Illinois

Congress should end partisan ‘nonsense’ over SCOTUS nominations, Ginsburg tells Chicago crowd

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg shared warm memories of her "dear colleague" Antonin Scalia, and called on Congress to end partisanship surrounding Supreme Court nominations in an appearance at a conference on Monday night in Chicago.

Sep 12, 2017 12:40 PM CDT

Law firms Saul Ewing and Arnstein & Lehr merge

Philadelphia-based Saul Ewing and Arnstein & Lehr of Chicago have merged, effective last Friday, to create a 400-lawyer firm with 15 offices. The new firm will be called Saul, Ewing, Arnstein & Lehr, the Legal Intelligencer reports. According to the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), the firm has strengths in…

Sep 5, 2017 12:08 PM CDT

Inmates’ escape par for the course in private prison transport industry

The private prisoner transport company whose van was stolen by two inmates last week in Oklahoma — precipitating a national manhunt that remains underway — may be feeling a sense of deja vu. The company has suffered at least half a dozen other escapes in the last five years. Inmate…

Sep 1, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

How ICE uses secret police databases to arrest immigrants

In 2011, then 19-year-old Luis Vicente Pedrote-Salinas was leaving a relative’s house and getting into his car when he was stopped by Chicago police. Officers found an unopened can of beer in the cupholder and booked him for underage drinking. He spent a night in jail, and the charges were…

Aug 29, 2017 3:48 PM CDT

Federal judge tosses suit claiming Zillow ‘Zestimates’ violate appraisal law

A federal judge in Chicago on Wednesday tossed a lawsuit claiming Zillow is violating the Illinois appraisal law with its online “Zestimates” of market value. U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve said there was no violation of state law requiring that appraisals be done by licensed appraisers, and cited two…

Aug 24, 2017 10:53 AM CDT

Can a general conquer the federal prison system?

The federal Bureau of Prisons faces a sea of troubles: Escalating medical costs, a prison population with little access to job training programs or computers, an institutional culture averse to change. In steps Mark S. Inch, the retired two-star general selected by Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month to run…

Aug 23, 2017 3:00 PM CDT

Fired lawyer who set up fake Match.com profile of female attorney cited by disciplinary board

Updated: An Illinois lawyer who admitted to setting up a fake online dating profile of a female lawyer, posted a false review about her to a database of legal professionals and registered her to receive information from other organizations has been cited in a complaint to the state’s Attorney Registration and Discipline Commission.

Aug 17, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Chicago’s former US attorney will open King & Spalding office

Zachary Fardon—who was asked asked to resign as the Northern District of Illinois U.S.attorney was by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in March—has rejoined King & Spalding, and will open a Chicago office for the firm in September. He will serve as the office’s managing partner and head of litigation,…

Aug 16, 2017 1:45 PM CDT

Reduction in law school applications result in favorable upsides for some

Law school applications have dropped precipitously in the face of a weak job market and questions about the future for legal employment, according to U.S. News & World Report, though applicants have gained leverage in negotiating scholarships and financial aid. Another upside for those interested in going to law school…

Aug 10, 2017 10:08 AM CDT

Condemned to death—and solitary confinement

Arizona death row inmate Scott Nordstrom lives alone in a room smaller than a parking space. He’s allowed to leave his cell a few times each week to shower or exercise alone in a similarly-sized mesh cage and is forbidden from making physical contact with visitors from the outside. But…

Jul 27, 2017 10:27 AM CDT

Chicago law firm files trademark suit against rival that also uses O’Keefe in its name

Updated: The politically connected Chicago law firm of O'Keefe Lyons & Hynes claims a suburban law firm is confusing the public by using O’Keefe in its name.

Jul 26, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

Lawyer who filed petition over missing Malaysia Airlines flight has disappeared

A Chicago lawyer who filed a court petition seeking information about the disappearance of Malaysia Air Flight 370 is herself missing. Monica Ribbeck Kelly has left “a trail of unhappy clients wondering about the U.S. justice system,” Forbes reports. Kelly had traveled to Beijing with a Shanghai lawyer where they…

Jun 30, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

Spectator is found in contempt of court after snapping fingers at officer’s murder hearing

A courtroom spectator was found in contempt of court Thursday after snapping his fingers to indicate approval of a Chicago judge’s refusal to dismiss murder charges against a police officer. The incident occurred after Cook County judge, Vincent Gaughan, refused to dismiss first-degree murder charges against Chicago police officer Jason…

May 26, 2017 11:28 AM CDT

Suit blames teen’s suicide on scared-straight interrogation for sex-encounter recording

The parents of a suburban Chicago teen have filed a lawsuit blaming their son’s suicide on an 18-minute interrogation conducted by a police officer and dean at his high school in Naperville, Illinois. The suit (PDF) says 16-year-old Corey Walgren jumped to his death from the fifth floor of a…

May 25, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Man convicted of murdering his defense lawyer proclaims innocence at sentencing

A Rockford, Illinois, man made just one statement when he was sentenced on Tuesday to natural life in prison for the murder of his defense lawyer. “I want to state I’m innocent of these charges,” said the defendant, 55-year-old Richard Wanke, who added that he was directing his lawyers to…

May 24, 2017 9:45 AM CDT