Jonathan Bilyk News
Posner announces retirement, ending 36-year prolific, influential tenure on Seventh Circuit
After more than three-and-a-half decades on the bench at Chicago’s Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Richard Posner has announced his retirement.
Judges: Asbestos plaintiff not harmed by ruling barring testimony from doctor over exposure theories
A federal appeals court in Chicago has refused to upend a jury’s verdict against a retired pipefitter, who had claimed Owens-Illinois and ExxonMobil should be held liable for his lung cancer, because possible exposure to asbestos on work sites decades ago, and not a 30-year, pack-and-a-half-a-day cigarette smoking habit, had caused the illness.
Class action: Walgreens wrongly charged Cook 'pop tax'; Retailers had warned such suits were coming
CHICAGO - Walgreens has become the first retailer hit with a class action lawsuit for allegedly wrongly making customers pay Cook County’s so-called “pop tax” on drink purchases that should have been exempt.
Supreme Court puts hold on Cook Co. judge accused of abusing authority in pursuing sanctions in asbestos case
The Illinois Supreme Court, acting in response to a request from lawyers who claim they and others have been targeted by a “rogue” Cook County judge, has stepped in to slap a hold on potential sanctions proceedings against lawyers and litigants on both sides of an asbestos personal injury case, blocking the judge, for now, from continuing his bench investigation of what he said resembled an improper “grand bargain” between plaintiffs’ lawyers and those for defendant gasket maker John Crane Inc.
Illinois Supreme Court deadlocks on whether title companies' attorney payments are kickbacks
A divided Illinois Supreme Court has let stand a lower court’s decision to allow lawyers to earn fees – even fees that appear overly large, compared to the amount of work being done – from real estate title companies, despite accusations that the fee-splitting arrangements amount to little more than a kickback scheme.
Rauner seeks court guidance on illegally hired patronage workers in wake of special report; Hoffman and Clayborne connected to 11
In the wake of a scathing report from a court-appointed “special master” empowered to investigate political hiring abuses under former Gov. Pat Quinn, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and other state officials and lawmakers, current Gov. Bruce Rauner has asked for the court’s guidance on whether those improperly hired, thanks to political connections, should now be able to use collective bargaining agreements to leverage the experience they gained in those positions to land in different positions or even move up in the state’s employment ranks.
Judge slaps down Illinois Election Day voter registration system, saying it dilutes rural citizens' rights
A federal judge has prohibited Illinois’ most populated counties from continuing to register voters at polling places on Election Day, saying the way the system is currently set up in the state violates the rights of people voting in Illinois’ more rural regions.
Group connected to Madigan, Emanuel sues to block redistricting amendment from ballot
An attorney connected to powerful Democratic Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan has filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court to block a referendum from landing on the ballot, which would ask Illinois voters to reform the way Illinois creates the legislative districts from which state lawmakers are elected.
Social service providers sue Rauner for vetoing appropriations, demand state pay $100 million
A group of more than five dozen Illinois social service agencies have sued Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and a collection of state agencies, alleging the governor’s decision to veto three appropriation bills in June 2015 has provided cover for the state to unconstitutionally refuse to pay them more than $100 million they are collectively owed for services rendered under contracts with the state of Illinois.
Illinois law granting hospitals tax exemption struck down by appellate court as unconstitutional
A state appellate panel has struck down an Illinois law providing tax exemptions to hospitals, saying lawmakers erred under the state constitution in believing hospitals should be able to avoid paying property taxes because they may provide enough benefits to their communities to offset the millions of dollars in tax revenue lost to cities, counties, school districts and other local property tax-collecting entities. On Jan. 5, a three-justice panel of the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Cour
John Crane says Ford lawyers' asbestos sanctions motion a 'witch hunt' to advance 'implausible conspiracy theory'
A manufacturer named as a defendant in about 75,000 asbestos personal injury cases nationwide has pushed back against a request for sanctions from lawyers representing Ford Motor Company, who have accused their client of being a “shill” to prevent other defendants from transferring cases out of Cook County Circuit Court, saying Ford has no basis to support an “implausible conspiracy theory” serving as a pretense for the chance to fish for privileged information.
Sanctions sought against asbestos lawyers for using John Crane as 'shill' to keep cases in Cook County
Attorneys for defendants in a Cook County asbestos case have brought an action against the opposing counsel in the case, asking the court to punish the plaintiff’s attorneys and the counsel for John Crane Inc., one of the other defendants named in the case, for their alleged use of Crane as a "shill" to prevent defendants from transferring the case and others like it out of Cook County Circuit Court.
Survey says Madison, Cook counties, state of Illinois, rank among worst environments for lawsuits in country
The courts of Cook and Madison counties, as well as the state of Illinois, have again ranked very poorly in the eyes of business leaders, a survey says, hampering the state’s economic growth, reducing the state’s tax haul, and making it more difficult to pay Illinois’ bills and provide needed public services, according to Ill.
Court: Comcast must disclose ID of commenter accused of calling politician ‘Sandusky waiting to be exposed’
The assumption of an online moniker may not be enough to allow online commenters to remain cloaked in anonymity and exempt from a defamation action, should they use their moniker in an online forum to unjustifiably accuse another person of a crime, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled. On Thursday, June 18, the state’s high court unanimously upheld the rulings of both a Stephenson County judge and the Illinois Second District Appellate Court, which had both held Internet service provider Comcas
Lawyer adds another layer to ongoing Freed & Weiss dispute; Sues accounting firm
CHICAGO - A lawyer embroiled in a protracted legal fight with a former law partner over the messy dissolution of their erstwhile firm has set his sights on the firm’s accounting firm that happens to employ his former partner’s father.
ARDC panel recommends 30-month suspension for Weiss in five-year-old case over sexual harassment allegations
A Chicago area lawyer accused of sexually harassing five former female employees, a neighbor and a stranger on the street should be suspended for 30 months, a panel of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission Hearing Board said earlier this month.