A federal appeals panel has shelved an attempt by a group of downstate landowners to sue their county for setting property tax bills after only reassessing the properties in their township, effectively raising their tax bills by 25 percent, allegedly violating their constitutional rights to equal protection.
A recent decision by a federal appeals court in Chicago likely forebodes a legal fight before the U.S. Supreme Court over the fate of so-called local right-to-work zones in Illinois and throughout the country.
A state appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that attempted to make a night club in suburban Burbank pay for the injuries suffered by a man who was struck by an outward opening door on New Year's Eve 2012, saying the man should have recognized the danger of standing in front of the door when the club had posted a sign denying reentry to anyone outside.
A state appeals panel has reversed a Cook County judge’s dismissal of a class action complaint accusing an LA Tan franchisee of violating an Illinois privacy law for the way it scanned and stored digital scans of customers’ fingerprints, saying the business’ disclosure of those fingerprints to a third-party vendor could be enough of a violation to sustain the lawsuit.
Saying to find otherwise would create “catastrophic” consequences for labor law in Illinois and across the country, a federal appeals panel has backed a federal judge’s decision to toss an attempt by a northwest suburban village to use its home rule powers to create a local right-to-work zone within its borders.
A new legislative proposal would force real estate lawyers in Illinois who also serve as title insurance agents to 'choose which hat they will wear' in a home sale transaction, in a bid to reduce the typical closing costs paid by Illinois homeowners, and bring those costs more in line with the national average. But the proposal has drawn fire from lawyers and their associations, accusing supporters of the bill of unfairly 'scapegoating' lawyers for Illinois' relatively more expensive title insurance costs.
New Jersey has enacted a new law allowing striking workers to collect unemployment benefits during a labor dispute. But an attorney monitoring such developments has heard no rumblings similar legislation is imminent in other states dominated by Democrats, such as Illinois.
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a former Chicago Heights homeowner, who claimed he and other homeowners in poor and minority neighborhoods in Cook County were forced to pay more than they should in property taxes because, he said, Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios inflated the taxable value of homes in those neighborhoods.
A state appellate court has again ruled Cook County has the power to make ethics rules that apply to county officers, including the Cook County Assessor, this time finding the County Board did not overstep in prohibiting real estate lawyers and otheers from contributing to the campaign coffers of county officials when they are seeking “official action” from the county.
A Chicago federal appellate court has refused to reexamine its decision last month that reversed a $3 million verdict against drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, on grounds the company was not responsible for the labeling of the generic version of its product Paxil, despite plaintiff’s urging a rehearing was needed, because she said the appeals panel set a “dangerous precedent.”
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled an attorney collecting a settlement award from a lawsuit he pressed in his own name, ostensibly on behalf of the state of Illinois, against a business over alleged unpaid sales taxes, isn’t entitled also to collect additional legal fees.
The Illinois Supreme Court has disbarred 10 lawyers, including a radio host convicted of bank fraud, and suspended 16, including a lawyer who attempted to extort their firm and another who created a fake online dating profile for another attorney and a fake Facebook profile for himself to berate the other lawyer in online reviews.
Hospitals in Illinois have secured a key win in a longrunning court fight over whether they should be required to pay property taxes, as the Illinois Supreme Court has upheld as constitutional a state law allowing hospitals to remain tax exempt.
A group of pro-life organizations seeking to undo Illinois legislation mandating taxpayer funding of abortion services has pledged to appeal their case to the Illinois Supreme Court, after a state appeals court opted not to compel the state of Illinois to account for where the money to pay for the abortions would come from.
A bill passed in California setting gender quotas on the boards of public companies could generate significant legal challenges, which likely would need to be resolved before other states move to copy it, an attorney following the legislation believes.
Brushing aside assertions the law allows party leaders to consolidate power statewide, a federal appeals panel has upheld an Illinois campaign finance law which restricts what individual donors can give to political campaigns, while allowing unlimited contributions from legislative caucus committees controlled by partisan leaders within the state's House and Senate.
Hale, et al. v. State Farm, No. 3:12-cv-00660 (S.D. Illinois) began over 20 years ago with a class action suit by State Farm insureds alleging State Farm wrongly replaced their post-accident vehicle parts with non-OEM in violation of the terms of their insurance policies.
Saying Illinois’ attorney general’s defense is “inadequate” and is “bordering on malpractice,” an Illinois state employee who factored in the court action that led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down rules requiring non-union workers to pay fees to unions has again jumped into a federal court action, this time asking a judge to allow his legal team to defend the state against a union’s attempt to secure a court order striking down labor laws requiring them to represent all workers in a collective bargaining unit.
A Cook County judge convicted of bank fraud has resigned her position, after a Chicago federal judge refused her requests to overturn the conviction and give her a new trial.
