State Says Judge Who Dismissed Prosecutor Corruption Charges Is Biased, Seeks New Judge in 2nd Case

After an Illinois judge’s dismissal of all charges filed against a suburban Chicago prosecutor in a political corruption case, the state is seeking a new judge to preside in a second case against McHenry County State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi. In a motion, the prosecution argues that Winnebago County Judge Joseph…

Apr 28, 2011 8:35 PM CDT

Appeals Court OKs Lawsuit Over Woman’s Alleged Web Deception Drama Involving 20 Fictional Personas

Extending the scope of a tort claim that has traditionally been asserted in a business setting, an Illinois appellate court has given the green light to a lawsuit over an alleged multiyear Internet-based deception in which the plaintiff says she was tricked into seeming romance and friendship with individuals who…

Apr 26, 2011 4:20 PM CDT

Teen Accused of Beating and Stabbing His Father to Death Had Gotten One Last Chance from Judge

Despite misgivings, an Illinois judge decided to give a teen from suburban Chicago another chance when the youth was back in court for a probation violation in March. The Cook County judge, Thomas Fecarotta Jr., credited 19-year-old Mathew Nellessen with time served and released him from custody, the Chicago Tribune…

Apr 22, 2011 4:36 PM CDT

Chicago PR Firm Recommended Judicial Hellhole Defense in Pollution Suit, Judge Says

A public relations company advised its corporate client it could gain ground in a civil suit by playing up an Illinois county’s designation as a judicial hellhole by tort critics, a judge overseeing the case has revealed. Agribusiness company Syngenta is accused of polluting groundwater with weed killer containing atrazine…

Apr 21, 2011 2:35 PM CDT

Neo-Nazi Conviction Nixed; Gov’t Said He Targeted Juror in Trial re Soliciting Murder of Fed’l Judge

A federal district judge has reversed a jury conviction earlier this year of a self-avowed neo-Nazi accused of using a now-defunct website to solicit harm to the foreman of a federal jury. The government argued that William White, although he did not expressly call for jury foreman Mark Hoffman to…

Apr 20, 2011 4:53 PM CDT

Man Gets 46 Years in Elderly Ex-Lawyer’s Slaying, Expected to Testify Against Ex-Client Co-Defendant

Keith Allen said he held Carl Kuhn’s wrist until he could no longer feel the 82-year-old man’s pulse as a trusted ex-client, Terry Bratcher, allegedly held a pillow over the former Illinois criminal defense attorney’s face in his suburban Chicago home one day in 2009. That was enough to support…

Apr 13, 2011 12:54 PM CDT

Former Law Firm Manager Gets 8 Years for Stealing $884K; $47K Spent on Lunch Club Meals with Mom

A longtime officer manager with Kelly Olson Michod DeHaan & Richter has been sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing over $884,000 from the law firm, according to the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune. Joan Sanchez, 53, pleaded guilty to a felony theft count. She wrote 176 checks…

Apr 13, 2011 10:35 AM CDT

Northwestern Accuses J-School Prof of Misleading Prosecutors re Innocence Project Work

Ratcheting up a controversy that led to a popular journalism professor sitting on the sidelines rather than teaching at Northwestern University this spring, the school has just released a statement accusing former Medill Innocence Project Director David Protess of making false and misleading statements to Cook County prosecutors. It isn’t…

Apr 6, 2011 11:39 PM CDT

Mom Sues School, Says Teacher Posted Her Daughter’s Photo on Facebook, Publicly Mocked Hairstyle

The mother of a 7-year-old elementary school student has sued the Chicago Public Schools and her daughter’s teacher for allegedly posting the child’s photo on a Facebook page and publicly mocking her hairstyle. Lucinda Williams is seeking damages in Cook County Circuit Court for the emotional distress she says her…

Apr 6, 2011 12:03 AM CDT

Prosecutors and Judges to Join Police at DWI Checkpoints to Enforce New ‘No Refusal’ Law

In what is billed as a first-of-a-kind law enforcement effort in Jasper County, Mo., prosecutors and judges will be joining police at drunken-driving checkpoints, starting tonight, to enforce a new “no refusal” statute in the state. If motorists who seem to be driving while intoxicated refuse to take a breath…

Apr 1, 2011 10:21 PM CDT

Lincoln and Davis: A Friendship That Made History

Apr 1, 2011 9:35 AM CDT

Acquitted Prosecutor Can Identify with Defendants’ Frequent Complaint

A prosecutor in suburban Chicago can identify with a frequent complaint of the defendants he prosecutes after his own acquittal on charges that he asked public employees do campaign work on county time. McHenry County State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi tells the Chicago Tribune that he and his secretary were placed…

Mar 30, 2011 5:48 PM CDT

Suit Claims Adidas Midiru Shoes Pose a Tripping Hazard

A suburban Chicago woman has sued Adidas after she tripped and fell in her new Midiru shoes. The suit filed in Cook County court by Anna Bourtseva claims she fell because the shoes stuck together, creating a “tripping hazard,” the Chicago Sun-Times reports. She suffered bruises, contusions and a disability…

Mar 25, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

Pro Bono Lawyer Criminally Charged re Alleged Cellphone Loan to Client in Custody

An Illinois lawyer has been criminally charged for allegedly allowing a client being questioned at a Chicago police station in a high-profile murder case to use her personal cellphone to make several calls. Charged with a Class 1 felony count of bringing contraband into a penal institution, Sladjana Vuckovic, 43,…

Mar 24, 2011 11:26 PM CDT

Blistering 7th Circuit Opinion Fines Lawyer $5K, Orders Him to Alert Clients to Possible Malpractice

Yesterday can’t have been a good one for attorney Michael J. Greco, who apparently has found a foray into federal court in Chicago a tougher slog than he may have initially anticipated. The 20-year Chicago practitioner was excoriated and fined $5,000 in a 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion…

Mar 23, 2011 11:03 PM CDT