Message not getting across:' Judge says Pritzker wrong, feds still need to watch IL state government hiring
A federal judge has not only refused to grant Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker's wish to end federal oversight of state hiring, but has granted a modest expansion of that watchdog duty.
Workers using biometric time clocks will learn of class action against biometric maker, despite fear of employers that workers will turn around and sue them
A Cook County judge will let a plaintiff, who has settled with a biometric maker in a privacy class action, notify employees of businesses that used the biometric technology of their right to settlement funds, despite the businesses' fear these employees will learn they can sue them.