Illinois

Edwards Wildman lays off 10 lawyers, 42 staff

Edwards Wildman Palmer has laid off 10 attorneys and 42 staff members. The layoffs were made in 10 of the 525-attorney firm’s 16 offices, according to Above the Law and the Wall Street Journal Law Blog (sub. req.). “Advances in technology have resulted in a need for fewer support staff…

Apr 7, 2014 10:35 PM CDT

Lawyer who pointed client in accident case to high-interest loan did nothing wrong, judge rules

Unable to work after a 2001 accident in which the Chicago commuter train she was riding hit a car at a railroad crossing, Debbie Crim eventually asked her lawyer for a loan to help with her medical bills and living expenses. Peter Vrdolyak instead referred her to Client Funding Solutions,…

Apr 1, 2014 9:50 PM CDT

Judge axes first law firm filing over missing Malaysia Air flight

An Illinois judge on Friday threw out a civil court filing by a Chicago law firm over the Malaysia Air flight that disappeared earlier this month. The Ribbeck Law Chartered petition for discovery, believed to be the first court filing concerning the missing plane, is inappropriate because it isn’t supported…

Mar 31, 2014 7:45 PM CDT

In ‘revolutionary’ ruling, NLRB says football players are employees of Northwestern, can unionize

Football players are employees of Northwestern University and can unionize, the National Labor Relations Board said in a ruling released Wednesday that is expected to reverberate throughout the country. Robert McCormick, a professor emeritus at Michigan State University College of Law, describes the decision as “revolutionary for college sports.” If…

Mar 26, 2014 8:25 PM CDT

Court filing seeks information about missing Malaysia Air flight

AHMAD FAIZAL YAHYA / Shutterstock.com Updated: In an opening salvo in what is expected to be a barrage of litigation over the disappearance of Malaysia Air Flight 370 earlier this month, a Chicago law firm has made an Illinois court filing seeking information that could help explain what happened to…

Mar 25, 2014 10:40 PM CDT

Top state court says Chicago lacks ‘clear and appropriate’ release criteria for criminal defendants

Lending support to critics of the pretrial services provided to help keep criminal defendants in the Chicago area out of jail as they await trial, the Illinois Supreme Court on Friday issued an unprecedented report (PDF). Change is needed in what has been described as the nation’s largest single-site jail…

Mar 21, 2014 6:15 PM CDT

Eavesdropping law is struck down by Illinois Supreme Court

An Illinois law that made it a crime to record a conversation without the consent of all the parties has been struck down by the Illinois Supreme Court. In an opinion (PDF) released today, the court said the statute violates the First Amendment. The court said the statute is too…

Mar 20, 2014 3:55 PM CDT

Released from jail in civil contempt case, Kevin Trudeau starts 10-year criminal contempt term

Infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau can only serve one contempt sentence at a time. So a federal judge who jailed Trudeau last year for civil contempt to try to force him to pay something towards a $37.6 million fine released him Wednesday. That will allow Trudeau to begin serving a 10-year…

Mar 19, 2014 8:55 PM CDT

Lawyer suspended for posting video of undercover drug buy in mistaken belief it exonerated client

An Illinois lawyer will be suspended for five months for posting a discovery video of an undercover drug buy in the initial but apparently mistaken belief that it exonerated his client. Lawyer Jesse Raymond Gilsdorf was suspended in an Illinois Supreme Court order issued on March 14. The court agreed…

Mar 19, 2014 4:45 PM CDT

Lawyer is suspended for faking illness to avoid oral argument

An Illinois lawyer will be suspended for 60 days for faking an illness to avoid oral arguments before the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Michael Joseph Finn was suspended by consent in an Illinois Supreme Court order issued on Friday. Finn initially told the court clerk he had…

Mar 19, 2014 3:36 PM CDT

Lawyer convicted of prostitution is suspended; ethics officials say she didn’t disclose job

The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to a three-year suspension for a solo lawyer who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of prostitution and failed to disclose her illegal work history on her bar application. Reema Nicki Bajaj, 28, of Sycamore, Ill., was suspended by consent in an order issued…

Mar 19, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

Infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau gets 10 years in criminal contempt case over diet-book claims

Showing no sympathy for the current situation of a television infomercial pitchman said to have earned—and lost—some $37 million as a result of diet-book sales and other ventures, a federal judge in Chicago on Monday blasted Kevin Trudeau and sentenced him to 10 years in prison for criminal contempt. Described…

Mar 18, 2014 7:00 PM CDT

Convicted killer in fast-food massacre is awarded $415K in suit against jail guard; will he collect?

An Illinois inmate convicted in the 1993 murders of seven workers at a Brown’s Chicken restaurant has been awarded $451,000 in a civil suit against a jail guard. James Degorski is serving a life sentence for the murders. In his suit, he claimed Cook County sheriff’s deputy Thomas Wilson beat…

Mar 10, 2014 1:33 PM CDT

Security guard armed with semi-automatic handgun arrested at Chicago court building

A man wearing a blue uniform and black body armor was taken into custody Tuesday morning at a Chicago building that houses multiple courtrooms after he claimed to be a Chicago police officer and asked a Cook County sheriff’s deputy to help him sign in a semi-automatic handgun he had…

Mar 6, 2014 4:30 PM CST

Thefts of $470M in bitcoins spur lawsuits, calls for regulation; a ‘bitcoin paradox,’ law prof says

Following recently discovered thefts of some $470 million in virtual currency that shut down the world’s largest bitcoin exchange and a Canadian bitcoin bank, hundreds of investors who lost assets are looking to seek redress in class actions. But observers are wondering how it will be possible to solve crimes…

Mar 5, 2014 11:30 PM CST