News from September 2021
Ban on concealed carry on Cook County Forest Preserve lands unconstitutional, judge rules
A federal judge in Chicago struck down a state law that prohibits concealed carry on Cook County Forest Preserve District sites. The judge gave Illinois state lawmakers six months to try to fix the law.
Arbitration clause doesn't let furniture maker Triad escape shareholder lawsuit over retirement plan, appeals panel rules
The appellate judges found the plaintiffs' demand to replace the trustee overseeing the retirement plan meant the arbitration clause could not be applied the claims over the alleged mishandling of the retirement plan for people who worked for furniture maker Triad Manufacturing.
Class action accuses law firm Tressler of allegedly improperly sharing info for delinquent condo owners
Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit say Chicago-based Tressler and Georgia-based AssociationReady share too much information with third-party collection vendors when attempting to collect unpaid fees on behalf of condo associations.
Judge: Moody Bible used religion as 'pretext' to hide alleged discrimination vs fired female teacher; Moody appeals
Chicago's Moody Bible Institute says a federal judge improperly ignored Supreme Court rulings on whether the First Amendment protects them from a discrimination lawsuit brought by a female instructor allegedly fired over doctrinal clashes.
Fitzgerald Named One Of Crain's Chicago Business' Notable Rising Stars in Law
Fitzgerald Named One Of Crain's Chicago Business' Notable Rising Stars in Law.
Chicago Associate Nina Vachhani Selected as 5 Under 40 Honoree by Just The Beginning – A Pipeline Organization
Chicago Associate Nina Vachhani Selected as 5 Under 40 Honoree by Just The Beginning – A Pipeline Organization.
Hakimi Joins HeplerBroom as Associate
Hakimi Joins HeplerBroom as Associate.
Appeals panel: Advocate was wrongly allowed to use tax returns to attack plaintiffs' honesty in $16M medmal suit
Ruling hinged on judge allowing Advocate to paint plaintiff as a tax cheat
22 new judges selected to serve on Cook County Court bench
Roster of new judges includes five former Cook County judges and six lawyers serving in the Cook County State's Attorney's Office
Bribes to Madigan not enough to force ComEd to pay back money earned from beneficial state laws, federal judge says
A federal judge says the plaintiffs can't show Madigan exerted "improper" influence on state lawmakers to pass new state laws beneficial to ComEd, so their racketeering case over ComEd's alleged bribes can't continue.
Judge: COVID gathering limits not likely to return, so IL GOP can't sue Pritzker over earlier shutdowns
Republicans had argued Gov. JB Pritzker's COVID-related limits on the size of political gatherings were unconstitutional, because he selectively enforced them, allowing huge Black Lives Matter protests, while shutting down GOP gatherings in 2020.
Judge says road runoff could have polluted water at Aurora recycling yard; City says recycler to blame for contamination
A Chicago federal judge is allowing the owners of a scrap yard in Aurora to continue to fight the city's pollution claims against them, by arguing the city contributed to the alleged water contamination on the site, too.
Anna Wermuth Named Chicago Employment Law – Management “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in America
Anna Wermuth, vice-chair of Cozen O’Connor’s national Labor and Employment Department has been named the 2022 Chicago Employment Law – Management “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in America, one of the oldest and most highly regarded peer review publications in the legal profession.
Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies, LLC Promotes Patrick Martin to Managing Director
Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies, an affiliate of the Global 100 law firm Cozen O'Connor, has promoted Patrick Martin to Managing Director.
Brian L. Salvi Honored by Crain’s Chicago Business as a ‘Notable Rising Star in Law’
Brian L. Salvi Honored by Crain’s Chicago Business as a ‘Notable Rising Star in Law’.
Chicago area Wendy's franchisee to pay $5.85M to end class action over worker fingerprint scans
Workers at 39 restaurants could get $384 each. Lawyers will get more than $2 million under the deal.
IL High Court: Suburban man with prior drug convictions needs more detailed character references to get gun permit
A split Illinois Supreme Court says state law shouldn't make it impossible for people with prior criminal convictions to legally possess a gun. But a suburban man, with drug convictions from the '90s, has more work to do.
Illinois bill would give ISBE authority to revoke schools' state recognition
Gov. J.B Pritzker has warned district administrators since early August that ISBE would strip state recognition from Illinois schools defying his statewide mask mandate. House Bill 4135 aims to give the state board of education that power.
Rob L. Kohen Recognized by Law Bulletin Media as a 2021 ‘forty Under 40’ Honoree
Rob L. Kohen Recognized by Law Bulletin Media as a 2021 ‘forty Under 40’ Honoree.
Jones Day partner Brian Sedlak recognized as a 2021 Real Estate/Construction Law Trailblazer by the National Law Journal
Jones Day partner Brian Sedlak recognized as a 2021 Real Estate/Construction Law Trailblazer by the National Law Journal.