Jonathan Bilyk News
Stuart beats Keeven to retain 112th District IL House seat; Elik cruises; Schmidt poised to win
The race was marked by a concerted effort by powerful Democrats to block former Edwardsville Police Chief Jay Keeven from placing his name on the ballot to challenge incumbent Democratic State Rep. Katie Stuart in the seat representing portions of Madison and St. Clair counties
Judge mostly tosses effort to force IL elections authorities to make voter rolls more accurate
A Chicago federal judge said conservative groups don't have standing to sue Illinois state and county election officials for allegedly failing to live up to their obligations under federal election law to remove people who aren't eligible to vote from Illinois voter rolls
Federal judge asked to block IL law that restricts what employers can say to their workers
In a new filing, the Illinois Policy Institute and Technology and Manufacturing Association say the state has unconstitutionally set up a regime to allow labor unions and other political allies to speak, while silencing employers' speech on politics, public policy and religion in the workplace
IL counties can't end lawsuit accusing them of unconstitutionally taking homes over unpaid taxes
A Chicago federal judge said the counties can't beat the lawsuit by claiming they aren't violating the Constitution because state law allows private investors to keep the homes and the profits from the forced sales, not the governments themselves
Nursing homes can use Pritzker Covid orders to block suits over Covid deaths
The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled trial lawyers can't entirely sidestep emergency orders issued by Gov. JB Pritzker at the onset of the Covid pandemic to hit nursing homes with lawsuits over Covid deaths, even though the governor's orders appeared to protect them from such lawsuits
'A downward spiral': Biz groups, legal reformers urge IL high court to nix bid to kill anti-forum shopping rule
The filings come in response to an attempt by the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association to seize on a dispute over the constitutionality of a controversial state law to win a long sought policy goal, which would funnel lawsuits into Cook, Madison and St. Clair counties, in pursuit of bigger, easier verdicts
Pipe maker J-M says big asbestos firm Simmons Hanly shouldn't escape lawsuit fraud claims
J-M Manufacturing is pushing back against efforts by prominent asbestos law firm Simmons Hanly Conroy to end J-M's lawsuit accusing Simmons of a racket of "sham" asbestos lawsuits. The Simmons firm claims such racketeering claims aren't allowed against law firms over such litigation activities
Judge: Speedway will need settlement or trial to end class action over worker fingerprint scans
A federal judge rejected attempts by Speedway to avoid paying out millions of dollars or more to as many as 7,200 workers at its Illinois stores for allegedly wrongly requiring them to scan their fingerprints when punching the clock at work, as part of a class action under Illinois' biometrics privacy law
IL Baptists plan to appeal ruling that IL abortion coverage mandate doesn't violate religious rights
A Springfield judge agreed with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul that the state's abortion health insurance coverage mandate doesn't violate religious objectors' rights because they can still buy health insurance from other states
Arbitration agreements may defeat OT wage class action vs retail merchandising biz
A Springfield judge sided with Taylorville-based Driveline Retail Merchandising in dispute with merchandisers from throughout U.S. who accused company of shorting wages and OT under federal and state law
Did IL just try again to ban E-Verify? New law could leave employers facing hard choices, big challenges
The new law could leave Illinois employers facing a choice between abiding by competing state and federal immigrant employment laws and requirements, and leave Illinois facing another day in court defending a law which could stand in defiance to federal laws governing immigrant work eligibility
Illinois ban on carrying concealed weapons on transit unconstitutional, judge says
A Rockford federal judge particularly called a legal theory advanced by Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx that government can ban guns on all public property "breathtaking, jawdropping, and eyepopping" for the harm it could deliver to constitutional rights everywhere
Farmer owes $7.4M to Monsanto for allegedly taking company's soybean seeds
A Springfield federal judge says a Carlinville farmer afraid of getting stiffed in deal over contract to grow herbicide-resistant soybeans for Monsanto to distribute to retailers improperly took a portion of the crop to use to raise his own crop the following year
IL law doesn't protect car dealers from competition if car makers want to sell direct to buyers: IL appeals court
A state appeals panel has rejected the attempt by Illinois car dealerships to sue the state for granting licenses to electric car makers Rivian and Lucid to sell their vehicles to consumers without going through third-party franchise dealers
Keeven will be on ballot this fall vs Stuart; IL Supreme Court can't declare Dems' 'anti-slating' law constitutional
The Illinois Supreme Court could not come up with a four-member majority to overturn a Springfield judge's ruling that a new "anti-slating" law supported by Gov. Pritzker and his fellow Democrats was unconstitutional.
Appeals court: GOP congressman, voters can't sue IL for counting mail-in votes 2 weeks after Election Day
A divided federal appeals panel sided with the state and Democrats in tossing out a lawsuit challenging Illinois law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted up to 14 days after Election Day. A dissenting judge said the U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, who led the lawsuit, was wrongly denied the chance to have his case heard
Appeals court tosses Dorman suit challenging IL ban on short-barreled rifles
The Fifth District Appellate Court said the state's ban on short-barreled rifles doesn't violate the Second Amendment or recent Supreme Court decisions because federal courts have consistently ruled that such weapons aren't commonly used for self-defense, but rather for crimes
Elections hearing officer: New IL ballot access law shouldn't apply to GOP candidate who filed before law was signed
Illinois candidates and voters still await an Illinois Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of a ballot access law, which GOPers say was designed to block them from the Nov. ballot. That decision shouldn't matter for at least one GOP candidate who filed the day before Pritzker signed the law, a hearing officer said
IL trial lawyers say state high court should remove rule limiting lawsuit 'forum shopping' in IL courts
The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association has urged the Illinois Supreme Court to use a case over the fate of a state law that limits where Illinoisans can challenge potentially unconstitutional laws to instead abolish a court rule that businesses can use to avoid being sued in Cook County, other unfriendly courts
Unions can defend vs attempts to force IL to clean up voter rolls, judge says
A federal judge in Chicago has given two powerful labor unions the right to fight in court against a lawsuit brought conservative activist groups seeking to force the state of Illinois more stringently comply with federal law requiring the state and local election authorities to purge voter rolls of dead and otherwise ineligible voters