Illinois

BigLaw firm offers pro bono help to low-income lawyers facing ethics charges in Illinois

Holland & Knight has launched a pro bono program to help lawyers in financial need who are facing ethics charges in Illinois. The program, called the “Attorney Defense Initiative,” is the first of its kind in the nation, according to a press release by Holland & Knight, which has expanded…

Sep 10, 2015 11:33 AM CDT

Lawyer left abusive F-bomb voice mails, ethics complaint alleges; he decries ‘ridiculousness’

An ethics complaint accuses a Chicago lawyer of leaving abusive voice mails telling the father of one client that “all black people are alike” and calling a nursing home administrator a “stupid Jew ass.” The lawyer, Michael Jerome Moore, is accused in an Aug. 26 complaint, report the Legal Profession…

Sep 9, 2015 6:45 AM CDT

Lawyer accused of stealing over $2M from clients’ estates and heirs

A suburban Chicago attorney was charged Wednesday with stealing more than $2 million from the estates and heirs of clients. Authorities say Robert Beck, 48, of Wheaton, began stealing in 2011, taking $1 million from the estates of seven clients. He allegedly shifted another $1.26 million between trust accounts in…

Sep 8, 2015 3:00 PM CDT

Twitter user who created parody mayoral account settles suit over police raid of his home

An Illinois man who created a parody Twitter account in the name of Peoria’s mayor has settled a First Amendment lawsuit against the city filed after a police raid on his home. Plaintiff Jon Daniel will receive $125,000 in damages and attorney fees, report the Chicago Tribune, the Peoria Journal…

Sep 3, 2015 7:54 AM CDT

Milwaukee firm adds Chicago litigation boutique, anticipates more growth

A Milwaukee-based law firm has upped the ante in Chicago, adding to its existing small office there a local litigation boutique. The melding of Chicago’s Varga Berger Ledsky Hayes & Casey with Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek puts nearly 150 attorneys on the combined firm’s roster, according to Whyte Hirschboeck’s website. “WHD…

Sep 1, 2015 3:40 PM CDT

Chicago files $300M suit over red-light camera program

The city of Chicago has filed in a $300 million lawsuit against the former vendor for its controversial red-light camera ticketing program, seeking damages because the operation was based on a claimed $2 million scheme of kickbacks. The complaint against Redflex Traffic Systems follows news earlier this month that the…

Aug 31, 2015 4:35 PM CDT

Lawyers acquitted of coaching witnesses to lie; case a ‘scary attack’ on defense bar, counsel says

A little over a year after the feds raided the law office of two Chicago defense attorneys, then charged them with perjury for allegedly coaching witnesses to lie, both have been acquitted by a federal judge at a bench trial. Law partners Beau Brindley and Michael Thompson got the good…

Aug 31, 2015 11:55 AM CDT

Lawyer accused of indecent exposure and improper touching is suspended while ethics case is pending

The Illinois Supreme court has issued an interim suspension for a lawyer accused of exposing himself to two people and improperly touching four law firm employees. The suspension for lawyer Paul M. Weiss of Highland Park remains in effect pending the outcome of the ethics case against him and until…

Aug 31, 2015 10:22 AM CDT

Lawyer in federal perjury case takes stand, insists he didn’t coach witnesses to lie

A Chicago lawyer facing felony obstruction and perjury charges in federal court for allegedly coaching witnesses to lie took the stand Tuesday in his own defense. Beau Brindley, 37, insisted that he hadn’t done so, the Chicago Tribune (reg. req.) reports. “When they are on the stand under oath, the…

Aug 25, 2015 4:05 PM CDT

Benesch opens Chicago office, plans additional growth there and elsewhere

Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff has opened a Chicago office with attorneys from Ulmer & Berne. Headed by litigation partners Andrew Jarzyna and David Pope, the group followed Joseph Castrodale, the former business litigation practice chair at Ulmer & Berne, who moved last month to Benesch, where he now serves…

Aug 25, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Ethics case alleges ‘settlement shakedown’ by lawyer whose Prenda firm sued porn downloaders

Attorney disciplinary authorities in Illinois are pursuing a legal ethics case against a Chicago lawyer known for filing a large number of copyright cases against individuals over claimed illegal downloading of pornographic materials. Filed Thursday against John Lawrence Steele, the Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission ethics complaint (PDF) alleges…

Aug 24, 2015 9:35 AM CDT

Michael Jordan is smiling after winning $8.9M in ad case, but says suit ‘was never about the money’

Former basketball superstar Michael Jordan was all smiles Friday over an $8.9 million jury award in a copyright case over a 2009 supermarket ad. It featured his name and jersey number and encouraged readers to use a coupon to get a discount on steaks. However, the man who led the…

Aug 24, 2015 8:35 AM CDT

Former CEO of red-light camera vendor takes plea in Chicago bribery case

The former CEO of a camera vendor that used to run Chicago’s controversial red-light traffic camera system has taken a plea in a federal bribery case. Karen Finley, 55, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning some $2 million in cash, vacations and an Arizona…

Aug 20, 2015 3:35 PM CDT

NLRB nixes college football players union, declines to hear election petition

Putting an end, at least for now, to an effort to unionize college football players at Northwestern University, the National Labor Relations Board on Monday declined to assert jurisdiction over the group’s union election petition. In its unanimous ruling, the NLRB said that to do so would have implications far…

Aug 17, 2015 1:40 PM CDT

Lawyer goes on trial for allegedly coaching witnesses to lie; scripted Q-and-A cited

In a trial that begins this week, prosecutors may rely on email, and scripted questions and answers in an effort to prove that a Chicago criminal defense lawyer coached witnesses to lie. The Chicago Tribune has a story on some of the prosecution evidence against the accused lawyer, Beau Brindley,…

Aug 17, 2015 10:17 AM CDT