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COOK COUNTY RECORD

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

State Court News

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State Court

British law firm Baker & McKenzie must face lawsuit in Chicago over seized Russian coal mine, appeals panel says

By Scott Holland |
Dissent argues ruling makes Illinois' already clogged courts even more appealing to foreign plaintiffs, even if the cases have no real connection to the U.S. The Baker firm says the case is a prime example of "forum shopping," and the decision is an "affront" to legal doctrines governing where cases are heard

State Court

Appeals panel upholds record $42M verdict vs Advocate for quadriplegic who died awaiting surgery

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Illinois state appeals panel says Advocate Health bore direct responsibility to ensure supplies and medications were on hand at the right time for surgery in 2017 to replace implant needed to keep man alive 

State Court

Appeals panel sides with Arlington Heights vs Rolling Meadows over wrongly kept tax 'windfall' from Cooper's Hawk restaurant

By Scott Holland |
Rolling Meadows says it may take the case to the Illinois Supreme Court.

State Court

IL Supreme Court says temp worker firms can be sued for collusion under state antitrust laws

By Scott Holland |
A unanimous state Supreme Court said nothing in Illinois law protects temporary worker staffing firms and the employers to whom they supply workers from lawsuits accusing them of conspiring to hold down worker wages and prevent worker poaching by competitors.

State Court

Lawsuit asks court to order Dolton to pay $33.5M verdict to families of men killed, injured in police chase crash

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The lawsuit says the court could order the village to raise taxes to fund the judgment. They say such action is needed to address financial mismanagement in Dolton under Mayor Tiffany Henyard.

State Court

IL Supreme Court: State OK to consolidate local police, firefighter pension funds

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The state high court said the state law consolidating control over 650 local pension funds for police officers and firefighters - which the state has projected will bring in an additional $2.5B over 5 years for pensions - did not run afoul of the Illinois pensions protection clause.

State Court

IL state appeals panel curbs class action vs Stone Park over red light camera tickets

By Scott Holland |
Appeals justices rule the class action stood as an improper attempt to circumvent village's administrative hearing process through which such tickets can be challenged, before suing in court.

State Court

IL Supreme Court curbs class action vs Chicago over alleged bogus Central Biz District parking tickets

By Scott Holland |
The court ruled the plaintiff should not have filed his lawsuit before "exhausting" his opportunities to challenge the validity of the ticket through Chicago's city administrative hearing process.

State Court

Illinois Supreme Court says cyclist can't sue Chicago for injuries caused by pothole

By Scott Holland |
The state high court said a lower court was wrong to determine that the presence of Divvy stations meant the city has abandoned its longstanding position that cyclists should be considered "permitted, but not intended" users of many city streets, unless the streets are clearly marked for bicycle use

State Court

Cook County judge says bankruptcy doesn't mean man gets out of jail without paying divorce lawyers

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Calling it a "Christmas present," a Cook County divorce court judge said she'd release River Forest businessman Marty Paris, who has been jailed since Dec. 8, if he came up with $300K now, and pay $200K later, rather than full $500K immediately. Paris had sought his release while his Chapt. 7 bankruptcy moves forward

State Court

Appeals panel: Road builders can keep up lawsuit accusing Cook County of misusing transportation tax dollars

By Scott Holland |
The appeals panel says a Cook County judge wrongly shut down the lawsuit from contractors who say the county has budgeted transportation money to fund other county departments, allegedly in violation of the 2016 Safe Roads Amendment to the Illinois state constitution.

State Court

Man says Cook County judge wrongly jailed him for not paying divorce lawyers, asks bankruptcy court to free him

By Jonathan Bilyk |
River Forest real estate developer Marty Paris was sent to Cook County Jail on Dec. 8, under orders from a Cook County judge, with no release in sight unless he pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to his ex-wife and lawyers amid highly contentious divorce

State Court

Illinois Supreme Court agrees uninsured motorist policies cover bicyclists hit by cars

By Scott Holland |
Unanimous opinion holds the language in a policy issued by Direct Auto violated the requirements in Illinois' insurance laws

State Court

IL Supreme Court agrees law firm can't be sued for discussing client's medical information in post-trial press release

By Scott Holland |
A man had claimed the law firm of Burke Wise Morrissey & Kaveny had violated his rights under the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act by discussing his personal medical information in a press release trumpeting a $4 million verdict they won for him

State Court

Smollett can't undo conviction for lying to cops about alleged hoax attack; One judge defends Foxx, calls decision 'unfair'

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A state appeals panel says Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx never actually reached a binding deal with Smollett to drop charges, so special prosecution is not unconstitutional 'double jeopardy'

State Court

IL Supreme Court: Plaintiffs don't need to ID proper personal estate representative before suing dead person

By Scott Holland |
A split Illinois Supreme Court ruled insurer State Farm couldn't defeat a lawsuit against a deceased man for insurance proceeds by arguing the plaintiff failed to properly identify and sue a personal representative of the dead man's estate. The majority said it was enough to ask a court to appoint a special representative instead

State Court

ComEd customers can't continue fraud suit against utility connected to Madigan bribery investigation

By Scott Holland |
Appeals panel rules litigation improperly questions motivations of General Assembly

State Court

Big money biometrics privacy class actions enriching handful of lawyers at expense of IL economy, new report claims

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A report from the Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of Illinois says seven plaintiffs' class action firms account for nearly 70% of all class actions active in Chicago area courts under the stringent Biometric Information Privacy Act, commonly known as BIPA