Jonathan Bilyk News
Lawsuit lenders say biz opposition to regulation law 'disingenuous' effort to block lawsuit lending in IL
A trade association representing lawsuit lenders in Illinois says business groups' push for greater transparency and disclosure rules for lawsuit lending would unfairly harm plaintiffs
Appeals court OKs $97.5M for lawyers who got $650M from Facebook in photo tags class action
A California federal appeals court says the big fee award to the lawyers for their work leading the class action under Illinois' biometrics law wasn't excessive
Judge again nixes bid by Smollett lawyer to escape Nigerian bros' slander suit over 'whiteface' claim
A federal judge says the Osundairo brothers can keep suing lawyer Tina Glandian for asserting in a TV interview that the brothers had worn "whiteface" when they allegedly helped Jussie Smollett stage the alleged hate crime attack against the actor
DeVore lawsuit targets Chicago vax-or-test mandate for workers, says mandate is illegal
Attorney Tom DeVore has filed suit on behalf of dozens of Chicago city workers, arguing Mayor Lori Lightfoot's vaccine-or-test mandate wasn't issued legally, and violates city workers' due process rights
Jacksonville Jaguars claim insurer owes millions for COVID losses team suffered in 2020-21
The NFL franchise sued Chicago-based Axis Surplus Insurance Company in Cook County court, asserting the insurer wrongly denied the team's claim for loss coverage under a $6 million business interruption policy
Foxx's Smollett 'kangaroo prosecution' statements 'unusual,' may trigger hard look from ethics regulators
But legal ethics specialist says regulators would have a hard time making ethics charges about Foxx's 'carefully worded' statements stick in this case, due to free speech considerations.
Eight biometrics class actions filed vs Illinois employers over worker fingerprint scans
The lawsuits were filed against 11 companies, accusing them of violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act for the way they required workers to scan fingerprints when punching the clock to begin and end work shifts.
Chicago Public Schools teachers ask court to block vax-or-test mandate for CPS employees
In the motion, attorney Tom DeVore, on behalf of the CPS educators, asserts Chicago Public Schools' vaccine mandate for workers violates their rights to due process under Illinois law
Cook County judge: Health officials ordering quarantine must respect constitutional rights, prove medical basis
A Cook County judge last month rejected the attempt by the Cook County Department of Public Health to force a seventh grader to be excluded from school for 10 days, even though the student had tested negative, saying the health officials needed to do more than merely insinuate the student might be contagious
Lawyer for Chicago city workers: Courts must address overreach in Lightfoot, Pritzker job or jab COVID vax mandates
In an appellate brief, the workers argued their rights to privacy and bodily autonomy to refuse a vaccine of questionable effectiveness, should be upheld under the same reasoning used by the U.S. Supreme Court to declare a constiutional right to abortion.
Judge OKs class action demanding Chicago install devices to help blind pedestrians at intersections
The lawsuit asserts the city of Chicago is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and discriminating against the blind by failing to equip intersections with devices to communicate Walk/Don't Walk status to those with limited vision
Six more biometrics class actions target employers over worker fingerprint scans
The lawsuits seek potentially big money from eight defendants, including Altitude Health Services; the Kindred Hospital system; HBS Management; GMP Chicago; Congress Plaza Hotel; Wexford Home Corp.; and Vyse Gelatin.
Ex-Park District lawyer: Lightfoot owes for forcing him to resign after obscene 'big d***' rant over Columbus statue
Mayor Lori Lightfoot allegedly shouted she had 'biggest d*** in Chicago' and threatened to get the lawyer fired while berating him over a deal with Italian American group to begin resolving lawsuit vs Chicago Park District
Pritzker fighting to lift federal monitoring for political patronage hiring, system used by Madigan to boost power
Even as he talked with investigators in the federal prosecution that led to the indictment of former House Speaker Michael Madigan, Gov. JB Pritzker has been fighting to lift federal oversight of state hiring practices, a system exploited by Madigan to cement his grip on power statewide
Former House Speaker, IL Dems chair Madigan indicted on racketeering, bribery charges
Federal prosecutors allege Michael J. Madigan, who for 40 years led Illinois Democrats and ruled over much of Springfield and Chicago politics, was the leader of a criminal racketeering enterprise, beginning at least 10 years ago.
Liberty Justice Center accuses River Forest D90 of not following Open Meetings law, singles out Equity committee
"All citizens have the right to know what their government is doing," says nonprofit civil liberties group, about a letter it sent to River Forest District 90, demanding officials provide proper notice and minutes for meetings. The letter particularly noted problems with notice and records for the district's equity and policy committees.
Cook County courts to keep mask mandate in place
Cook County's chief judge said the Cook County Department of Public Health tells him COVID transmission rates are still too high to justify lifting courthouse mask mandates, even though Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Supreme Court have said otherwise
DeVore asks Springfield judge to block CPS from forcing students to mask
The attorney who won a restraining order against Gov. JB Pritzker's school COVID rules is now asking the same judge to issue an order vs Chicago Public Schools for 'unlawfully' still requiring student masks
IL Supreme Court won't consider, for now, whether biometrics lawsuits are limited to two-year personal injury time window
The state high court has rejected a petition to bypass a state appeals court on the question of whether potentially ruinous class actions under the state's biometrics privacy law should be restricted to a two-year, rather than five-year, statute of limitations
Dissent: IL Supreme Court should have decided whether Pritzker broke the law in imposing school COVID mandates
Two Republican justices said the state high court's Democratic majority had erred in passing on the chance to determine whether a Springfield judge had properly blocked Gov. JB Pritzker from enforcing his school mask, testing and exclusion rules