The Cook County Record News
Appeals panel: IL liquor control law doesn't define an unborn fetus as a 'person,' family can't sue taverns for DUI death
The state's Wrongful Death law allows lawsuits for the deaths of unborn children, but Illinois' Dramshop Act, which governs when taverns can be sued for death and injuries, includes no such provisions, the appellate justices said
Judge OKs $10M Octapharma fingerprint class action deal; $800+ per class member, $3.3M for lawyers
A federal judge granted final approval to a deal to end a class action vs Octapharma Plasma over claims the company improperly required plasma donors to scan their fingerprints, in violation of Illinois' biometrics privacy law
Union workers' biometrics claims belong in arbitration, not in class actions, because of CBA: Appeals panel
A Cook County judge had ruled workers' claims over fingerprint scans were separate from their union contract. But a state appeals panel said they would not break with a decision set by a federal appeals court on the question.
County health dept owes $374K to lawyers who represented nurse forced from job for refusing to refer abortions
The lawyers said they hope the ruling and resulting payout will send a message to other Illinois governments and health care employers who might try to force workers to choose between their religious beliefs and their jobs.
Freeborn Partner Matthew J. O’Hara Named BTI Client Service All-Star MVP for 2022
Freeborn Partner Matthew J. O’Hara Named BTI Client Service All-Star MVP for 2022.
DeVore announces Illinois Attorney General campaign; Vows to never 'represent the governor against the people'
Greenville attorney Tom DeVore, who confirmed that he will run on the Republican ticket for Illinois Attorney General, said he had no intentions of pursuing politics until he watched children across the state stand up for themselves by walking into school without masks and vowed to fight for the people rather than against them.
IL Supreme Court to lift statewide courthouse mask mandate Feb. 28
The Illinois Supreme Court will end the courthouse mask mandate it has had in place since last September, at the same time Gov. JB Pritzker lifts his statewide indoor mask mandate
Pritzker asks IL Supreme Court to restore his power to force school students to mask, test, be excluded, over COVID
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker says only the Illinois Supreme Court can "halt mischief," as school districts statewide ditch forced masking, testing and student exclusion policies that a Springfield judge says were illegal
Jones Day adds seven U.S. Supreme Court clerks from the October 2020 Term
Jones Day adds seven U.S. Supreme Court clerks from the October 2020 Term.
Hard time fighting back: Employers seek defenses vs rising biometrics class actions, emboldened settlement demands
A January Illinois Supreme Court decision effectively ended employers' efforts to use Illinois' workers' comp law to beat biometrics class actions, and may have emboldened the plaintiff’s bar to seek even higher settlements
Estate Planning for High Net Worth Individuals in 2022 on February 23
Estate Planning for High Net Worth Individuals in 2022 on February 23.
Alejandro Caffarelli Named to Super Lawyers Top 100
Alejandro Caffarelli Named to Super Lawyers Top 100.
Greenberg Traurig Elevates 7 Attorneys in Chicago Office
Greenberg Traurig Elevates 7 Attorneys in Chicago Office.
DeVore to run for Attorney General: Lawyer who has repeatedly challenged Pritzker's COVID powers announces candidacy
Downstate lawyer Tom DeVore, who led the case that secured a court order blocking Pritzker's school mask mandates, says he will seek to challenge Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who he said has acted as Pritzker's "personal attorney" rather than "the people's legal counsel"
Southside Recycling developers to renew court fight, demand $100M+ from city for denying permit
The owners of the Southside Recycling metal recycling plant say the city's permit denial was motivated by politics, not science, and warned businesses from attempting to do business with the city, a "not reliable partner."
IL Supreme Court may be next stop for Pritzker's continued fight to reimpose school mask rules, other COVID mandates
Gov. JB Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul each promised to ask the Illinois Supreme Court to undo lower court rulings declaring Pritzker's COVID school rules to be non-existent, null, void
Pritzker is ‘out of the picture’: DeVore responds to dismissal of COVID-19 school mandate appeal
Attorney Tom DeVore, who represents the Illinois students and parents suing Gov. J.B. Pritzker over his COVID-19 mandates for schools, responded to the Fourth District Appellate Court ruling and provided clarity on the court’s statement that school districts have “independent authority.”
'No actual controversy': Pritzker appeal of COVID school mandates TRO dismissed
Appellate justices declined to step in, saying a decision by a committee of state lawmakers to not allow Gov. JB Pritzker to renew his school mask mandate and other COVID-related school rules means the state, at this time, has no rules to enforce, and the Springfield judge has no rules to restrain
Raines-Welch, wife of House Speaker Chris Welch, announces candidacy for Cook County judge
Attorney ShawnTe Raines-Welch in her announcement highlighted both her own credentials and her relationship to the powerful House Speaker
Walgreens OK to claim Blue Cross wrongly using Walgreens' ex-lawyers in suit alleging pharmacy chain inflated prices
Blue Cross Blue Shield is suing Walgreens for allegedly overcharging for discount drugs, but a Chicago judge is allowing Walgreens to counterclaim that Blue Cross is improperly making use of a law firm that once advised the pharmaceutical retailer on its markdown program.