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Stories by Jonathan Bilyk on Cook County Record

COOK COUNTY RECORD

Saturday, November 30, 2024

Jonathan Bilyk News


Lawyers who sued Bears over anti-white discrimination allege double cross by ex-paralegal plaintiff

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The Trent Law Firm, which appeared to have secured a settlement with the Chicago Bears in a lawsuit over alleged anti-white hiring discrimination, has asked for a time out, as they say they are suing an ex-paralegal at the firm who they accuse of sabotaging the deal out of anger at the amount of legal fees

Glaub becomes first GOPer to run for countywide Cook judge since 2010, challenges DeCastro

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Forty judgeships are on the ballot in Cook County this fall, but only five of those races are contested. Four of those contests are centered in judicial subcircuits based in Cook County's northwest suburbs. All other races feature Democrats running unopposed.

Judge peels off class action vs Kroger over effectiveness of lidocaine pain patches

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A federal judge faulted prolific labeling fraud lawsuit filer attorney Spencer Sheehan for attempting to proceed with the class action by swapping out claims and plaintiffs, after the first claim didn't entirely pan out in court

IL counties can't end lawsuit accusing them of unconstitutionally taking homes over unpaid taxes

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A Chicago federal judge said the counties can't beat the lawsuit by claiming they aren't violating the Constitution because state law allows private investors to keep the homes and the profits from the forced sales, not the governments themselves

Nursing homes can use Pritzker Covid orders to block suits over Covid deaths

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled trial lawyers can't entirely sidestep emergency orders issued by Gov. JB Pritzker at the onset of the Covid pandemic to hit nursing homes with lawsuits over Covid deaths, even though the governor's orders appeared to protect them from such lawsuits

'A downward spiral': Biz groups, legal reformers urge IL high court to nix bid to kill anti-forum shopping rule

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The filings come in response to an attempt by the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association to seize on a dispute over the constitutionality of a controversial state law to win a long sought policy goal, which would funnel lawsuits into Cook, Madison and St. Clair counties, in pursuit of bigger, easier verdicts

Scandal-struck prominent Cook County judges draw negative election recommendations from legal groups

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The Illinois State Bar Association particularly recommended voters not support the retention bids this fall for Cook County Judges E. Kenneth Wright, Kathy Flanagan and Shannon O'Malley, aka Philip Spiwak. Other judges drawing negative reviews included Lisa Ann Marino and Ieshia E. Gray.

Northwestern, Notre Dame among top U.S. colleges hit with class action over financial aid practices

By Jonathan Bilyk |
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

By Jonathan Bilyk |
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

By Jonathan Bilyk |
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

By Jonathan Bilyk |
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

By Jonathan Bilyk |
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

By Jonathan Bilyk |
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

By Jonathan Bilyk |
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

By Jonathan Bilyk |
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'

By Jonathan Bilyk |
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

By Jonathan Bilyk |
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

By Jonathan Bilyk |
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

By Jonathan Bilyk |
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

By Jonathan Bilyk |
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.