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Illinois
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August 14, 2024
Feds Say Madigan, Former Ally Should Face Jurors Together
Prosecutors told an Illinois federal judge on Tuesday that former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and confidant Michael McClain should be tried together this fall, saying a joint proceeding is proper for alleged co-conspirators in a criminal enterprise and they should not be allowed to shift blame to one another at individual trials.
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August 14, 2024
DoorDash Contract Can't Shield ID Service From BIPA Claims
Identity verification service Persona Identities Inc. shouldn't have been allowed to rely on DoorDash's contract with two drivers to redirect their biometric privacy claims from court to arbitration, an Illinois appellate panel has ruled.
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August 14, 2024
Rapper Gets Probation In Stolen Payment Card Scheme
A Chicago-area rap artist was sentenced to probation for his role in a nationwide wire fraud conspiracy that used payment card information stolen from the dark web to make purchases, including private jet flights and hotel stays.
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August 14, 2024
Candy Giant Mars Paying $36B For Pringles-Maker Kellanova
Snack food and candy giant Mars Inc. said Wednesday it has agreed to purchase Kellanova, the maker of Cheez-It and Pringles snacks, for $35.9 billion, including assumed debt, in a deal that "enables Mars to further shape the future of snacking" and is the largest merger announced all year.
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August 13, 2024
Take Me Out Of WDTX, Tech Supplier Cries
A Chicago tech manufacturer says LinkedIn profiles aren't enough to keep it from getting away from the Western District of Texas' U.S. District Judge Alan Albright in a patent case involving microchip patents brought by an ex-Microsoft executive's private equity-funded patent litigation outfit.
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August 13, 2024
Full 7th Circ. Asked To Review Tossing Of Protein Pouch Fight
A Florida-based protein powder maker is asking the Seventh Circuit to reconsider its upholding of a Wisconsin federal court's decision to toss its claims over allegedly defective plastic zipper pouches on the grounds that they were filed too late.
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August 13, 2024
Ill. Casino Can't Claim Immunity In Competition Row, City Says
An Illinois city wants the Seventh Circuit to deny a proposed tribal casino's appeal that seeks to undo a lower court order that found the municipality didn't discriminate against it by choosing three other competitors to operate the venues, arguing that sovereign immunity can't protect the case from dismissal.
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August 13, 2024
Wisconsin Bell Tells Justices FCA Doesn't Apply To E-Rate
AT&T subsidiary Wisconsin Bell Inc. told the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday that applying the False Claims Act to fraudulent E-rate program reimbursements means turning the "heavy artillery of the administrative state" onto private transactions.
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August 13, 2024
Kroger Blasts FTC's 'Head-To-Head' Competition Claims
Kroger and Albertsons have assailed the Federal Trade Commission's challenge to their merger, telling an Oregon federal judge that there's no need to preliminarily block the deal because the agency is pushing a "never before applied" theory that reducing head-to-head competition is illegal, which the grocery stores said is undone by the law and the companies' planned divestiture of 579 stores.
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August 13, 2024
'Delusional' Ex-Atty Gets 25 Years For Bank Embezzlement
An Illinois federal judge blasted a former attorney and real estate developer Tuesday as she handed him 25 years in prison for misappropriating a bank's embezzled money, saying he was "delusional" to assert he's a victim in the case.
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August 13, 2024
HP Inks Deal To End Claims Printer Update Locked Out Rivals
HP Inc. and a certified class of consumers told a California magistrate judge Monday that they have reached a settlement in principle to resolve a class action alleging the printer maker illegally forced customers to purchase overpriced HP-branded ink and toner supply cartridges by making alternative products incompatible with their printers.
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August 13, 2024
Eateries Can't Stop $75M Settlements In Chicken Antitrust Suit
An Illinois federal judge granted final approval Tuesday to $75 million in settlements between direct chicken purchasers and House of Raeford Farms and Koch Foods in a massive consolidated price-fixing case, denying an objection by restaurants, which he said could not second-guess class counsel's decisions after failing to opt out.
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August 13, 2024
22 AGs Urge 2nd Circ. To Keep Limits On Interstate Gun Sales
The attorneys general for 21 states and the District of Columbia urged the Second Circuit to uphold a federal law limiting interstate gun sales to licensed dealers, arguing in a brief Monday that the law lets individual states regulate dealers and prevent black-market imports.
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August 13, 2024
United Customer's Greenwashing Suit Preempted, Judge Says
A Maryland federal judge ruled Tuesday that federal law preempts a proposed class action alleging United Airlines misled customers by deceptively marketing its use of sustainable aviation fuels and its efforts to be green and carbon-neutral.
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August 13, 2024
3 Firms Drive $3.8B Carlyle-Baxter Kidney Care Deal
Kirkland & Ellis LLP-led private equity firm Carlyle on Tuesday agreed to acquire the kidney care unit of Baxter International Inc., represented by Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Baker McKenzie, for $3.8 billion, Baxter said in a statement Tuesday.
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August 12, 2024
FTC Seeks To Undo Trimming Of Walmart Money Transfer Suit
The Federal Trade Commission has urged an Illinois federal judge to walk back a previous decision that threw out much of its suit accusing Walmart of facilitating fraud through its money transfer services, arguing its now-dismissed claims about the retail giant were held to an overly exacting standard.
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August 12, 2024
Morgan Stanley Trims Black Recruiter's Bias Suit For Now
An Illinois federal judge on Monday partially dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Black recruiter claiming Morgan Stanley's "entrenched race discrimination" caused him to get lower commissions on minority workers hired at lower wages, but allowed him to amend his complaint to include more detailed allegations.
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August 12, 2024
Markel Says No Coverage For Film-Financing Scheme Claims
A Markel unit said it has no duty to defend or indemnify a wealth manager or his companies against underlying claims that they misled investors into financing various film projects, telling an Illinois federal court that their policy bars coverage for claims arising out of the sale of securities.
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August 12, 2024
Ill. To Require Employers To Notify Workers When Using AI
Illinois employers will soon have to tell workers and applicants when they're using artificial intelligence in employment decisions and be barred from using technology that has a discriminatory impact under legislation signed by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.
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August 12, 2024
Microplastics False Ad Complaint 'Doesn't Hold Water'
An Illinois federal judge has thrown out a proposed class action alleging that BlueTriton Brands Inc. doesn't tell consumers that its Ice Mountain spring water contains microplastics, saying no reasonable consumer would believe "100% natural spring water" is a guarantee down to the molecular level.
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August 09, 2024
Real Estate Recap: Big 4 Market Views, Gas-Ban Backfire, AI
Catch up on this week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including what the largest commercial real estate brokers expect from capital markets in the second half of the year, how municipalities are reacting to the Ninth Circuit striking down Berkeley, California's natural gas-hookup ban, and why Brookfield Corp. is betting big on AI.
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August 09, 2024
University's Chicago Campus CEO Can't Dodge Fraud Suit
Students who say University of the Potomac's Chicago campus lured them into applying by lying about its degree-awarding abilities can pursue those claims against the school's CEO but must amend their allegations if they want to keep the school and other administrators in the suit, an Illinois federal judge has ruled.
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August 09, 2024
Boeing, Ethiopian Airlines Families Float April Trial Lineup
Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash victims' families told an Illinois federal judge Friday that they're prepping the next six cases for an April trial, but disagreed over whether a Canadian resident who lost five family members in the crash should be slotted in for a standalone trial in March.
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August 09, 2024
Cubs Fan Continues Fight Over Wrigley's ADA Compliance
Hoping to resuscitate his lawsuit, a Chicago Cubs fan has told the Seventh Circuit that even though a district court ruled that Wrigley Field has the designated amount of Americans With Disabilities Act seating, those seats are not appropriate or properly situated throughout the field.
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August 09, 2024
Retailer Can't Pass Buck To Pool Maker In Child Drowning Suit
A Missouri federal judge trimmed the bulk of a couple's claims against the retailer that sold the pool in which their two-year-old daughter drowned, but ruled that the retailer couldn't escape strict liability claims under the state's "innocent seller" statute.
Expert Analysis
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What Rescheduling Could Mean For Cannabis Bankruptcies
Bankruptcy courts have historically been closed for cannabis-related businesses, but recent case law coupled with a possible reclassification of cannabis provides cautious optimism, say attorneys at Duane Morris.
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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Examining The Arbitration Clause Landscape Amid Risks
Amid a new wave of mass arbitrations, recent developments in the courts and from the American Arbitration Association suggest that companies should improve arbitration clause drafting to protect themselves against big-ticket settlements and avoid major potential liability, say attorneys at Benesch.
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Bankruptcy Ruling Stresses Value Of Client Communication
A recent Illinois bankruptcy ruling, which found that attorneys violated their ethical obligations by failing to return their client’s phone calls, serves as a strong reminder that counsel should promptly respond to their clients and ensure they know what’s required by local rules, say Maxwell Weiss and Daniel Lowenthal at Patterson Belknap.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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AI In Performance Management: Mitigating Employer Risk
Companies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence tools in performance management, exposing organizations to significant risks, which they can manage through employee training, bias assessments, and comprehensive policies and procedures related to the new technology, say Gregory Brown and Cindy Huang at Jackson Lewis.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: March Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from consumer fraud to employment — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including coercive communications with putative class members and Article III standing at the class certification stage.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.
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11th Circ. FMLA Ruling Deepens Divide Over Causation
The Eleventh Circuit's recent ruling in Lapham v. Walgreen distinguishes the circuit as the loudest advocate for the but-for causation standard for assessing Family and Medical Leave Act retaliation claims, though employers in other jurisdictions may encounter less favorable standards and the U.S. Supreme Court will likely have to address the circuit split eventually, say attorneys at Benesch.
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Golf Course Copyright Bill Implications Go Beyond The Green
A new federal bill, the BIRDIE Act, introduced in February would extend intellectual property protections to golf course designers but could undercut existing IP case law and raise broader questions about the scope of copyright protection for works that involve living elements or nonhuman authorship, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.
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BIPA's Statutory Exemptions Post-Healthcare Ruling
The Illinois Supreme Court's November opinion in Mosby v. Ingalls Memorial Hospital, which held that the Biometric Information Privacy Act's healthcare exemption also applies when information is collected from healthcare workers, is a major win for healthcare defendants that resolves an important question of statutory interpretation, say attorneys at Quinn Emanuel.
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Preempting Bottled Water Microplastics Fraud Claims
Food products like bottled water are increasingly likely to be targets of consumer fraud complaints due to alleged microplastics contamination — but depending on the labeling or advertising at issue, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act can provide a powerful preemption defense, say Tariq Naeem and Brenda Sweet at Tucker Ellis.
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Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.