HILLSBORO – Sarah Deatherage, widow of state trooper Kyle Deatherage, must testify about her dating and social life, Montgomery County Circuit Judge Douglas Jarman ruled on Sept. 17. He ordered her to answer questions she wouldn’t answer in June, at a deposition for her suit against the owners and the driver of a truck that hit her husband.
Another round of judicial review lies ahead in an asbestos contractor's protracted battle against a state agency involving cleanup of federal grounds. The Illinois Supreme Court has ordered the Fifth District to review the record on appeal to determine whether a St. Clair County circuit court abused its discretion in denying Lake Environmental's motion for sanctions against the Illinois Department of Public Health.
SPRINGFIELD – Thousands of losers in corrupt auctions at the Madison County courthouse should pursue recovery one by one rather than as a class, the winners argue at the Illinois Supreme Court. Buyers who purchased delinquent property taxes without competition petitioned the Justices on Sept. 21, for leave to appeal certification of a class action against them.
O'Fallon attorney Todd Alexander Gordon has been suspended for a year and until further order of the Illinois Supreme Court over misconduct involving false statements to clients, failing to return unearned fees and neglecting several different client matters.
HILLSBORO – Sarah Deatherage, widow of state trooper Kyle Deatherage, persists in attacking Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier in Montgomery County litigation. In a deposition for her wrongful death suit against Dot Foods, Deatherage said she volunteered for a press conference against Karmeier’s retention last year.
With two vacant appellate court seats, appointed Appellate Judge James “Randy” Moore announced his plan to seek election to the Fifth District Appellate Court at a press conference in Mount Vernon on Tuesday.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in May that pension benefits flowing to government retirees can never be “diminished or impaired.” A new investigation into state and local pension records reveals this ironclad protection can extend beyond the grave. From 2010 to 2014, 11 of Illinois’ 15 largest pension funds paid out $2.2 million in pension benefits to more than 1,000 dead people.
EDWARDSVILLE – Former Madison County treasurer Fred Bathon, fresh from prison, ignored a court order to provide an email address for a class action over a bid rigging conspiracy he led. Visiting judge William Becker reacted in surprise at a status conference on Sept. 3, upon learning that no one had contacted Bathon. Paul Slocomb, representing bid rigger John Vassen, told Becker he didn’t know if Bathon received a letter he mailed. Slocomb said he did not have a telephone number for Bathon.
SPRINGFIELD – Public employee pension funds paid $13,984,668,514 in benefits to 438,814 persons in 2012, according to the Illinois Department of Insurance. Benefits averaged $31,869 per person. Retired workers averaged $34,965, while disabled workers averaged $28,338 and survivors averaged $13,951. More than five persons received benefits for every seven active workers. Payroll for 605,872 active workers totaled $32,334,757,164, roughly $2.30 for every pension dollar.
Madison County Republican Central Committee chairman Chris Slusser is frustrated over the selection process used in the recent and pending appointments of five associate judges to the Third Judicial Circuit. "It's nothing personal," Slusser said.
The Illinois Supreme Court on Friday placed Chicago-area attorney Paul Weiss on interim suspension over sexual misconduct findings that spanned a decade and involved seven women.
Jennifer L. Hightower, 32, will take the bench in Madison County with a resume that includes roles as asbestos litigator and prosecutor which she says have helped prepare her for her new role as judge.
The campaign to remove Justice Lloyd Karmeier from office in November 2014 was fierce, expensive, and relatively brief, but mostly it proved how vulnerable sitting judges can be when it comes time for voters to renew their contracts.
With two appellate court seats up for grabs next year at the Fifth District Appellate Court, so far just two candidates outside the Metro-East have announced their intentions to run. Second Judicial Circuit Court Judge Jo Beth Weber, resident judge in Jefferson County, will be running on the Democratic ticket for the seat that James Wexstten vacated in January 2014.
(CHICAGO) Legal Newsline - The increase of wage and hour lawsuits being filed in Chicago federal courts in the last 25 years is reflective of a national trend. And with two new notifications from the U.S.
Third Judicial Circuit judges have voted to select Jennifer L. Hightower and Sarah D. Smith as associate judges, according to an announcement from the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts.
EAST ST. LOUIS – Yahoo answers a class action complaint of privacy invasion by pleading that no one can call its scanning practices surreptitious. “Yahoo’s scanning of emails has been the subject of media reports for years,” Peter Herzog of St. Louis wrote on Aug. 17. He moved to dismiss a suit that Kaylynn Rehberger of Highland filed at U.S. district court in June.
MOUNT VERNON – Disputes over profits from video gaming belong at the Illinois Gaming Board rather than in courts, Fifth District appellate judges ruled on Aug. 7. On their own motion they dismissed a Madison County suit for lack of jurisdiction, after both sides told them the suit belonged in court.
CHICAGO – Rogers Cartage must pay $200,000 for litigating a claim it had already settled over pollution in Cahokia, appellate judges of the Seventh Circuit decided. On July 27, they affirmed a sanction that former district judge Patrick Murphy imposed on the trucking company in 2013. Their decision apparently nailed down the last detail of litigation that the U.S.