Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Illinois
-
August 29, 2024
Ill. Judge Overrules Dismissal For 6 Paraquat Cases
An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday declined to dismiss several cases in multidistrict litigation over the herbicide paraquat, finding that even though counsel didn't fill out questionnaires on time, it was because he was left the sole attorney in the firm after others quit.
-
August 29, 2024
GM Can't Shake Off Shuddering-Transmission Class
General Motors must face class allegations that it knowingly sold vehicles with defective transmissions that cause the vehicles to shake and shudder while driving, a Sixth Circuit panel ruled Wednesday, finding no reason to undo class certification for the drivers.
-
August 29, 2024
Chicago Bears Settle Hiring Bias Suit From White Law Student
The Chicago Bears have quietly settled a discrimination lawsuit brought by a DePaul University law student who accused the team of discrimination when it declined to hire him as a "legal diversity fellow" because he is a white male.
-
August 28, 2024
Farmer Owes Monsanto $7.4M After Flouting Seed Judgment
An Illinois federal judge has revived a 7-year-old judgment she entered against a farmer who allegedly prevented a farm from collecting some of its patented Monsanto soybean seed crops planted on the farmer's land and sold them for himself without permission.
-
August 28, 2024
CVS Can't Avoid Federal Claims In $200M FCA Suit
A former CVS Health compliance director can pursue claims the company and its subsidiaries pocketed more than $200 million in overpayments, after an Illinois federal judge on Monday tossed several other claims from a qui tam suit alleging various schemes by CVS to take money from the government.
-
August 28, 2024
Disabled Radio Host's Discrimination Suit Gets Trimmed
An Illinois federal judge has granted Midway Broadcasting Corp. summary judgment on a former radio host's Rehabilitation Act claim in a suit alleging his show was canceled because he has cancer, concluding the law didn't apply to the company.
-
August 28, 2024
Feds' Bribery Case 'Rotten From The Start,' ComEd Four Say
Former Commonwealth Edison CEO Anne Pramaggiore and her three co-defendants have asked an Illinois federal judge to acquit them on all counts, arguing their bribery convictions cannot stand because the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling narrowing the scope of a federal corruption law confirmed the government's case "has been rotten from the start."
-
August 28, 2024
Walgreens Brass Hid Pharmacy Division Woes, Suit Says
Walgreens' directors and officers have been hit with a derivative suit by a shareholder who says the company and its executives inflated stock value by publicly expressing confidence in the pharmacy division's growth while hiding its struggles adapting to industry hurdles.
-
August 27, 2024
Walmart Has To Face EEOC Again After Losing Bias Trial
The Seventh Circuit gave the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission another chance Tuesday to force Walmart to boost its disability accommodation training after a jury found it intentionally discriminated against an employee with Down syndrome, and affirmed what was originally a $125 million jury verdict later reduced to $419,000.
-
August 27, 2024
Colo. Co. Deprived Analyst Of $58M Stock Deal, Judge Rules
An Illinois federal judge has found that a Wall Street analyst and investor suffered damages worth nearly $58 million when a Colorado company and its president failed to compensate him with millions of shares as part of a consulting agreement.
-
August 27, 2024
Car-Sharing Co. Turo Accused Of Shirking Own Arb. Terms
California-based car-sharing company Turo has been hit with a proposed class action in Illinois federal court claiming it violated its own terms of service by refusing to arbitrate consumers' disputes or pay its required portion of the arbitration filing fees.
-
August 27, 2024
Grocery Co. Appeals Union Pension Fund's Win To 7th Circ.
A grocery retailer will appeal its Illinois federal court loss to the Seventh Circuit in a dispute over union pension fund withdrawal liability, after the court in July backed an arbitrator's decision that upheld the union's calculation of what was owed as compliant with federal benefits law.
-
August 27, 2024
OSHA Hits Chicago Countertop Maker With $1M In Penalties
A Chicago-based countertop manufacturer was hit with nearly $1 million in potential fines for safety and health violations after federal regulators learned that a number of facility workers allegedly suffered major respiratory problems, including a father and son who both require lung transplants.
-
August 27, 2024
4 Firms Build Sixth Street's $250M Industrial REIT Investment
Sixth Street Partners plans to invest $250 million into Plymouth Industrial REIT through a joint venture and preferred equity deal packaged by four law firms, seeing more opportunities with the real estate investment trust on the horizon, according to an announcement Tuesday.
-
August 27, 2024
First Busey, CrossFirst Bankshares Merging In $917M Deal
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP-led First Busey Corp. and CrossFirst Bankshares Inc. said Tuesday they have agreed to merge, setting the path for First Busey to absorb CrossFirst in an all-stock deal that the companies valued at approximately $916.8 million.
-
August 27, 2024
Sheppard Mullin Adds Another McDermott Healthcare Pro
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP has hired a 12-year McDermott Will & Emery LLP healthcare transactions partner in Chicago, making him the latest partner focused on that industry to join the Sheppard Mullin team in the last year.
-
August 27, 2024
Duane Morris Hires Ex-Dickinson Wright Fintech Expert
A former financial institutions mergers and acquisitions and regulatory enforcement partner from Dickinson Wright PLLC who also has experience at the Federal Reserve Bank has joined Duane Morris LLP's corporate practice group in Chicago.
-
August 26, 2024
AT&T To Pay $950K To Settle With FCC Over 911 Outage
AT&T has agreed to pay $950,000 to end an enforcement action stemming from an August 2023 outage that affected 911 calls in parts of four states, the Federal Communications Commission said Monday.
-
August 26, 2024
Motorola Says Hytera Owes $58M For Radio Royalty Contempt
Motorola Solutions told an Illinois federal judge Monday that Chinese rival Hytera Communications owes more than $58 million in royalties for a mobile radio it purportedly redesigned after a jury found it misappropriated trade secrets, asserting the radio's retooled source code is still improperly based on the same protected architecture.
-
August 26, 2024
Gov't Looks To Limit Arguments In Rail Merger Appeal
The federal government urged the D.C. Circuit not to let a coalition of Illinois towns challenging the approval of Canadian Pacific's $31 billion merger with Kansas City Southern incorporate arguments made by Chicago's commuter rail system before the system dropped out of the case.
-
August 26, 2024
Restaurants Seek Grubhub's Revenue, Staff Info For TM Suit
Restaurants pursuing a proposed class action against Grubhub Inc. for alleged trademark infringement have urged an Illinois federal court to order the food-delivery platform to comply with discovery requests, including information about orders and revenue from establishments that never agreed to partner with Grubhub.
-
August 26, 2024
Tech-Focused VC Firm Nabs $1.1B For 6th Flagship Fund
Technology-focused growth-stage venture capital firm G Squared, advised by Goodwin Procter LLP, on Monday announced that it has secured $1.1 billion of committed capital for its sixth flagship fund.
-
August 26, 2024
Papa John's Workers In BIPA Class Can 'Fly Solo,' Judge Says
An Illinois federal judge trimmed a lawsuit Friday filed by two former Papa John's workers who claim the chain violated the state's biometric privacy law, but refused to dismiss it as duplicative of a putative class action raising similar claims, saying the plaintiffs have every right to "grab the litigation wheel."
-
August 26, 2024
In-House Vet Joins Honigman's Corporate Team In Chicago
Honigman announced Monday it added a longtime in-house attorney, who has worked for companies such as Collins Aerospace and Bridgestone, to the law firm's Chicago office as a partner in its transactions and counseling practice.
-
August 26, 2024
Paul Hastings Recruits Executive Comp Atty From Kirkland
Paul Hastings LLP announced Monday it has landed an executive compensation lawyer from Kirkland & Ellis LLP as a partner for its Chicago office.
Expert Analysis
-
How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'
Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.
-
Workday AI Bias Suit Suggests Hiring Lessons For Employers
As state laws and a federal agency increasingly focus on employment bias introduced by artificial intelligence systems, a California federal court's recent decision to allow a discrimination suit to proceed against Workday's AI-driven recruitment software, shows companies should promptly assess these tools' risks, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.
-
What BIPA Reform Law Means For Biometrics Litigation
A recently signed Illinois law amending the Biometric Information Privacy Act limits defendants' liability exposure on a per-scan basis and clarifies that electronic signatures constitute a valid written release, establishing additional issues that courts will need to address in future BIPA litigation, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.
-
Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process
Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.
-
The Ethics of Using Generative AI In Environmental Law
The rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools is challenging environmental lawyers, consultants and government agencies to determine when and how these tools can be responsibly, ethically and productively integrated into their practices to streamline research, predictive analytics and regulatory compliance, say Ahlia Bethea and Pamela Esterman at Sive Paget.
-
Carbon Offset Case A Win For CFTC Enviro Fraud Task Force
An Illinois federal court's decision in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Ikkurty — earning the CFTC a sizeable monetary award that will likely incentivize similar enforcement pursuit — shows the impact of the commission's Environmental Fraud Task Force, say attorneys at Steptoe.
-
RealPage Suit Shows Growing Algorithm, AI Pricing Scrutiny
The U.S. Department of Justice's suit against RealPage for helping fix rental rates, filed last week, demonstrates how the use of algorithmic and artificial intelligence tools to assist with pricing decisions is drawing increasing scrutiny and action across government agencies, and specifically at the Federal Trade Commission and the DOJ, say Andre Geverola and Leah Harrell at Arnold & Porter.
-
What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires
Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.
-
Considering Noncompete Strategies After Blocked FTC Ban
A Texas district court's recent decision in Ryan v. Federal Trade Commission to set aside the new FTC rule banning noncompetes does away with some immediate compliance obligations, but employers should still review strategies, attend to changes to state laws and monitor ongoing challenges, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
-
Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support
A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.
-
Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where
During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
-
Series
Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.
-
Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing
Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
-
Opinion
The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address
A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.
-
Opinion
It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union
As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.