Steve Korris News
Rosenstengel says Santander class action belongs in federal court, not St. Clair County
EAST ST. LOUIS - Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel ruled on Feb. 11 that national class action law doesn’t allow St. Clair County jurisdiction for a claim that a buyer of automobile financing contracts takes advantage of borrowers who lack clear titles.
USA seeks dismissal of Honduran national's lawsuit claiming damages for the year she was expelled during Covid
EAST ST. LOUIS - U.S. attorney Rachelle Crowe moved on Feb. 7 to dismiss a complaint of a person in Caseyville who claims the U.S. should have granted her asylum upon her illegal entry from Mexico on the 11th day of the lockdown.
FOID cards unconstitutional, White County judge rules
CARMI - Requiring Illinois citizens to obtain firearm cards for guns they keep in their homes violates the U.S. Constitution, Circuit Judge Scott Webb ruled on Feb. 10.
Judge grants Texas A&M motion to quash Paraquat 'fishing' subpoenas
EAST ST. LOUIS - Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel has taken notice that plaintiffs who claim weed killer paraquat caused Parkinson’s disease served subpoenas on Texas agencies similar to subpoenas a judge in Houston quashed last year.
Fifth District upholds $3.3 million lung damage verdict against Lewis and Clark Fleeting
MOUNT VERNON - Madison County Circuit Judge Sarah Smith properly preserved a trial that a witness nearly spoiled and her jury properly awarded Kevin Mogensen $3,310,000 for lung damage, Fifth District appellate judges ruled on Feb. 4.
Alton attorney Patrick King appointed to fill Stobbs' vacancy
SPRINGFIELD - Patrick King of the Miller King firm in Alton will fill the vacancy Circuit Judge Stephen Stobbs created by retiring.
Asbestos bankruptcy judge denies move by claimants to exclude alleged fraudulent cases from trial
CHARLOTTE - Bankruptcy Judge Laura Beyer ruled against asbestos lawyers who asked her to exclude 221 case files that Georgia Pacific entity Bestwall offered as evidence of fraud.
Cahokia Heights doesn't want intervention of 'Concerned Citizens' in sewer litigation
EAST ST. LOUIS - Cahokia Heights opposes the intervention of Centreville Citizens for Change in adoption of a consent decree for sewer improvements.
Strokes misdiagnosed as schizophrenia, mother claims in new lawsuit
EAST ST. LOUIS - Mental health professionals at Choate Center in Anna diagnosed Leslie Potter’s strokes as schizophrenia and damaged him with treatments, according to his mother Michelle Potter of Texas and grandmother Elaine Dohman of Illinois.
Transgender discrimination suit against pig weaning farm stalls in light of Trump's EO
BENTON - President Trump’s gender order has frozen a discrimination suit of the U.S. equal opportunity commission against Sis-Bro pig weaning company of New Athens.
University of Delaware seeks to quash subpoena in Paraquat litigation
EAST ST. LOUIS - The University of Delaware seeks relief from a subpoena that Chad Finley of Tor Hoerman’s firm in Edwardsville served for Paraquat plaintiff David Heistand of Maryland.
Judge declines to advance Florida case for trial in Paraquat MDL; Defense says plaintiff 'fought tooth and nail' to keep it in state court
EAST ST. LOUIS - As Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel announced six possible plaintiffs for two trials to shed light on 6,000 claims that weed killer paraquat caused Parkinson’s disease, she denied a motion to advance a plaintiff from the mass to the front of the line.
First Paraquat trial set before Rosenstengel in October
EAST ST. LOUIS - Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel, presiding over almost 6,000 suits from many states blaming weed killer Paraquat for Parkinson’s disease, set the first trial to start on Oct. 14.
Prison worker's Covid mask lawsuit can proceed on religious exemption argument
EAST ST. LOUIS - U.S. Magistrate Judge Gilbert Sison ruled on Jan. 23 that former Centralia prison worker Garrett Rose can proceed with a claim that his employer fired him for not wearing a mask in 2022.
'Centreville Citizens' on raw sewage: We need faster relief than regulators propose
EAST ST. LOUIS - Centreville Citizens for Change, which sued Cahokia Heights four years ago to stop living with raw sewage, find that the city, the state and the U.S. plan to start solving their problem without listening to them.
Treasurers in tax sale lawsuits: Sue the property buyers
EAST ST. LOUIS - Plaintiffs who claim counties took properties from delinquent taxpayers without compensating them should sue those who bought the properties through the counties, treasurers of St. Clair and Madison counties argue at U.S. district court.
Yandle to decide jurisdiction in dispute between Schlafly brewer and Highland developer
BENTON - U.S. District Judge Staci Yandle gets to decide whether a dispute between brewer David Schlafly and contractor Daniel Werner of O’Fallon over a renovation project in downtown Highland belongs in her court or St. Clair County circuit court.
Bestwall says asbestos sample paints picture of 'questionable conduct by plaintiffs and counsel'
CHARLOTTE - From 430,000 asbestos suits Georgia Pacific entity Bestwall selected 221 to support its theory that plaintiffs inflated settlements by concealing evidence of other exposures.
Judge sets hearing in defamation lawsuit; Target raises anti-SLAPP defense
BELLEVILLE - Circuit Judge Patrick Foley set a Feb. 14 hearing on a motion to dismiss a defamation suit that St. Clair County board member Gerard Scott Junior filed against Brad Van Hoose of Belleville 15 months ago.
Mother opposes doctor's move to stay alleged drugs-for-sex overdose case
EAST ST. LOUIS - Bonnie Lilly of St. Clair County, who claims at U.S. district court that physician Craig Spiegel caused the overdose of her daughter Nicole Laux, opposes a motion to stay the claim until his criminal case in Missouri has ended.