Federal Court News
Federal Court
Arizona Beverages awarded $154K as Dugan finds Sheehan pursued fraud claim for plaintiff who loved 'Arnold Palmer Lite'
EAST ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge David Dugan awarded $154,862.50 to lawyers for Arizona Beverages on Feb. 25 for work that class action lawyer Spencer Sheehan put them through on a claim that had no chance.
Federal Court
Yandle excludes attorney Bleyer as expert witness in legal malpractice claim
BENTON - U.S. District Judge Staci Yandle excluded lawyer Joseph Bleyer of Marion from testifying as an expert at a trial about legal malpractice in a St. Clair County case.
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Federal Court
Acting U.S. Attorney named in Southern District of Illinois
FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS - Prosecutor Ali Summers stepped up to acting U.S. Attorney on Feb. 18 when President Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to fire Rachelle Crowe and 92 other U.S. attorneys.
Federal Court
In denying claim for unborn fetus, judge declines 'invitation to create new law'
EAST ST. LOUIS - Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel granted judgment to the United States on Feb. 18 against a claim that an unborn fetus can recover damages under the Illinois Survival Act.
Federal Court
EEOC seeks to drop transgender suit in light of new 'administration policy changes'
EAST ST. LOUIS - U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity commissioners moved to dismiss their discrimination suit against Sis-Bro pig weaning business of New Athens on Feb. 14.
Federal Court
'Centreville Citizens' say 'enhanced' opportunities to comment on sewer dysfunction 'embellished'
EAST ST. LOUIS - Centreville Citizens for Change claim that opportunities to comment on sewer improvements in Cahokia Heights can’t substitute for intervention in judicial approval of a consent decree.
Federal Court
Belleville lawyer pleads guilty to wire fraud charges
EAST ST. LOUIS - Jason Caraway of Belleville, whose spending of client funds caused the Illinois Supreme Court to disbar him last year, pleaded guilty to six counts of wire fraud at U.S. district court on Feb. 13.
Federal Court
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.
Federal Court
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.
Federal Court
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.
Federal Court
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.
Federal Court
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.
Federal Court
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.
Federal Court
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.
Federal Court
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.
Federal Court
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.
Federal Court
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.
Federal Court
'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.
Federal Court
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.
Federal 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.