News from March 2023
Attorney General Raoul Files Brief Opposing Ongoing Effort to End Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program
Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 22 attorneys general, today filed a brief in opposition to the ongoing, misguided effort to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Judge says Walgreens can't fully escape class action over 'maximum strength' lidocaine patches
Lawsuit alleges similar pain-relief products contain higher amounts of lidocaine
Judge tosses boneless wings class action vs Buffalo Wild Wings, for now; Class action asserts 'boneless wings' just nuggs
The suit was tossed on procedural grounds, because the plaintiffs failed to properly identify the parties. The plaintiffs have until March 27 to try again
Attorney General Raoul Asks Court to Require Tiktok to Comply With Investigation
Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a bipartisan coalition of 46 attorneys general, filed an amicus brief on Monday asking a court to order social media company TikTok, Inc. to fully comply with an ongoing national investigation into whether the company violated consumer protection laws.
Judge says white ex-Lurie employee can't sue Chicago children's hospital over alleged harassment, retaliation
Claims against specific coworkers didn't establish corporate liability: Lefkow
IL Supreme Court justices hear arguments over cash bail abolition
The justices will decide if state lawmakers and Gov. JB Pritzker had the authority to simply abolish cash bail, despite constitiutional language and past constitutional amendments appearing to assume the existence of the system
Potentially big class actions vs employers over worker fingerprint scans continue to stream into Cook County court
Just from Feb. 27- March 1, at least 10 new class actions from just two law firms landed in Cook County court under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act
Pritzker's contemptuous answer to a reasonable question on judicial recusal
Should judges who received a million dollars each from Gov. JB Pritzker for their campaigns recuse themselves from decisions on the constitutionality of two of his pet pieces of legislation — the SAFE-T Act and the assault weapons ban?
Chicago Owner & Developer Panel on March 15, 2023
Construction attorney and Chicago Building Congress (CBC) Board Secretary Gregory Meeder will moderate CBC's "Chicago Owner & Developer Panel."
Everytown for Gun Safety files amicus brief supporting gun ban; Attorneys donated to Democrat justices set to hear legislation challenge
EAST ST. LOUIS – National group Everytown for Gun Safety moved on March 9 to file a brief as friend of U. S. district court in favor of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s law regulating semi automatic weapons and "high capacity" magazines.
'Serious risk of bias?' Pritzker bristles, but legal community has long sought new rules for judge recusal over campaign cash
Gov. JB Pritzker said it was "ridiculous" to ask if two Illinois Supreme Court justices should step aside from hearing constitutional challenges over cash bail and 'assault weapons' bans. But a never-enacted rule change recommended by the Illinois State Bar Association may have called for precisely that, because of Pritzker's campaign donations to the justices
Crain's can't end Tadros' defamation lawsuit over 2016 'hit piece' article about alleged business practices
Judge McKenna trims complaint, but leaves bulk of accusations in place for lawsuit seeking $38M over Crain's Chicago Business article about Chicago restaurant entrpreneur Philip Tadros
Cozen O’Connor Adds Two of the Country’s Leading Data Privacy Litigators to its Commercial Litigation Practice Group
Cozen O’Connor welcomed Melissa A. Siebert and Erin Bolan Hines — data privacy litigators with renowned track records of successfully defending employers and technology enterprises entangled in major data privacy class actions and appellate cases — to its award-winning Commercial Litigation Practice Group
Sysco says third-party lawsuit funder Burford is blocking its attempts to settle lawsuits
Burford has obtained an international arbitrator’s award declaring it has the power under its contract with Sysco to veto settlement agreements that Burford believes are too little in light of its $140M investment in Sysco’s lawsuits
How much will people get from Google Photos biometrics settlement? Judge to hear case in April
A woman is arguing a group of lawyers who collected $35 million for pressing a biometric privacy class action against Google, are trying to deny thousands of Google Photo users from their much smaller cut of the settlement.
Attorney General Raoul Fights to Protect Retirement Savings
Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 21 attorneys general, opposed a legislative effort to overturn a federal rule that helps protect employee retirement savings.
Judge: Class action vs Uber from driver fired over Covid mask mandate belongs in arbitration
Chicago area driver falls short in claims that his lawsuit should be allowed because Uber drivers are engaged in interstate commerce
Under lawsuit, Cook County 'rescinds' small biz Covid relief grant distribution based on race, gender, other characteristics
A Chicago chiropractor had sued Cook County over the Grow Grant program, which the county said would distribute $71M in federal Covid relief funds to thousands of small businesses, using guidelines prioritizing businesses owned by Black, LGBTQ and other 'historically excluded' populations
Reed Smith partner Sid Bale named a top deals lawyer in the Americas by Global M&A Network
Siddesh ‘Sid’ Bale, vice-chair of Reed Smith’s Global Corporate Group, was named to Global M&A Network’s ninth annual Top 50 Americas M&A Lawyers list.
Naperville gun shop owner appeal asks court for order blocking IL 'assault weapons' ban
A Chicago federal judge was wrong to say the state can 'evade' the Second Amendment and prior Supreme Court decisions by simply declaring certain guns as 'particularly dangerous,' the appeal says