U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Recent News About U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
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Judge pulls batteries on second attempt at suing toy company VTech over data breach
A group of plaintiffs suing toy maker VTech over a 2015 data breach faced another setback when a Chicago federal judge again dismissed their would-be class action lawsuit. -
Cook County says suit vs Facebook on behalf of entire state of IL, so suit belongs in Cook courts
Cook County wants its lawsuit accusing Facebook of allowing user data to be mined by data firm Cambridge Analytica to aid President Donald Trump's election campaign, returned to Cook County court from federal court, where Facebook transferred it, arguing state court is the proper venue, because the suit is not just on behalf of the county, but everyone in Illinois. -
Judge: Adding Walgreens as defendant can beat try by J&J to take talc cases out of Cook County courts
A Chicago federal judge has granted a tactical victory to a group of five plaintiffs suing Johnson & Johnson over claims talc powder caused cancer, saying the plaintiffs’ move to also aim their legal actions at Walgreens is enough to keep the lawsuits in Cook County court, rather than federal court, even though J&J and Walgreens assert the pharmacy chain was named as co-defendant just to keep the lawsuits on relatively friendlier legal turf for the plaintiffs. -
Appeals court: College of DuPage wrong to fire scandal-plagued president without chance to contest accusations
Former College of DuPage President Robert L. Breuder can proceed with his wrongful termination and defamation complaint, after a federal appeals court said potentially questionable language within his contract – including a provision requiring a supermajority among the college’s trustees to fire him - did not mean the college’s board was justified in firing him without giving him a hearing to dispute accusations of mismanagement leveled against him. -
Judge turns aside parents' attempts to sue those trying to take custody of kids after daughter's death
A federal judge has ruled against a couple who filed a lawsuit against healthcare professionals and state officials who attempted to take their surviving children from them following the death of their daughter. -
Judge: Chicago can allegedly choose to pay more for 'worse' lighting products without breaking antitrust laws
A Chicago federal judge has pulled the plug, for now, on an antitrust action accusing the city of Chicago, the city’s municipal financing group and a contractor in charge of a huge city public lighting project of jumping the bidding process to ensure General Electric would come out on top. -
Ex-Cook County administrator again sues county, Preckwinkle and Silvestri, alleging retaliatory firing
A former Cook County staffer, who last month lost a federal suit in which he alleged he was fired in retaliation for exposing corruption in Elmwood Park and then running for the county board seat held by Elmwood Park's onetime Village President Peter Silvestri, is now attempting to press the same claims in Cook County Circuit Court. -
News service: Cook courts clerk's reliance on rules to delay access to lawsuits invented from 'whole cloth'
Saying Cook County’s courts clerk shouldn’t be allowed to use court administrative rules to sidestep the public's constitutional rights, the news organization accusing the clerk of delaying access by days to new lawsuits has asked a federal appeals court to reject the clerk’s assertions she has no obligation under the Constitution to provide swift public access to newly filed court documents. -
Appeals court finds no error in case arguing Massage Envy massages are shorter than promised
A divided appellate court upheld a federal court’s finding that spa chain Massage Envy had not deceived customers who complained their one-hour massages consisted of only 50 minutes massage time. -
Judge: UBS can't use arbitration clause to sidestep class action by fired employees over bonus payments
A federal judge has denied an attempt by UBS to sidestep a class action suit accusing the company of terminating employees to avoid paying their bonuses. -
Federal appeals court revives shelved data breach suit vs Barnes & Noble; 'trifling loss' still actual loss: Judges
Saying a “trifling loss” is still a loss under state consumer protection laws, a federal appeals panel has reopened the book on a potential class action lawsuit against Barnes & Noble over a 2012 data breach that cost customers some time and money in protecting themselves from potential identity theft, and which the appellate judges took care to note also victimized the chain of big box bookstores. -
Jury awards $3.5M to woman who claimed loan servicer mishandled mortgage during, after Chapt 13 bankruptcy
A federal jury awarded more than $3.5 million to a Franklin Park woman as a result of her lawsuit against a mortgage loan servicer over the handling of the default on her home. -
Judge again sinks Brunswick's bid to undo $25M deal with lawyer who used jury note to avoid loss at trial
A Chicago federal judge has again turned aside an attempt by boatmaker Brunswick to undo a $25 million personal injury settlement the company says was obtained through fraud, as a federal judge said the company has failed again to lay claim to a protected interest violated by a rival lawyer’s decision to allegedly withhold information about a jury note moments before a verdict would have delivered a win to Brunswick. -
Federal appeals panel echoes state court: No right to vote for elected Chicago school board
Echoing a state appeals court’s ruling, a federal appellate panel says the right to vote doesn’t entitle Chicago voters to the right to vote for the members of the Chicago school board. -
Police union suing Metra over alleged retaliation against union president, other grievances
Metra and its police chief have been accused of retaliating against an officer for working on behalf of a police union, according to a lawsuit filed in Chicago federal court. -
Attorney: Class action over Junior Mints slack-fill latest example of 'easy target' for plaintiffs' bar
Susan Razzano can't say how many similar cases will fill up court dockets in coming years. But the attorney with Eimer Stahl LLP, in Chicago, said she expects class actions over so-called 'slack fill,' such as that recently filed in Chicago federal court against the makers of Junior Mints, will continue to offer trial lawyers a sweet and "easy target." -
Menu boards allow McDonald's to bag Extra Value Meal pricing class action: Federal judge
A federal judge has bagged a woman’s class action lawsuit accusing McDonald’s of chicanery over its Extra Value Meal pricing, saying the case couldn’t pull forward because the information customers needed to know whether they were being misled into paying a few cents more was in plain sight, in large font, on the restaurants’ menu boards. -
Judge rules female student can move forward with suit against HarperCollins over sexual assault book
A federal judge in Chicago has ruled that a graduate student can move forward with her suit against HarperCollins LLC and a Northwestern University professor over a book on Title IX and sexual assault. -
Appeals panel: Jury verdict OK to end court fight over Park Forest townhomes, discrimination
A federal appeals court found no errors in a lower court’s ruling in a 'sprawling' suit that claimed, among other things, that the village of Park Forest took racially motivated action against the owners of a townhome complex. -
Attorneys say recent decision by federal judge is 'valuable precedent for debt collectors'
A recent decision by an Illinois federal judge, which acknowledged the struggle that many debt collectors face when determining the lengths they should go to or the methods they should use to collect on a debt, could give those collectors a slight legal boost.