Jonathan Bilyk News
Northwestern, Notre Dame among top U.S. colleges hit with class action over financial aid practices
A new class action lawsuit says some of America's top colleges and universities have for nearly two decades violated U.S. antitrust law by collectively making it harder for students to obtain need-based financial aid by forcing them to include non-custodial parent income on applications
Jury orders ex-Acadia owner McCaskey to pay former server $4.5M over alleged online harassment
A Cook County jury agreed chef Ryan McCaskey, former owner of the Acadia restaurant in Chicago, allegedly used internet aliases to try to mask a campaign of online harassment against ex-Acadia server Cody Nason in retaliation for sharing embarrassing stories about McCaskey to an Instagram account
Lawsuit: CTU has wrongly refused for years to release financial audits, show how spending members' dues
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of four Chicago Teachers Union members, who say the union has violated its own rules in hiding spending reviews from its own members since 2020.
Man jailed for contempt for two years by Cook divorce judge over stock dispute with ex-wife, seeks release
A man has been in the Cook County jail for more than two years because Cook County divorce court Judge Michael Forti ruled he should be able to pay his ex-wife millions of dollars that the man says he doesn't have. An appeals court has been asked to determine if the extended jailing has violated the man's due process rights
Rev. Jesse Jackson endorses Republican Fioretti for Cook County State's Attorney
Jackson particularly said he believes Fioretti has been more committed to the cause of civil rights than Democratic nominee, retired IL Appeals Court Justice Eileen O'Neill Burke. Jackson's attack mirrors that used against Burke in the Democratic primary by allies of outgoing Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx
Judge closes door on legal aid group's suit vs landlord over 'No Evictions' policy
Legal Aid Chicago accused Hunter Properties of allegedly violating federal and state housing anti-discrimination laws by allegedly refusing to rent apartments to people who had been subject to eviction proceedings. A federal judge said the group can't show it was actually harmed by the policy
Pipe maker J-M says big asbestos firm Simmons Hanly shouldn't escape lawsuit fraud claims
J-M Manufacturing is pushing back against efforts by prominent asbestos law firm Simmons Hanly Conroy to end J-M's lawsuit accusing Simmons of a racket of "sham" asbestos lawsuits. The Simmons firm claims such racketeering claims aren't allowed against law firms over such litigation activities
Judge: Speedway will need settlement or trial to end class action over worker fingerprint scans
A federal judge rejected attempts by Speedway to avoid paying out millions of dollars or more to as many as 7,200 workers at its Illinois stores for allegedly wrongly requiring them to scan their fingerprints when punching the clock at work, as part of a class action under Illinois' biometrics privacy law
Lawsuit against Gotion not done yet, plaintiffs say, after judge calls first version 'unanswerable'
A Kankakee County judge said a group of Manteno residents trying to pull the plug on a huge lithium battery plant whose owners have ties to the Chinese Communist Party and which is backed by Gov. Pritzker have more work to do to back their claims officials rammed through an illegal project
Judge: Revlon can't yet use bankruptcy court orders to pare down hair relaxer lawsuits
A Chicago federal judge rejected Revlon's attempt to pull the plug on what Revlon said was an attempt by plaintiffs to use class action litigation to pull an "end-run around" orders from a New York bankruptcy court limiting the number of lawsuits Revlon must face claiming its hair relaxer products caused cancer
$60M deal makes insurer new target in Jason Cloth movie financing Ponzi scheme suit
The settlement ends the claims against financial advisor Schmidt Advisory Services, who allegedly acted as the Chicago area middleman used by Canadian movie financier to allegedly raise $100M+ to finance an alleged Ponzi scheme from investors who were promised big returns from film projects
Lawsuit accuses Cook divorce judge of unconstitutionally blocking adult son from family's online court hearing
The adult son of a River Forest real estate developer is suing Cook County Judge Abbey Romanek for allegedly violating his rights by refusing to allow him to observe online divorce court hearing involving his parents. The proceedings have resulted in his father being ordered to jail three times in eight years over money disputes
Third District Appellate race shines light on Democrat Will County judge's past run-ins with law
Will Co. Judge John Anderson is running against DuPage Co. Judge Kenton Skarin for a seat on Illinois' Third District Appellate Court. Skarin has launched a website listing Anderson's 33 traffic citations, arrests and convictions dating back to the late 1980s, mostly for excessive speeding. Anderson admits to a 'challenging' past, but says it is part of a redemption story.
Cook Courts clerk casts doubts on official numbers touting success of IL criminal justice reforms
Cook County Circuit Clerk Iris Martinez is calling for an independent analysis of court data being used to trumpet the success of Dems' criminal justice reform measures, saying an analysis by her office shows far more people are skipping court dates than are being acknowledged by official numbers
Chicago cop says Foxx wrongly prosecuted him for shooting at man who threatened cops with gun
A Chicago Police officer has become the latest cop to sue the Cook County State's Attorney. This officer accuses Foxx for wrongly charging him for injuries suffered by suspect who was next to another who shot at officers
IL Supreme Court questions if Smollett special prosecution wrongly undermined Foxx, set bad precedent
The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments concerning actor Jussie Smollett's bid to reverse his conviction for staging an infamous fake racially-motivated attack in 2019, that spurred a politically-motivated outcry of sympathy and demands for justice from Kamala Harris and other left-wing politicians and celebrities
Lawsuit: Anti-cop bias, politics at COPA producing 'tainted' investigations into Chicago police conduct
A deputy administrator at Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability says he was fired after shining light on alleged bias and political motives at the office under its current top administrator
IL Baptists plan to appeal ruling that IL abortion coverage mandate doesn't violate religious rights
A Springfield judge agreed with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul that the state's abortion health insurance coverage mandate doesn't violate religious objectors' rights because they can still buy health insurance from other states
Jury awards $50M to man who said was wrongly imprisoned as accomplice to murder
Marcel Brown had been sentenced to 35 years as an accomplice in a 2008 murder, after he drove an accused gunman to a city park to take part in a feud among rival groups. Cook County prosecutors dropped charges 10 years later, saying Brown was denied a lawyer during questioning that led to a confession
Highland Park families' lawsuits say IL State Police could have stopped 2022 parade massacre
Complaints filed in the Illinois Court of Claims assert the Illinois State Police knew man accused in the July 2022 Highland Park Fourth of July Parade massacre was 'clear and present danger' and should have stopped him from buying the gun allegedly used.