Illinois

Billboards near music festival site offer law firm’s services to arrested concert-goers

A concert promoter is sounding off about law firm billboards by his music-festival site that offer legal services to those arrested at the concert. Event promoter Jay Goldberg acknowledges that programs for the Summer Camp festival in Chillicothe, Illinois, have included ads with a lawyer’s name and phone number. But…

May 16, 2014 2:58 PM CDT

Ex-manager of Chicago’s red-light traffic camera ticketing program is federally indicted

Updated: A retired former City Hall manager of a Chicago program that used cameras to issue traffic tickets to drivers who ran red lights has been federally indicted. John Bills is charged in a claimed bribery scheme involving more than $2 million. Federal prosecutors say he accepted money and other…

May 14, 2014 7:29 PM CDT

Parody mayoral Twitter account spurs police raid and drug arrest; ACLU may sue

A police raid of the home of an Illinois man who created a parody Twitter account has resulted in drug charges against one of his roommates. Police raided the home of Jon Daniel on April 15 after learning he was the man behind the @peoriamayor Twitter account, the Peoria Journal…

May 14, 2014 3:21 PM CDT

Man pleads guilty to attempted murder in attack on law professor

Initially found unfit to stand trial, an Illinois man pleaded guilty on Monday to attempted first-degree murder for attacking a law professor with a knife at a downstate train station in 2011. Joshua Scaggs, 26, could get as much as 20 years when he is sentenced in the Champaign County…

May 13, 2014 9:20 PM CDT

Judge acquitted of battery based on insanity is ordered removed from the bench

An Illinois judge who was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a misdemeanor battery case has been ordered removed from the bench. The Illinois Courts Commission ordered the immediate removal of Judge Cynthia Brim on Friday, the Chicago Tribune reports. Brim, a Cook County judge, had argued she…

May 9, 2014 6:37 PM CDT

DNA evidence leads to charges in 2009 rape and murder of 12-year-old girl

Chicago police have charged a Minnesota man with the 2009 rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl. Rene Valentin-Matos, 47, was linked to the crime through DNA evidence, the Chicago Tribune reports. Valentin-Matos is accused of raping and murdering Jahmeshia Conner, whose badly beaten body was found in an alley…

May 7, 2014 9:17 PM CDT

Dinsmore adds Thompson Coburn team to growing Chicago office; new partner is now chief there

A onetime associate of Dinsmore & Shohl has returned to his former firm as a partner in charge of its new Chicago office. After a nearly 10-year stint at Thompson Coburn, where he became a corporate partner, Robert “Bobby” Lucas led a three other Thompson Coburn lawyers, including two partners,…

May 6, 2014 8:50 PM CDT

U of Chicago law student leader dies after wrong-way traffic crash; driver is charged in DUI case

A third-year law student who was a popular leader at the University of Chicago died last week following a wrong-way traffic crash in which a driver is now facing felony charges. Laura LaPlante, who was president of the school’s Federalist Society chapter and known for her organizational skills and her…

May 5, 2014 4:45 PM CDT

Judge orders release of Illinois inmate in ‘shaken baby’ death

A federal judge has ordered the release of a Chicago-area woman who has spent nearly a decade in prison for the shaken-baby death of a 3½-month-old infant in her care. Jennifer Del Prete, 43, will be released after posting bond while the courts address her claim of innocence, Chicago U.S.…

Apr 23, 2014 10:05 PM CDT

Kirkland & Ellis opens Houston office with partner from Simpson Thacher

Kirkland & Ellis announced Tuesday that it is opening an office in the midst of Houston’s hot energy-law market. It will be the seventh office in the U.S. and 12th internationally for the 1,600-attorney firm. Andrew T. Calder is moving from Simpson Thacher & Barlett’s office there to be a…

Apr 23, 2014 11:30 AM CDT

Insurer sues Chicago and surrounding towns over ‘geysers of sewer water’ in policyholders’ homes

A major insurer has filed a class action suit contending that officials in Chicago, nearby towns and the area’s water reclamation district have known for decades more storm water storage capacity was needed to prevent flooding but have not provided it. As a result, says the lawsuit filed by Farmers…

Apr 21, 2014 3:10 PM CDT

Man whose case was dismissed after ‘Perry Mason’ moment in court sues 5 police officers over arrest

A suburban Chicago man has filed a federal civil rights suit against five police officers, following a “Perry Mason” moment in court last month that resulted in the dismissal of a drug case against him. Joseph Sperling says in his suit that Chicago police asked Glenview officers at the scene…

Apr 17, 2014 10:23 PM CDT

Former client is charged in 2008 murder of lawyer killed while clearing his driveway of snow

A former client serving time in prison has been charged with murder in the 2008 shooting death of an Illinois lawyer who was killed as he was clearing snow from his driveway. Richard Wanke, 52, was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder on Wednesday, report the Rockford Register Star,…

Apr 17, 2014 4:29 PM CDT

Rare ‘Perry Mason’ moment in court wins dismissal for defendant, desk duty for 5 police officers

Updated: A seemingly routine suppression hearing in a suburban Chicago courthouse last month took an unexpected dramatic turn when video from a police car was introduced that disproved the testimony of five police officers. They had said Joseph Sperling was arrested after officers who pulled him over in a traffic…

Apr 15, 2014 6:20 PM CDT

Respirators will be worn by judge, court staff and attendees at hearing in tuberculosis case

Everyone in the courtroom Friday, except the subject of a special hearing, is expected to wear respirators, and other special precautions also will be taken to avoid the spread of tuberculosis, an Illinois health official says. The hearing concerns a man with active pulmonary tuberculosis who has not cooperated with…

Apr 11, 2014 8:05 PM CDT