Steve Korris News
Seventh Circuit affirms dismissal of class action alleging privacy violations through Blackstone's purchase of Ancestry.com
CHICAGO – U.S. District Judge David Dugan correctly dismissed a class action claim that Blackstone Inc. violated privacy of genetic testing data when it bought Ancestry.com, Seventh Circuit appellate judges ruled on May 1.
Man misses court hearing, seeks to vacate order enforcing settlement in collision suit
EDWARDSVILLE – Shane Richard of Louisiana claims heavy traffic kept him from attending a hearing to explain why he didn’t sign a release for a $400,000 injury settlement.
Madison County counsel objected to showing jurors dashcam video in excessive force lawsuit that resulted in mistrial
BENTON – Before U.S. District Judge Phil Gilbert declared a mistrial in an excessive force lawsuit, jurors compared a dash cam video of Brian Schell’s arrest by deputies Eric Schellhardt and Marc Asbury to the complaint they filed charging that he resisted.
Sister of Madison County inmate who died while detoxing seeks to intervene in brother's suit
BENTON – Siblings Jayson Bull and Angie Roberts oppose each other in suing Madison County over the death of their brother Mark Bull in county jail after he allegedly hit his head while experiencing drug withdrawal symptoms.
Lawsuit alleges housekeeper sexually assaulted guest in her room at Edwardsville hotel
EAST ST. LOUIS – Hotel housekeeper Brandon Billops raped a guest in her room according to a suit Ryan Mahoney of Glen Carbon filed at U. S. district court on March 29.
Washington Park dancers allege club owners violate wage laws with mandatory kickbacks, taking portions of tips
EAST ST. LOUIS – Former dancers at two clubs on Bunkum Road in Washington Park claim owners and managers violated wage laws by classifying them as contractors and taking portions of their tips.
Jurors hear dispute over documents destroyed by hurricane, assign liability for Phillips 66 refinery explosion to HydroChem
EAST ST. LOUIS – Destruction of a Louisiana contractor’s records about an explosion at the Phillips 66 refinery in Wood River didn’t sway jurors in U.S. district court, who found in favor of the defendant after they learned that a hurricane blew the records away.
Local bars settle suit involving fatal crash with off-duty officer
EAST ST. LOUIS – Owners of Good Times Saloon and Tiny’s Pub and Grill settled claims that they contributed to the death of Toshorn Napper in a traffic crash involving a former Alton police officer.
Former SIUE chancellor silenced Christian grad student, now says her lawsuit violates his free speech
EAST ST. LOUIS – Former chancellor Randall Pembrook of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, who restricted speech of former student Maggie DeJong, accuses her of violating his free speech by suing him and seeking punitive damages.
Hoerner denies media's request to unseal records in paraquat litigation
BELLEVILLE – St. Clair County Circuit Judge Kevin Hoerner denied a motion by American Broadcasting Company (ABC) for access to records he sealed in a suit over exposure to weed killer paraquat.
Dugan recuses himself from unfair competition suit against Meta Platforms
EAST ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge David Dugan recused himself in the tenth month of an Edwardsville company’s unfair competition suit against Facebook owner Meta Platforms.
Dugan grants Monsanto's motion to file counterclaim in East St. Louis pollution lawsuit
EAST ST. LOUIS – Monsanto can challenge the constitutionality of a claim that its pollution violated East St. Louis city ordinances, U.S. District Judge David Dugan ruled on April 17.
Employers urge IL Supreme Court to reconsider fingerprint scan decision they say will cripple IL businesses, economy
Associations representing employers for millions in Illinois say the court has set up a recipe for economic disaster by allowing 'entrepreneurial' trial lawyers to use Illinois' biometrics privacy law to extract annihilative sums of money from businesses for violations of the law that actually harmed no one
Hundreds of Zantac suits filed in Illinois courts after Florida judge rejects 'situational science'
SPRINGFIELD - Suits connecting Zantac indigestion medicine to cancer failed in nationwide litigation at federal court in Florida, so 583 refugee plaintiffs started over by filing suits in three Illinois counties.
Jayne Conroy appointed lead counsel in potential class action over Ohio train derailment
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – U. S. District Judge Benita Pearson chose Jayne Conroy from the New York office of John Simmons’s firm in Alton as one of four leaders for a potential class action over Norfolk Southern’s toxic derailment at East Palestine, Ohio.
Gilbert declares mistrial in excessive force suit over 'gamesmanship and sandbagging' by defense counsel
BENTON – Senior U. S. District Judge Phil Gilbert declared mistrial on an excessive force claim against Madison County because county counsel Heidi Eckert "sandbagged" him and wasted the jury’s time, according to his statements the next day.
McGlynn hears arguments in federal court over injunctive relief from gun ban
EAST ST. LOUIS – During an April 12 hearing in federal court over a request for injunctive relief from Gov. J.B. Pritzker's gun ban, assistant attorney general Christopher Wells told U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn that Illinois citizens can just defend themselves with handguns instead of semiautomatic rifles.
Champaign County circuit judge to preside over Duebbert's malicious prosecution case
BELLEVILLE – Circuit Judge Chad Beckett of Urbana will preside over defamation and malicious prosecution claims of former judge Ron Duebbert against former St. Clair County state’s attorney Brendan Kelly, lawyer Alex Enyart, and Belleville police.
Haine joined by 32 state’s attorneys in brief asking IL Supreme Court to declare gun ban unconstitutional
SPRINGFIELD – Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine is asking the Illinois Supreme Court to declare Gov. Pritzker’s gun law unconstitutional, and state’s attorneys in 32 other counties are standing with him.
Two new lawsuits filed against Amazon over December 2021 tornado; Plaintiffs in prior suits seek trial date
EDWARDSVILLE – Two survivors of a tornado that killed six persons in an Amazon fulfillment center on Dec. 10, 2021, joined litigation of the disaster in March.