Steve Korris News
Many Madison, St. Clair County offices will see no opposition in November election
EDWARDSVILLE - As the Democratic Party continues to shrink in Madison County and the Republican Party holds no power in St. Clair County, many offices in both counties will face no opposition in the General Election.
Fifth District affirms denial of pretrial release under SAFE-T Act for domestic battery suspect
MOUNT VERNON - St. Clair County associate judge Sara Rice properly disqualified domestic battery suspect Ryan Alamia from pretrial release under Gov. Pritzker’s bail reform law, Fifth District appellate judges ruled on Nov. 30.
Oldcastle settles BIPA suit under new counsel
BENTON - Owners of Oldcastle Lawn and Garden settled a potential class action over biometric privacy 11 days after the Littler Mendelson firm of San Francisco withdrew and Jackson Lewis of New York City took its place.
McGlynn presides over new trial in suit involving excessive force claims against Madison County officers
EAST ST. LOUIS - Trial begins today on a claim that Madison County deputies Eric Schellhardt and Marc Asbury applied excessive taser force to county resident Brian Schell.
Monsanto asks Dugan to dismiss East St. Louis pollution suit over destruction of soil samples
EAST ST. LOUIS - Soil samples that prompted East St. Louis to cite Monsanto for ordinance tickets worth billions of dollars no longer exist, and Monsanto claims the destruction of evidence should end the case.
Settlement reached in wrongful death suit against Venice police over inmate's overdose death
BENTON - Clarice Hilliard of Chicago, whose son Clifton Lovett of Alton died after nine hours in a Venice police lockup, settled her wrongful death suit against the city on Nov. 21.
Yandle denies sanction request in BIPA suit against Oldcastle; Discovery dispute continues under new counsel
BENTON - Oldcastle Lawn and Garden, defending a class action claim that it violated fingerprint privacy, switched law firms in the midst of depositions and a brush with sanctions.
Kansas City lawyers voluntarily dismiss BIPA class actions they pursued in Illinois federal court
EAST ST. LOUIS - Kansas City area lawyers Jayson Brown and Jason Watkins, who jumped into Illinois fingerprint litigation with two potential class actions, voluntarily dismissed both cases.
Fifth District reverses Hoerner's rejection of summons delivery in suit involving evasion of service
MOUNT VERNON - St. Clair County Circuit Judge Kevin Hoerner improperly found that dropping a summons at a door didn’t count as service of process, Fifth District appellate judges ruled on Nov. 20.
John A. Logan College settles suit with student over its refusal to approve vaccination exemption
EAST ST. LOUIS - Luke Wegmann of Woodlawn and John A. Logan College of Carterville settled his claim that rejection of his request for religious exemption from virus vaccination cost him $222,059.
Dugan remands suit involving fatal I-70 Greyhound bus crash to Madison County
EAST ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge David Dugan restored Madison County jurisdiction in a suit involving a fatal Greyhound bus crash at a rest area on Interstate 70 near Highland.
Wrongful death suit alleges nurse sexually assaulted nursing home patient
BENTON - Garden Place Waterloo, where nurse Kandy Gibson allegedly committed sexual abuse and aggravated battery on resident Jeannete Lentz, faces a claim that Lentz’s injuries resulted in her death.
Rosenstengel dismisses law firm's suit alleging AI lawyer competes with false advertising, deceptive trade practices
EAST ST. LOUIS - Miller King law firm of Alton lacked standing to sue for an order putting robot lawyer Do Not Pay out of business, Chief U. S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel ruled on Nov. 17.
Sison rejects New Mexico jurisdiction in loan dispute alleging Addmi executive misused funds
EAST ST. LOUIS - Matt Auffenberg of St. Clair County established Illinois jurisdiction over his claim that software provider Addmi Inc. of Albuquerque failed to repay loans of $1,325,000, U. S. Magistrate Gilbert Sison ruled on Nov. 9.
Mother sues video game makers over son's addiction to Fortnite, Minecraft
EAST ST. LOUIS - A mother claims her son became so addicted to video games that he frightens her, according to a suit at U.S. District Court.
Graduate claims Balfour can't enforce arbitration in BIPA class action
EAST ST. LOUIS - Owners of graduation website Balfour can’t enforce an arbitration clause against a potential class action over biometric privacy because plaintiff Joshua Gaertner didn’t see it, his counsel Matthew Limoli argued on Nov. 6.
Fifth District rejects 'untimely' requests to deny pretrial release under SAFE-T Act
MOUNT VERNON - Suspects who were already in jail when the SAFE-T Act went into effect may seek review or "elect to stand on the terms" of their pretrial conditions, Fifth District appellate judges ruled in two cases from Coles County.
St. Louis County attorney seeks $255K in fees after jurors award inmate $32K
BENTON - Lawyer James Cole of St. Louis County moved for a $255,360 fee after jurors awarded $32,000 to his client, former St. Clair County jail occupant Cameron Belk.
BIPA suit against McDonald's voluntarily dismissed
BENTON - Four days after Antonya Wren of Cahokia Heights sued a group of McDonald’s restaurants on a claim that their fingerprint clocks invaded biometric privacy of workers, she voluntarily dismissed the complaint.
Gilbert vacates settlement agreement in trademark dispute, finds the 'irregular methods' to be 'suspect'
BENTON - Senior U. S. District Judge Phil Gilbert scrapped a settlement agreement that owners of Pete’s market in Troy signed without counsel on the eve of a trademark trial with Pete’s Fresh Markets of the Chicago area.