Madison County was once again named to the American Tort Reform Association’s “Top Five Judicial Hellholes” in the country - thanks in large part to what the group calls an asbestos “rocket docket.”
HILLSBORO – Lawyer Tom Keefe of Swansea accused lawyer Bill Knapp of Edwardsville of tipping the Record about a deposition of client Sarah Deatherage, in a message he sent to Knapp and 25 other lawyers. Keefe also accused two other lawyers of leaking to the Record, in a brief for a Dec. 14 hearing in Montgomery County circuit court.
SPRINGFIELD – Lawyers who claim a U.S. Supreme Court decision disqualifies Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier from a case involving Philip Morris miss their mark, according to Philip Morris.
Parents in High Mount School in Swansea were outraged that a public school would paint a positive picture of Islam by teaching impressionable young students that Islam bears no responsibility for the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Such teaching does reflect the growing trend in American education to portray Islam as a Religion of Peace, how Islam is a misunderstood force for good, or that Islam is just another world religion that is no better or worse than other religions.
Chiropractor Gerald Bemis of Alton, once a favorite plaintiff for class action lawyers, has returned to that role. He sued two California companies in federal court on Dec. 4, for sending him a facsimile, and he moved to certify a class on Dec. 7.
CHICAGO -- Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) honored Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Rita B. Garman and others in recognition of their public interest and pro bono contributions in Illinois at a luncheon on Wednesday.
The Illinois Supreme Court has announced the creation of uniform standards and a certification and application process for problem-solving courts across the state. Statewide standards will bring uniformity, accountability and administrative oversight to problem solving courts in Illinois, where there are already more than 100 in operation and more in the planning stages.
For the first time in nearly a century, the fees to obtain an Illinois law license and to certify documents will increase next year. The fee to obtain an initial law license will be raised from $5 to $50 and the fee to certify documents in the state's reviewing courts will go from $1 to $5.
The states are the laboratories of democracy, but their experiments can’t violate citizens’ constitutional rights to free speech and freedom of association under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
State Farm can give Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier any confidential documents that it has given to plaintiffs in an $8 billion racketeering suit, U.S.
The Illinois Supreme Court has adopted a new rule to protect against identity theft and the disclosure of personal information in cases before the state's reviewing courts. During its November term, the Supreme Court approved Rule 364.
Beginning Feb. 1, the Illinois Supreme Court will be running its Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) compliance requirements entirely online. Attorneys will be required to report their MCLE compliance electronically, and the agency that oversees the Court’s MCLE program will send notices via the internet as well.
Unusual is one way to describe judicial races developing in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit. Voters will see contests in two of three open seats that were created by judges who vacated their positions so they could win them back by way of a simple majority vote, versus the long-standing tradition of retention which requires three-fifths approval. Two of the sitting judges seeking to stay on the bench are not running for the seats they vacated - they are running for each other's.
Defendants in bid rigging litigation will get to appeal a class certification order entered against them six months ago in Madison County. The Illinois Supreme Court issued supervisory orders on Wednesday directing the Fifth District Appellate Court to vacate Aug. 17 orders which denied the petitions of Madison County, public officials and tax buyers for leave to appeal a circuit court decision that favored victims of a tax sale scheme.
SPRINGFIELD – Lawyer Stephen Tillery wants all Illinois Supreme Court Justices except Lloyd Karmeier to consider restoring a $10 billion judgment he won against cigarette maker Philip Morris in 2003. On Nov. 17, Robert King of Tillery’s firm moved to recall a mandate the Court issued against the judgment in 2005. King also moved for Karmeier’s recusal or disqualification, citing an objective and reasonable public perception of his bias in favor of Philip Morris.
SPRINGFIELD – Court orders that dismiss civil actions should count as final judgments if plaintiffs ignore deadlines to amend, the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel argues at the Illinois Supreme Court.
The Illinois Supreme Court recently issued a decision barring employees from bringing tort claims against former employees for injuries incurred during previous employment that now are barred by the state Workers’ Compensation Act’s statutes of repose.
Chicago area attorney Paul Weiss has been disbarred by the Illinois Supreme Court over sexual misconduct findings that spanned a decade and involved seven women. "He was found to have engaged in criminal conduct of a sexual nature against various women he employed at his law office, a female friend of his former landlord, and a woman walking down a suburban side street," says a notice of the court's ruling posted today.
It is expected that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments sometime early in 2016 in what is a closely watched California-based lawsuit, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, with major implications for the state’s teachers union and potentially all public-employee unions.