7th Circuit Court

7th Circuit judge writes one-sentence ‘maybe’ concurrence; was it a ‘dubitante’ opinion?

A short, cryptic concurrence by Judge Richard Cudahy of the Chicago-based 7th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals used the word “maybe” when he may have meant “dubitante.” Cudahy’s concurrence (PDF)—to a panel opinion by Judge Richard Posner—simply read: “Unfortunately; and I think the opinion must be stamped with a…

Jun 3, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Northwestern settles with ex-employee, will jointly publish book about infamous Chicago murder

Less than a year after filing a federal copyright infringement suit against a former employee writing a book about an infamous Chicago murder, Northwestern University has agreed to settle the suit. In the suit, Northwestern said it had compensated Nina Barrett, both in her paycheck and with fellowship funding, for…

May 29, 2015 10:45 AM CDT

Former US House Speaker Dennis Hastert indicted, resigns from Dickstein Shapiro

In a stunning development for the Illinois political establishment, a former speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives who had most recently been working at Dickstein Shapiro as a senior policy adviser was federally indicted Thursday by a Chicago grand jury. He resigned from the firm Thursday, according to the…

May 29, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Feds say indicted lawyer owes $780K to IRS, hid tobacco settlement money in others’ accounts

Updated: An Illinois lawyer who represented the state in tobacco litigation has been federally indicted for a claimed failure to pay $780,000 in income tax over a 20-year period ending in 2013. Daniel Soso, 63, is also accused of failing to file a tax return for the years from 2008…

May 28, 2015 3:55 PM CDT

7th Circuit OKs deaf teen’s suit against Girl Scouts over lack of sign-language interpreter

A deaf teenager has a right to sue the Girl Scouts for failing to provide a sign-language interpreter under the federal Rehabilitation Act, a federal appeals court has ruled. Reversing a federal district judge’s ruling that the statute doesn’t apply to a private membership organization, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit…

May 12, 2015 3:30 PM CDT

7th Circuit: Law firm doesn’t owe fired PI attorney bonuses, due to terms of compensation pact

After more than five years of litigation, a personal injury lawyer has lost his fight to collect on bonuses he claimed his former law firm employer owed him on breast-implant cases for which payment was received after he was fired. The motive for his 2007 termination was to avoid paying…

May 5, 2015 2:15 PM CDT

Federal judge blasts expert for not evaluating inmate jail brutality claims, but OKs case for trial

Already operating under a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice, Chicago’s Cook County Jail may not be a pleasant place to be incarcerated. But a claimed “crisis of violence” has not been shown that would require further intervention in efforts being made by Sheriff Tom Dart to improve…

Apr 1, 2015 4:20 PM CDT

Freed after 20 years, man gets $20M; another whose DNA doesn’t match linked murder is still jailed

An Illinois man who was exonerated in a 1992 child-murder case after being tried and convicted three times and serving nearly 20 years in prison has won a $20 million settlement from authorities in the collar county outside Chicago where the trials took place. The amount that will be paid…

Mar 20, 2015 3:40 PM CDT

Lawyer and wife win $26M jury verdict; defendant cab company immediately files bankruptcy

A former Chicago lawyer who was left brain damaged by a 2005 taxicab accident on an Illinois highway was awarded nearly $26 million, along with his wife, in a Tuesday evening jury verdict in Cook County Circuit Court. But within hours the defendant in the case, Yellow Cab Affiliation, had…

Mar 18, 2015 4:20 PM CDT

Posner blasts ‘excessive judicial passivity’ and ‘lackluster’ lawyering in cabbie’s immigration case

Update: Judge Richard Posner supported a Chicago cab driver’s bid to remain in the United States in a dissent last week that left few in the immigration process unscathed. Posner, of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, blasted the Department of Homeland Security for its eagerness to challenge…

Mar 9, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Posner informs pro se litigant that the queen of England did not absolve him of need to pay taxes

Judge Richard Posner is countering a pro se litigant’s sovereign-citizen type arguments with a history lesson and a warning. Though Posner is an appeals judge with the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, he likes to volunteer for trials. He has drawn the case of Hakeem El Bey, who…

Feb 24, 2015 7:12 AM CST

Midwest law firm wins record $62M settlement from Lockheed in suit over 401(k) fees

Lockheed Martin Corp. has agreed to pay $62 million to settle a federal lawsuit by a St. Louis law firm contending that it charged excessive fees and in its 401(k) plans. The amount is a record high settlement for a case of this kind, reports the Wall Street Journal (sub.…

Feb 23, 2015 5:45 PM CST

Federal judge nixes TRO on new Chicago Cubs signs sought by rooftop seating companies

A federal judge has declined to issue an injunction on behalf of operators of rooftop bleachers on buildings adjacent to Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Several contended in a lawsuit filed last month against the team owners and chairman Thomas Ricketts that their renovation of Wrigley Field and purchase of other nearby…

Feb 19, 2015 12:20 PM CST

Ex-inmate sues Northwestern University and journalism prof, says they coerced a false confession

Seeking to free one Illinois inmate imprisoned in a high-profile double-murder case as his execution date loomed, did a Northwestern University journalism professor help coerce another man into making a false confession to the crimes? The answer to that question is yes, according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in…

Feb 17, 2015 2:05 PM CST

Former attorney and radio host gets nearly 6 years in $2.3M client-theft case

Calling an investment scheme by a now-disbarred Illinois lawyer akin to “taking it to the track and putting it all on some long shot,” a federal judge in Chicago on Tuesday sentenced ex-attorney Kathleen Niew to nearly six years in prison for fraud. While still in practice and known for…

Feb 10, 2015 4:15 PM CST