Illinois

Judge is assigned to civil cases after saying 148 days in jail is ‘plenty of punishment’ for sexual assault

A judge is western Illinois is no longer handling criminal cases after he reversed his bench-trial conviction of an 18-year-old man for sexual assault, declaring that the youth had received “plenty of punishment” after spending 148 days in jail.

Jan 14, 2022 11:49 AM CST

Lawyer on university faculty is charged with insider trading

A Chicago lawyer who was a faculty member at the Loyola University Chicago was indicted Monday for allegedly making a $110,000 profit by trading on insider information passed along by a college friend.

Jan 13, 2022 9:18 AM CST

Lawyer accused of sending harassing emails to BigLaw opponents had previously filed abortion lawsuit

A Chicago lawyer who was previously in the news for filing a lawsuit against a Texas abortion doctor is facing ethics charges alleging that he sent harassing and threatening emails to the opposing counsels from Barnes & Thornburg and Fox Rothschild.

Jan 10, 2022 3:27 PM CST

Do federal jurors still care whether a witness is caught in a lie? Not as much, say 2 veteran litigators

Physical aspects aren’t the only changes in federal litigation, according to two veteran litigators featured in this month’s Asked and Answered podcast, which is looking at how litigation has changed over the years.

Dec 27, 2021 9:12 AM CST

UIC law prof must receive online diversity training, coaching before classroom return, letter says

A law professor who used abbreviated versions of the N-word and the B-word on a final exam must undergo diversity training “to facilitate his return to the classroom,” according to a Dec. 16 letter sent to the professor’s lawyer.

Dec 21, 2021 1:59 PM CST

Lawyers in Illinois experienced this type of incivility most often, new survey says

Sarcasm, misrepresentations, inflammatory writings and hardball tactics were the most common type of incivility reported by Illinois lawyers surveyed in August and September.

Dec 14, 2021 12:10 PM CST

If trends persist, there won’t be gender parity among lawyers arguing at 7th Circuit until 2059

The gender gap among lawyers arguing before the federal appeals court in Chicago barely improved over the last decade, according to a report published by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession.

Dec 8, 2021 8:44 AM CST

Exam question wasn’t only offensive behavior of UIC law professor, according to internal investigation

Over the past year, various academics have expressed support for a University of Illinois Chicago School of Law professor who faced student criticism after he used abbreviated racial and gender slurs as part of a hypothetical fact pattern for a civil procedure final exam.

Dec 7, 2021 11:33 AM CST

Doctor accused of showing his gun during Zoom court faces contempt hearing

A Chicago doctor has been ordered to show cause why he shouldn’t be held in contempt for allegedly showing his gun during a video bankruptcy hearing on Zoom.

Nov 15, 2021 8:56 AM CST

Jurisdictions are switching back to in-person bar exam starting in February

The February 2022 bar exam for California will be administered in person, the California Supreme Court announced in a Wednesday order. Various jurisdictions have made similar announcements, including New York, Illinois and Texas.

Oct 21, 2021 9:46 AM CDT

7th Circuit warns of ‘catastrophe for litigants’ when judges wait too long to issue opinions after orders

A federal appeals court has used its opinion affirming a case dismissal to criticize a federal judge for a 75-day gap between her initial decision to toss the case and the opinion explaining her reasons.

Oct 12, 2021 4:00 PM CDT

ABA internship for law students with disabilities spurs young lawyer’s work at IT company

Lawyer Derek Bolka credits an American Bar Association internship for kick-starting his career at Accenture, an information technology services company, where he is now an inaugural fellow of a legal program for lawyers with disabilities.

Oct 5, 2021 11:40 AM CDT

2 former BigLaw associates get suspensions for inflating hourly records

The Illinois Supreme Court has suspended two former BigLaw associates who were accused of inflating the time that they spent on cases.

Sep 29, 2021 9:37 AM CDT

Following repeat problems with remote bar exam, California releases investigation findings

Updated: Out of more than 7,000 people who took the July 2021 California bar exam, about 31% experienced software issues. But those problems didn't result in losses of testing time, the State Bar of California announced Monday.

Sep 28, 2021 10:51 AM CDT

Lawyer accused of calling opposing counsel ‘lowlife bottom-feeder’ says term was ‘entirely truthful and accurate’

Updated: A suburban Chicago lawyer has admitted that he called a judge a clown and an opposing lawyer a “lowlife bottom-feeder,” but he said his comments were truthful or constitutionally protected speech.

Sep 8, 2021 12:05 PM CDT