Jonathan Bilyk News
IL courts hit with avalanche of pre-trial jail appeals under SAFE-T Act; Rules rewritten to ease 'staggering' burden
The Illinois Supreme Court has rewritten rules governing how criminal defendants can appeal judges' decisions to keep them locked up while they await trial, after such appeals rose from 171 in the past 10 years to more than 1,900 in the past five months under Illinois Democrats' SAFE-T Act
Realtors to pay $418M to end home seller commission class action; Big changes coming to home sale process
Lawyers who brought the lawsuits could be in for a big payday, as well, potentially claiming $140 million from the deal, plus $69 million from earlier settlements with large real estate brokerages facing similar claims of alleged collusion to boost real estate agent commissions
Cook County judge says Colorado got it right, says Trump should be kicked off IL ballot
Cook County Judge Tracie Porter, a Democrat, said she agreed that Trump engaged in "insurrection" and should be removed from the Illinois ballot. She placed her decision on hold, however, leaving it appeals courts, and perhaps the U.S. Supreme Court, to have the final say
IL's federal chief judge declines to answer senators' questions about S. IL judges' alleged discriminatory orders
Senators Cruz and Kennedy had sought answers from Seventh Circuit Chief Judge Diane Sykes about the courts' response to a complaint over orders issued by three southern Illinois federal judges which establish a preference to hear oral arguments from "newer, female and minority" lawyers
Counties say Supreme Court decision chastising forced home sales over unpaid property tax bills shouldn't apply in IL
A group of Illinois counties, including DuPage, Lake, Kane and Will, argued that a class action lawsuit over "equity theft" should be tossed, despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision that appears to declare sales of entire homes to satisfy delinquent property tax bills to be unconstitutional takings
'Once and for all': SCOTUS asked to strike down IL 'assault weapons' ban, end 'defiance' from states, courts
Three petitions were filed on behalf of Illinois gun owners, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to send a message to defiant courts and state lawmakers, who have all but thumbed their noses at SCOTUS' Second Amendment rulings in passing and upholding new gun restrictions in Illinois and elsewhere
IL Supreme Court: State OK to consolidate local police, firefighter pension funds
The state high court said the state law consolidating control over 650 local pension funds for police officers and firefighters - which the state has projected will bring in an additional $2.5B over 5 years for pensions - did not run afoul of the Illinois pensions protection clause.
IL courts help fuel massive class action, settlement activity in 2023: Duane Morris annual report
Class action settlements collective totaling more than $51 billion in 2023 helped to generate 'most extensive ... transfer of wealth' in U.S. court history, new report says. Illinois biometrics class actions one of 'hottest' growth sectors in litigation, according to the report.
SCOTUS rejects appeal of IL Supreme Court gun ban ruling, despite big Pritzker giving to justices
The U.S. Supreme Court denied appeal from Decatur gun rights supporters, who argued their rights were violated when the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the state's new "assault weapons" ban law and the state's two newest Democratic justices refused to recuse, despite millions in campaign gifts from Gov. JB Pritzker and his allies
Google to pay $700M to end Google Play store class actions; Lawyers to get up to $128M, states get $70M
The lawsuits accused Google of monopolizing control of the Android smartphone operating system and environment. About 71 million consumers could see $2-$7 each in refunds from the deal
SCOTUS declines to block IL 'assault weapons' ban; Law poised to take effect on Jan. 1
In the past two days, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined two invitations to issue emergency injunctions blocking the state from enforcing the new gun ban law. The decision leaves thousands, if not millions, of Illinois residents facing the risk of criminal charges while constitutional challenges to the law continue to play out in court
IL 'assault weapons' ban challengers ask SCOTUS to step into constitutional court fight, block gun ban
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett directed the state to respond to the petitioners' assertions that, not only is the law unconstitutional, but federal judges in Chicago have twisted SCOTUS rulings to say the state is clearly allowed to ban "dangerous" weapons that aren't protected by the Second Amendment
Campaign committee created to smear GOP IL Supreme Court candidates hit with big campaign finance fine
The Illinois State Board of Elections says the All for Justice campaign committee, led by lawyer Luke Casson, a prominent ally of State Sen. President Don Harmon, must pay $99,500 for failing to report spending on time during the 2022 election campaign, when it spent millions to elect IL Supreme Court justices Rochford and O'Brien
Big money biometrics privacy class actions enriching handful of lawyers at expense of IL economy, new report claims
A report from the Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of Illinois says seven plaintiffs' class action firms account for nearly 70% of all class actions active in Chicago area courts under the stringent Biometric Information Privacy Act, commonly known as BIPA
IL gun ban foes ask SCOTUS to review IL Sup Ct ruling; Petition says two Dem justices who refused recusal defied high court
State Rep. Dan Caulkins and other gun owners from Macon County say the U.S. Supreme Court needs to undo the Illinois high court's ruling on the "assault weapons" ban, because they could not receive a fair hearing when two justices, who already were endorsed by anti-gun groups, got millions of campaign cash from Gov. Pritzker
Verizon, AT&T customers can keep up suit vs T-Mobile, claiming Sprint merger raised their rates
A judge said plaintiffs had done enough to establish a "reasonable inference" that the T-Mobile/Sprint merger had created "anticompetitive effects" that boosted everyone's bills
IL OK to ban 'assault weapons,' so long as state says those guns are 'dangerous' and too similar to 'military' weapons: Appeals court
A 2-1 panel of the Seventh Circuit Appeals Court in Chicago refused to block Illinois' 'assault weapons' ban from being enforced. A dissenting judge said the ruling conflicts with SCOTUS rulings, and effectively subjects Americans' Second Amendment rights to a 'military veto'
Judge says anyone who ever spoke to Alexa device in IL could be included in huge biometrics class action vs Amazon
A federal judge says neither Amazon's user agreement - which warns users their voices will be recorded - nor Amazon's inability to identify a non-user's voice can defeat a class action under Illinois' biometrics law accusing Alexa of improperly "learning" users' voices
Appeals panel: JAMA doesn't need to give trial lawyers emails about spiked Zantac study article
Illinois appellate judges ruled a man who is suing GSK over alleged Zantac cancer link can't sidestep Illinois' reporter's privilege to force the Journal of the American Medical Association to reveal the identity of a government official who communicated with JAMA editors before they spiked a story on a Zantac cancer study in 2020
'The evidence is clear:' Poultry producer Sanderson Farms wins at trial, says proves no conspiracy to inflate chicken prices
While competitors opted to settle for hundreds of millions of dollars, chicken producer Sanderson Farms opted to defend itself at trial before a jury, and won. The verdict can still be appealed.