The state agency charged with investigating allegations of judicial misconduct filed a complaint last week against a Cook County judge it asserts made false statements about her residency on mortgage documents for a home she owns outside of her subcircuit.In a Feb. 6 complaint, the Judicial Inquiry Board (JIB) accuses Cook County Circuit Judge Beatriz Santiago of bringing "the judicial office into
A St. Louis lawyer who entered his appearance in more than 3,000 asbestos cases in Madison County even though he wasn't licensed to practice in Illinois has been disbarred, marking the first time such disciplinary action has been taken in the state.Robert S. Sanderson was one of six lawyers -- including one who has appeared in videos featuring himself in a superhero cape as his trademarked alter ego
A Chicago bankruptcy attorney and his girlfriend filed a court document Monday in an attempt to identify the people responsible for leaving posts and comments about them on a gossip website.
The mother of three children whose 27-year-old father died while an inmate in the Cook County Jail filed a petition last week to try to get more information about his death.On behalf of her three minor kids, Claudia Vasquez is seeking the information --which includes a list ranging from video surveillance to the names of other inmates-- from the county and Sheriff Tom Dart.Vasquez filed the petition
A federal appeals panel has overturned a judge's decision to not sanction a Hinsdale lawyer for failing to disclose her client's bankruptcy petition, saying federal rule mandates it and her conduct is unlikely to change without it.
QuinnLabeling him “America’s worst governor,” the Wall Street Journal notes in a Dec. 22 editorial that Pat Quinn in his final days as chief executive enacted two laws that are “stocking stuffers” for the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.Quinn on Friday signed into law legislation, Senate Bill 3075, that will reduce the number of jurors hearing civil cases from 12 to six and increase juror pay to
The media will soon be allowed to video and audio record certain criminal proceedings in Cook County.According to a news release issued Tuesday by the Illinois Supreme, the high court has approved the addition of the Cook County Circuit Court to its cameras in the courtroom pilot program that is already underway in 40 other counties.Starting Jan. 5, the media will allowed to video and audio record
KarmeierIn presenting an award to a recently-retired judge Friday, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier briefly talked about the “last minute ambush” on his November retention election.Karmeier narrowly survived a $2 million campaign against his bid for a second term behind the high court bench that he said came from “a handful of lawyers from Chicago and from some other states who stood to
The Illinois Supreme Court will hear arguments in March over the closely-watched challenge to the state’s pension reform law.In an order issued Wednesday, the court granted the state’s request to fast-track the consolidated case over an objection from opponents of the 2013 law that aimed to fix the state’s pension problems, but was deemed unconstitutional by a judge last month.The justices gave the
BurkeThree former employees of a soybean supply company failed to prove they were fired in retaliation for providing information that led to a state investigation into underweight seed bags, the Illinois Supreme Court held Thursday.In their 10-page opinion, the justices unanimously reversed the 2011 ruling of the Fifth District Appellate Court to affirm now-retired Washington County Judge Dennis Hatch’s
A Sangamon County judge has invalidated a 2013 law intended to fix the state's pension problems, a ruling the state's top lawyer says she will immediately appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court. Circuit Judge John Belz, in a six-page order issued Friday, said pension reform legislation passed last year "is void in its entirety" because the law "without question diminishes and impairs the benefits of
Unable to muster a majority, the Illinois Supreme Court today had to dismiss a challenge to Chicago’s red light camera program.This relatively rare outcome was produced by two justices -- Ann Burke and Lloyd Karmeier-- recusing themselves and a divide among the remaining five justices. The state Constitution requires four justices to agree in order for a decision to be handed down.Because a majority
A Chicago lawyer who made the headlines earlier this year when she filed petitions related to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 before any evidence was recovered has been censured by the Illinois Supreme Court for her actions in a different aviation case.
