Illinois

  • March 17, 2025

    OCC Green-Lights SmartBiz, Centrust Fintech Bank

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced Monday it has given the green light for SmartBiz Loans to roll its new acquisition, CenTrust Bank NA, into a financial technology company called SmartBiz Bank NA.

  • March 17, 2025

    PVC Pipe Co. Faces Investor COVID-Era Antitrust Claims

    PVC pipe maker Atkore Inc. and three current and former executives face a proposed investor class action over the company's alleged involvement in a conspiracy to fix prices for PVC pipes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • March 17, 2025

    New Bills Target 'Patent Thickets' And 'Product Hopping'

    A bipartisan group of senators is backing two bills it says will use the patent system to lower the price of prescription drugs, in part by targeting "patent thickets" and making "product hopping" a violation of antitrust laws. 

  • March 17, 2025

    IPRs Are Going Too Far, Fed. Circ. Told In Samsung Dispute

    A late 1990s tech developer suing Samsung over LED patent claims wants the full Federal Circuit to "confirm the limits Congress placed" on patent challenges, after a panel decided that the patent board could accept patent applications that are not publicly accessible as prior art.

  • March 17, 2025

    Full 7th Circ. Won't Revive Suit Over Late Medicaid Payments

    The full Seventh Circuit has answered the "enormous question" of whether a Chicago hospital can sue the state of Illinois to force the managed-care organizations it contracts with to make timely Medicaid payments, concluding the hospital doesn't have a federal right to prompt payments for fear of turning federal trial courts into "de facto Medicaid claims processors."

  • March 17, 2025

    Illinois Cannabis Social Equity Licensee Sued By Backer

    A company that backs entrepreneurs qualified for social equity cannabis licenses alleged in a new federal lawsuit that a business owner it partnered with reneged on their agreement when he attempted to sell his retail marijuana license to another party.

  • March 17, 2025

    Wash. AG Seeks $32M In Legal Fees In Kroger Merger Case

    Washington's attorney general said the state is entitled to recover $32.4 million in legal fees for prevailing in its lawsuit opposing Kroger's $24.6 billion bid to buy Albertsons, including nearly $10 million for Munger Tolles & Olson LLP's assistance in the state court case.

  • March 17, 2025

    American Airlines Pension Data Suit Transferred To Texas

    American Airlines can ship to Texas a proposed class action alleging the company used outdated statistics to calculate retirees' pension payments, an Illinois federal judge ruled, finding the worker leading the case was one of the only things tying the suit to Illinois.

  • March 17, 2025

    Hair Care Co.'s Hair, Face Scans Violate BIPA, Consumer Says

    Hair care company Living Proof has been sued in Illinois state court by a consumer who says the company illegally collects and uses customers' biometric hair and face geometry to analyze their hair characteristics and recommend products to buy online.  

  • March 14, 2025

    Trump Revokes Paul Weiss Security Clearances

    Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP became the third law firm to have workers' security clearances suspended by President Donald Trump, who signed the executive order Friday, citing the firm's DEI hiring practices and the decision by a former attorney there to assist the Manhattan district attorney's investigation of Trump.

  • March 14, 2025

    Justices Set Deadline In Birthright Citizenship Injunction Row

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday gave states and organizations challenging President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship until early next month to address Trump's request for the high court to limit three federal judge's injunctions that preliminarily blocked the order's implementation across the U.S.

  • March 14, 2025

    11th Circ. Again Upholds Fla. Ban On Under-21 Gun Sales

    Florida's law banning sales of firearms to anyone under 21 is constitutional, a divided Eleventh Circuit ruled Friday on en banc review, finding that America's 18- to 20-year-olds have had their gun rights checked since the nation's founding.

  • March 14, 2025

    Real Estate Recap: Waldorf Reno, DEI Scrubbing, CFIUS Risk

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including a chat with the legal team behind the 10-year renovation of Manhattan's iconic Waldorf Astoria, how real estate companies are dropping mention of diversity, equity and inclusion from public filings, and increasing scrutiny by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

  • March 14, 2025

    Md. Judge Joins Calif. In Reversing Federal Workers' Firing

    A Maryland federal judge has ordered the reinstatement of thousands of probationary employees who were abruptly fired from 18 federal agencies, saying the Trump administration's lack of required notice left states "scrambling" to pick up the pieces.

  • March 14, 2025

    Home Depot Nixes 3rd Lynk Labs Patent Claim At Fed. Circ.

    Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. persuaded Federal Circuit judges on Friday to override the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and throw out another claim in a patent issued to a late 1990s tech developer that later pivoted to LED lights. 

  • March 14, 2025

    ITC To Review Toolmaker's Fish Tape, Safety Helmet Products

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has agreed to investigate an Illinois company's complaint against a competing toolmaker for allegedly infringing three patents covering glow fish tape and a safety helmet system.

  • March 14, 2025

    Judge Vacates Baby Formula Trial Win For Abbott, Mead

    A Missouri judge on Thursday threw out a jury verdict that cleared Abbott Laboratories and Mead Johnson of liability in a joint trial over claims their baby formula causes a serious condition in preterm infants, saying a new trial is necessary because the defense "intentionally violated the court's orders and rulings by improperly introducing the inadmissible evidence to the jury, time after time."

  • March 14, 2025

    Teacher's Widower Wins $10.5M After Fatal Commute

    A Cook County jury has awarded $10.5 million to the widower of a Chicago suburban kindergarten teacher who died after a dump truck with unsecured contents and an inexperienced driver struck another vehicle while she was biking to work.

  • March 14, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs Arbitrator Finding COVID Is No 'Act Of God'

    A distribution service provider failed to support its argument that an "act of God" exemption in a contract it had with a Teamsters chapter allowed the company to reduce workers' hours during the coronavirus pandemic, the Seventh Circuit ruled, keeping in place an arbitrator's conclusion.

  • March 13, 2025

    Vought-Led CFPB Still Wants $43M Order In Debt Relief Case

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau urged an Illinois federal judge Thursday to order the head of a defunct debt-relief company to pay $43 million in fines and restitution, sticking with a Biden-era request for penalties in the case.

  • March 13, 2025

    Interactive Brokers Tells Justices To Skip Trading Patent Case

    Trading software company Interactive Brokers has shot back at a rival's effort to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to look at an "illusory" split between appeals courts over the standard for introducing post-trial fraud evidence in a long-litigated patent case. 

  • March 13, 2025

    Trump Asks Justices To Limit Pauses Of Birthright Order

    President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to limit three nationwide court orders prohibiting the implementation of his executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship, arguing that the coast-to-coast injunctions upended the judicial process and are trying to micromanage the executive branch.

  • March 13, 2025

    Split 7th Circ. Kills Injunction In Indiana Power Line Dispute

    The Seventh Circuit has knocked down an injunction blocking an Indiana right of first refusal law that gives Indiana-based utilities the first shot at securing new transmission project contracts before those from other states.

  • March 13, 2025

    Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund Beats Accountant's Bias Suit

    The Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund defeated Thursday a former accountant's lawsuit claiming he was passed over for promotions and ultimately fired because he was a Black man in his 60s, with an Illinois federal judge finding it was his declining job performance that cost him the job.

  • March 13, 2025

    Ohio Co. Can't Get New Trial After Scrapped $18M Award

    An Ohio startup on Thursday lost its latest bid to revive an $18.3 million jury verdict it won against TransUnion for allegedly holding its source code hostage after ending a business deal.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

  • Considering Chevron's End Through A State Tax Lens

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    States took the lead in encouraging Chevron's demise, turning away from Chevron-type deference in state tax administration ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, a trend likely to accelerate as courts take a more active role in interpreting tax laws, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata

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    Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Comparing Antitrust Outlooks Amid Google Remedy Review

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    As the U.S. Justice Department mulls potential structural remedies after winning its recent case against Google, increased global scrutiny of Big Tech leaves ex post and ex ante antitrust approaches ripe for evaluation, say Nishant Chadha at the Indian School of Business and Manisha Goel at Pomona College.

  • Striking A Balance Between AI Use And Attorney Well-Being

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    As the legal industry increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence tools to boost efficiency, leaders must note the hidden costs of increased productivity, and work to protect attorneys’ well-being while unlocking AI’s full potential, says Ed Sohn at Factor.

  • Empathy In Mediation Offers A Soft Landing For Disputes

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    Experiencing a crash-landing on a recent flight underscored to me how much difference empathy makes in times of crisis or stress, including during mediation, says Eydith Kaufman at Alternative Resolution Centers.

  • Series

    Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • Bitnomial Suit Highlights Crypto Turf War Between SEC, CFTC

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    An outcome favoring Bitnomial in its recent lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could reinforce the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's authority and limit the SEC's reach in the crypto arena, illustrating the need for Congress to delineate boundaries between the agencies, says Tonya Evans at Penn State Dickinson Law.

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.

  • Ex-Chicago Politician's Case May Further Curb Fraud Theories

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear Thompson v. U.S. to determine whether a statement that is misleading but not false still violates federal law, potentially heralding the court’s largest check yet on prosecutors’ expansive fraud theories, with significant implications for sentencing, say attorneys at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

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