Jonathan Bilyk News
More GOP candidates join court case vs IL Dems over 'candidate slating' ballot blocking law
Democrats told a Springfield judge she needs to can the case, saying the changes to the election rules in the middle of the 2024 election cycle don't violate anyone's rights, and judges have no place deciding if state lawmakers abided by the constitution in deciding how candidates can get on the ballot
IL Supreme Court rewrites attorney 'discrimination' rule; Critics predict court challenges forthcoming
Supporters say the rule change will create a stronger 'deterrent' to discriminatory and harassing behavior by lawyers in the state. Opponents say the new rule imposes an unconstitutional 'speech code' on Illinois lawyers, and likely will be challenged in court
Appeals court says man who told police he would kill his father must be released pending trial
A man was charged with assault for allegedly attempting to burn down his elderly father's home amid a dispute over disability payments. The appeals court said a Christian County judge can't order him held pretrial because he wasn't charged with a crime included on a list of "detainable offenses" in the SAFE-T Act
Family of woman hurt in laundry room gas vapor explosion can't use IL enviro law to sue gas station owners
The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled the Illinois Environmental Protection Act doesn't empower individuals to sue gas station owners for injuries caused by leaking underground fuel tanks. A woman had sued the owner of a Willowbrook Speedway station over a 2017 explosion in her laundry room caused by vapors that traveled through the sewer
'Anti-democracy' law blocked: GOP candidates win court order stopping Dems from using new law to keep them off ballot
A Springfield judge said she believed four prospective Republican state legislative candidates were likely to win their case, accusing the state's Democratic supermajority of unconstitutionally using a hastily enacted law to keep them and other GOP challengers off the ballot in November
The Next Battles: BIPA changes will spark new debates, but may not alter field for other rising class action causes
Lawyers who filled Illinois courts with thousands of class actions under the IL Biometric Information Privacy Act have also generated scads of big money claims under the state's Genetic Info Privacy Act. But while the claims are similar, BIPA reforms may not translate into reduced risk for IL businesses under GIPA
Judge denies TRO sought by GOP candidates to block law that changed election rules to keep GOPers off ballot
The lawsuit, filed by four prospective Republican state House and Senate candidates, say Illinois Democrats violated the right to vote by rushing through a new state elections law that rewrites the candidate selection process in the middle of the 2024 election cycle to protect their incumbents from possible challengers
IL lawmakers OK bill to limit risk of financial ruin for businesses targeted by biometrics class actions
The Illinois House has passed legislation to reform the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. The legislation would specify that the law's costly damages demands should be applied per person, not per fingerprint or other biometric scan. Biz groups say the reforms are welcome, but more are needed
Parents' rights referendum won't go to voters, but Coalition says Dems' ballot-blocking power play shows 'momentum'
Parents Matter Coalition said they collected 102,000 voter signatures, well short of threshold needed to place their advisory referendum on the ballot. But they say an 'anti-democratic' law rushed through by IL Democrats shows the lengths progressives will go to keep Illinoisans from voting on the question
SCOTUS to decide soon whether to review IL 'assault weapons' ban
Allowing the 'absurd' legal reasoning to stand that was used by lower courts to uphold Illinois' law would undermine SCOTUS decisions and essentially empower states to ban all manner of guns, challengers said, urging the high court to take their appeals
Judge: IL Sup Ct decision can shield health care vendors from huge biometrics class actions
A federal judge has tossed a class action under Illinois' biometrics privacy law vs health care tech vendor Becton Dickinson, saying attempts by plaintiffs' lawyers to argue an Illinois Supreme Court decision shields only hospitals and clinical providers "borders on frivolous"
Homeservices of America to pay $250M to settle real estate commission antitrust lawsuits
Attorneys could stand to rake in more than $80 million in fees from the new deal, meaning plaintiffs' lawyers could be in line for more than $300 million in fees from multiple settlements worth more than $940 million so far, with potentially more on the way.
White Castle to pay $9.5M to settle contentious worker fingerprint scans case
A long court fight over the case had resulted in a landmark Illinois Supreme Court decision, which placed Illinois businesses at risk of "annihilative" payouts, leading lawmakers to at last move to reform the law to potentially avert further economic harm.
Judge: Title IX plaintiffs can use IL law to retroactively demand 'emotional distress' damages
The Illinois law, known as the Civil Rights Remedies Restoration Act, was enacted this year specifically to restore the ability of certain plaintiffs to use "emotional distress" claims to boost their potential payouts under civil rights lawsuits, in defiance of a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision to limit the ability to do so
IL lawmakers advance law to limit 'annihilative' payouts faced by business under biometrics law
The Illinois State Senate approved SB2979, which would explicitly limit the amount of money trial lawyers and plaintiffs can demand businesses pay under the Biometric Information Privacy Act. The law has spawned thousands of lawsuits generating hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees
Coalition seeks to let IL voters deliver message on parents' rights in November
Thousands of volunteers aligned with conservative social policy groups across Illinois are seeking signatures to place an advisory referendum on the fall ballot asking voters if they believe Illinois law should require parents' consent before children receive non-emergency medical care or therapy
Amazon can't escape potentially huge biometrics class action over virtual try-on tool
A federal judge has cleared a Cook County woman and her Chicago lawyers to proceed with a class action under Illinois' biometrics privacy law. The same woman and her lawyers failed in 2022 in their bid to target an online eyewear seller over similar claims
Judge: Litigation financier Burford can seize control of Sysco's claims in chicken prices lawsuits
U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin rejected poultry producers' attempts to shut down Burford Capital's move to step into court in place of Sysco, saying poultry producers need to accept that third party lawsuit funders can take control of lawsuits to protect their investments and maximize profits
Judges challenge IL Tier 2 pension reforms, say law was approved and applied unconstitutionally
If successful, the lawsuit could undo a key pension reform law, which many have credited with helping the state better balance its financially troubled pension systems. It also joins a growing list of challenges claiming lawmakers routinely approve controversial laws unconstitutionally
S. IL federal judges rescind policies critics said discriminated vs white male lawyers
In letters to their chief judge, the federal judges acknowledged the policies, which encouraged law firms to allow young lawyers, who are female or non-white, to argue cases at least created a perception of discrimination