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May 21, 2024
Caterpillar To Pay $800K To End DOL Race Bias Probe
Heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc. has agreed to pay $800,000 to resolve U.S. Department of Labor allegations that it refused to hire qualified Black applicants for welding positions at an Illinois facility, the agency said Tuesday.
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May 21, 2024
Sheppard Adds Mayer Brown Litigator In Latest Chicago Move
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP isn't done growing in Chicago this year, now adding a business litigator from Mayer Brown LLP whose resume includes leadership positions related to his work in the financial services arena.
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May 21, 2024
Tremont Chicago Hotel Lender Calls For End To Ch. 11 Case
Citing a bankrupt owner's lack of equity and longstanding defaults, the senior secured creditor to Chicago's defunct former Tremont Hotel has asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge to dismiss the case or lift its Chapter 11 automatic stay.
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May 21, 2024
Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023
The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.
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May 21, 2024
The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms
The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.
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May 20, 2024
CoStar, Hotel Giants Defend Benchmarking In Price-Fixing Suit
CoStar Group Inc. and a contingent of big-name hotels have asked a Washington federal judge to toss an antitrust lawsuit claiming the hotel operators share industry analytics to inflate luxury hotel room prices, arguing the proposed class action is riddled with legal defects.
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May 20, 2024
GM Cleared Of 'Inequitable Conduct' Accusations In Patent Row
A federal judge in Chicago has ruled that General Motors's longtime legal rival there has failed to convince him that engineers working for the automaker showed "deceptive intent" when filing a design patent at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office using the wrong name.
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May 20, 2024
FTC Says Albertsons Execs Deleted Texts In Kroger Case
Kroger and the Federal Trade Commission are at each other's throats over discovery in the agency's in-house challenge to the grocery giant's $25 billion merger with Albertsons and in district court, with the grocers accusing the agency of "running out the clock" and the FTC accusing the grocers of deleting text messages.
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May 20, 2024
Auto Accessory Co. Secures Partial Coverage For BIPA Row
An insurer must defend an automotive accessory company in a proposed class action alleging violations of Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, the Seventh Circuit ruled, finding that unlike the company's primary and excess commercial general liability policies, an umbrella policy "lacks an exclusion pertaining to nonpublic information."
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May 20, 2024
Northshore Unit Beats Employee's Vaccine Exemption Suit
A nurse working for a Northshore Health unit in Illinois cannot pursue employment deprivation claims over the hospital's initial rejection of her COVID-19 vaccine religious exemption request since she was granted the exemption on appeal, a federal judge said Friday.
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May 20, 2024
High Court Skips Fight Over 'Impossible' TM Name
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined a cert petition from Illinois-based marketing consulting firm Impossible X LLC, which had asked the justices to review a Ninth Circuit ruling that revived a trademark complaint against it from veggie-burger maker Impossible Foods Inc.
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May 17, 2024
Jenner & Block Sued For Firing Worker Over Vax Refusal
A former Jenner & Block LLP employee filed a discrimination suit against the law firm on May 17, claiming she was fired after the firm refused to provide a religious exemption from its COVID-19 vaccine mandate despite her belief that taking the vaccine would make her complicit in abortion.
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May 17, 2024
Scammer Cops To SIM Scheme Including $400M Crypto Theft
A Colorado woman on Thursday pled guilty in D.C. federal court for her part in a SIM swapping scheme that appears to encompass more than $400 million stolen from the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
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May 17, 2024
Trucking Co. Dodges Misclassification Suit, For Now
A trucking company can temporarily escape claims that it misclassified drivers as independent contractors because the driver lodging the suit failed to show jurisdictional diversity, an Illinois federal judge ruled.
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May 17, 2024
T-Mobile Must Face Sprint Merger Suit Before Appealing
The Seventh Circuit summarily rejected T-Mobile's move for interlocutory appeal in a proposed consumer class action targeting the company's 2020 merger with Sprint, allowing the case to advance to discovery after the district court denied T-Mobile's motion to dismiss in the fall.
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May 17, 2024
Chicago Wants Climate Deception Claims Back In State Court
The city of Chicago says it should be in state court hashing out climate change deception claims against several of the nation's largest oil producers because the companies lodged "objectively baseless" arguments to remove its case to federal court.
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May 17, 2024
Off The Bench: Golf Star Arrest, Fla. Gambling, Gruden V. NFL
In this week's Off the Bench, the world's top-ranked golfer is arrested after a traffic incident outside the PGA Championship, the federal government urges the U.S. Supreme Court to stay out of Florida's sports gambling dispute and Jon Gruden's defamation brawl with the NFL heads to arbitration.
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May 17, 2024
Feds Want Prison For Kiosk Salesman Who Faked Deductions
An electronic-sweepstakes kiosk salesman from Chicago should spend more than two years in prison for submitting false tax returns that fabricated more than $400,000 in business expenses and more than $60,000 in church donations, federal prosecutors told an Illinois federal court.
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May 17, 2024
Chicago Tribune Accused Of Underpaying Female, Black Staff
A group of Chicago Tribune journalists sued the paper and its parent Alden Global Capital in Illinois federal court on Thursday alleging sex and race discrimination that has caused more than 50 reporters and editors to get paid thousands of dollars per year less than their white male colleagues.
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May 16, 2024
FTC Can't Make Albertsons, Kroger Produce Divestiture Docs
An administrative law judge on Thursday denied the Federal Trade Commission's "premature" bid to compel Kroger and Albertsons to fork over documents related to negotiations for the companies' expanded divestiture plan amid the commission's in-house challenge to the grocers' merger.
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May 16, 2024
Smollett Atty Says Attackers' Defamation Suit Must Fail
An attorney who represented "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett asked an Illinois federal judge Wednesday to end claims that she defamed two brothers accused of attacking Smollett by suggesting they wore "whiteface," arguing it was an unimportant detail that meshed with their own descriptions.
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May 16, 2024
Burger King Franchisee Seeks BIPA Coverage Quick Win
A Burger King franchisee asked an Illinois federal court to rule that due to precedent and policy ambiguities, its umbrella insurer must defend it in a class action claiming it violated Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act by nonconsensually collecting fingerprint data.
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May 16, 2024
Citgo Retirees Win Class Cert. In Mortality Table Data Suit
An Illinois federal judge on Thursday conditionally granted class certification to Citgo retirees accusing the fuel company of shortchanging retirees by using outdated metrics to calculate early retirement payouts, but said the class definition must be narrowed further.
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May 16, 2024
Weighted Baby Swaddle 'Inherently Dangerous,' Suit Alleges
A Massachusetts company has been hit with a proposed class action over its allegedly "inherently dangerous" weighted baby blankets and swaddling wraps, a product category suspected in multiple infant deaths and under investigation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
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May 15, 2024
State Farm Can't Dodge TCPA Suit Over Robocalls
State Farm must face a proposed class action alleging it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by using a third-party company to make automated telemarketing calls without prior consent, an Illinois federal judge has ruled, saying the suit states a plausible claim of the insurer's vicarious liability for the robocalls.
Expert Analysis
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Ill. Insurance Ruling Helps Developers, Community Orgs. Alike
The Illinois Supreme Court's decision in Acuity v. M/I Homes of Chicago, holding that commercial general liability policy exceptions did not prevent coverage for damage caused by faulty workmanship, will bring more potential insurance coverage for real estate developers and, in turn, larger payouts when community organizations sue them, say Howard Dakoff and Suzanne Karbarz Rovner at Levenfeld Pearlstein.
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Staying Ahead Of The AI Policymaking Curve
With artificial intelligence poised to be the hottest legislative and regulatory topic in 2024, expect the AI policymaking toolbox to continue to expand and evolve as stakeholders in the U.S. and abroad develop, deploy, use and learn more about these technologies, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
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10 Years Of Retail Battles: Unpacking Pricing Litigation Trends
A close look at a decade of pricing class actions against retailers reveals evolving trends, plaintiffs bar strategies, and the effects of significant court decisions across states, say attorneys at Benesch.
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The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2023
Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2023, and explain how they may affect issues related to antitrust, constitutional law, federal jurisdiction and more.
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Employee Experience Strategy Can Boost Law Firm Success
Amid continuing business uncertainty, law firms should consider adopting a holistic employee experience strategy — prioritizing consistency, targeting signature moments and leveraging measurement tools — to maximize productivity and profitability, says Haley Revel at Calibrate Consulting.
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And Now A Word From The Panel: A Strong Year For MDLs
While the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation granted even fewer MDL petitions last year than in 2022, hitting a 21st-century low, a closer look at the record-setting number of total actions encompassed within current proceedings reveals that MDL practice is still quite robust, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.
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Series
Competing In Triathlons Makes Me A Better Lawyer
While practicing law and competing in long-distance triathlons can make work and life feel unbalanced at times, participating in the sport has revealed important lessons about versatility, self-care and perseverance that apply to the office as much as they do the racecourse, says Laura Heusel at Butler Snow.
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Where Justices Stand On Chevron Doctrine Post-Argument
Following recent oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court, at least four justices appear to be in favor of overturning the long-standing Chevron deference, and three justices seem ready to uphold it, which means the ultimate decision may rest on Chief Justice John Roberts' vote, say Wayne D'Angelo and Zachary Lee at Kelley Drye.
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How States Vary On The Fireman's Rule And Its Applicability
A recent decision by the Indiana Court of Appeals, reviving a firefighter’s suit, is illustrative of changes in the application and interpretation by state courts and legislatures of the Fireman’s Rule, which bans first responders from recovering for injuries sustained on the job, says Shea Feagin at Swift Currie.
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Perspectives
6 Practice Pointers For Pro Bono Immigration Practice
An attorney taking on their first pro bono immigration matter may find the law and procedures beguiling, but understanding key deadlines, the significance of individual immigration judges' rules and specialized aspects of the practice can help avoid common missteps, says Steven Malm at Haynes Boone.
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Lessons From Country Singer's Personal Service Saga
Recent reports that country singer Luke Combs won a judgment against a Florida woman who didn’t receive notice of the counterfeit suit against her should serve as a reminder for attorneys on best practices for effectuating service by electronic means, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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11 Noteworthy CFPB Developments From 2023
Under Rohit Chopra’s leadership, 2023 was an industrious year for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with developments including the release of the proposed personal financial data rights rule, publication of proposed rules involving public registries for nonbanks and the bureau's continuous battle against junk fees, all of which are sure to further progress in 2024, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
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3 Areas Of Focus In Congressional Crosshairs This Year
Companies must prepare for Congress to build on its 2023 oversight priorities this year, continuing its vigorous inquiries into Chinese company-related investments, workplace safety and labor relations issues, and generative artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Perspectives
Justices May Clarify Expert Witness Confrontation Confusion
After oral arguments in Smith v. Arizona, the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to hold that expert witness opinions that rely on out-of-court testimonial statements for their factual basis are unconstitutional, thus resolving some of the complications created by the court’s confrontation clause jurisprudence, says Richard Friedman at the University of Michigan Law School.
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5 Trade Secret Developments To Follow In 2024
Recent cases and trends in trade secret law indicate that significant developments are likely this year, and practitioners should be anticipating their impact on the business and legal landscape, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.