Jonathan Bilyk News
'The Village is broke:' Dolton village board lawyer says Dolton may lose insurance coverage soon
An attorney representing Dolton's village board of trustees asserts in an email obtained by The Cook County Record that dysfunction under Mayor Tiffany Henyard has left the village 'at risk of having no liability insurance,' even as the village faces a growing list of lawsuits accusing Henyard and the village of corruption and lawlessness
Ex-Chicago cop sues Kim Foxx, Park Ridge Police for wrongly prosecuting him for detaining suspect who had his kid's bike
Former Chicago Police Sgt. Michael Vitellaro says Park Ridge cops and Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx wrongly prosecuted him after he acted within his lawful authority, capitulating to a public pressure campaign from activists who demanded his arrest for detaining a "young man" who had his son's stolen bike
IL to get $29M from $700M J&J talc settlement deal with states
The settlement will end legal actions launched by 43 states accusing Johnson & Johnson of allegedly misleading consumers about the safety of its talc baby powder and body powder products. The company has denied its products cause cancer, as other plaintiffs have claimed in thousands of other lawsuits
Cook County Judge Flanagan to face investigation over handcuffing of attorney at May hearing
Cook County's courts leadership has asked the state's Judicial Inquiry Board to examine potential disciplinary action against Cook County Circuit Judge Kathy Flanagan for her conduct amid a dispute with a lawyer in her courtroom which resulted in the lawyer being handcuffed to a chair. Flanagan denied wrongdoing
Cook County court data reporting delayed, months behind other state circuit court systems
Court officials provided no reasons were provided for the delay in reporting 2023 data from the famously backlogged court system. The Cook County Circuit Clerk's office said 2023 statistics will be published when court officials can "ensure data is accurate and complies with record keeping standards.
Grischow, judge who blocked Pritzker's school mask mandate, selected to serve on Springfield appeals court
The Illinois Supreme Court announced it would assign Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow to serve on the state's Fourth District Appellate Court. Grischow notably issued an order in 2022 declaring Gov. Pritzker had illegally issued 'emergency orders' requiring students wear masks in school
Appeals court says CPS can close Urban Prep; Chicago school closing moratorium doesn't apply to charter schools
The state appeals panel said Cook County Judge Anna Loftus was wrong to block CPS from seizing control at Urban Prep by determining a state law blocking CPS from closing schools until a school board could be elected applied to charter schools, as well as traditional CPS-managed schools
Judge: Democrats can't change 2024 election rules now to block Republicans from fall ballot
A judge in Springfield has permanently blocked the state from enforcing a new law backed by Dems which the judge said unconstitutionally rewrote candidate selection rules and would keep Republican state legislative candidates from the 2024 ballot
Judge who has endorsed statements critical of Chicago Police 'torture' won't step aside from suit accusing cops of torture
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings says a group of Chicago Police detectives haven't done enough to show he can't give them a fair hearing in a lawsuit brought by a man who claims cops tortured him into confessing to double murder. Cummings endorsed reports in '07-'08 accusing cops of 'conspiracy of silence' over 'torture'
Judge nixes ex-Park District lawyer's defamation suit vs Lightfoot over infamous 'big d***' rant
The lawyer had accused former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot over smearing his professional reputation, leading to him resigning, over his handling of settlement talks related to ownership of the city's Columbus statue in 2021
More GOP candidates join court case vs IL Dems over 'candidate slating' ballot blocking law
Democrats told a Springfield judge she needs to can the case, saying the changes to the election rules in the middle of the 2024 election cycle don't violate anyone's rights, and judges have no place deciding if state lawmakers abided by the constitution in deciding how candidates can get on the ballot
'Unconstitutional dragnet:' Class action seeks to shut down IL cops' automated license plate readers
The federal lawsuit asserts the system, established in Cook County and then expanded to the rest of the state to trace criminals and fight crime, unconstitutionally tracks the movements of drivers throughout the state, whether suspected criminals or not
IL Supreme Court rewrites attorney 'discrimination' rule; Critics predict court challenges forthcoming
Supporters say the rule change will create a stronger 'deterrent' to discriminatory and harassing behavior by lawyers in the state. Opponents say the new rule imposes an unconstitutional 'speech code' on Illinois lawyers, and likely will be challenged in court
Chicago says Berwyn blocking investigation of city worker potentially improperly living in suburb
The Chicago Office of the Inspector General has filed suit against the city of Berwyn, claiming the suburban city officials are improperly refusing to turn over complete water bill records which could reveal the identity of a Chicago city worker who may be living in Berwyn in violation of city policy
Family of woman hurt in laundry room gas vapor explosion can't use IL enviro law to sue gas station owners
The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled the Illinois Environmental Protection Act doesn't empower individuals to sue gas station owners for injuries caused by leaking underground fuel tanks. A woman had sued the owner of a Willowbrook Speedway station over a 2017 explosion in her laundry room caused by vapors that traveled through the sewer
Evanston's $20M 'reparations' payment program unconstitutional, class action lawsuit says
Under the "reparations" program, the city of Evanston would pay $20 million to black current and former Evanston residents and their "direct descendants," ostensibly to remedy past discrimination. The lawsuit says the program never requires anyone to prove they or their families suffered actual discrimination before cashing in
Cook County jury rejects claims that Zantac caused woman's colon cancer
Drugmakers GSK and Boehringer Ingelman said the verdict in their favor in the first ever trial on the question further exposes the questionable science behind the alleged testing they say falsely showed a link between cancer and ranitidine, the active ingredient formerly in Zantac
'Anti-democracy' law blocked: GOP candidates win court order stopping Dems from using new law to keep them off ballot
A Springfield judge said she believed four prospective Republican state legislative candidates were likely to win their case, accusing the state's Democratic supermajority of unconstitutionally using a hastily enacted law to keep them and other GOP challengers off the ballot in November
Ex-Orland village mgr to pay $30K to end court fight stemming from alleged political secret investigation of mayor
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau said he was "totally vindicated" in end of litigation involving former Village Manager Joseph La Margo. La Margo had secretly investigated Pekau over alleged bid rigging, and then accused Pekau of defamation for correctly asserting La Margo had exceeded his authority under village ordinance
The Next Battles: BIPA changes will spark new debates, but may not alter field for other rising class action causes
Lawyers who filled Illinois courts with thousands of class actions under the IL Biometric Information Privacy Act have also generated scads of big money claims under the state's Genetic Info Privacy Act. But while the claims are similar, BIPA reforms may not translate into reduced risk for IL businesses under GIPA