Ex-Chicago Mayor Dodges Atty's Lawsuit Over Zoom Tirade

By Lauren Berg

An Illinois judge tossed a lawsuit brought by a former in-house attorney for the Chicago Park District accusing former Mayor Lori Lightfoot of unleashing a profane tirade laced with crude, insulting and defamatory comments during a Zoom call.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ill. Made 'Big Concession' In 3M PFAS Suit, 7th Circ. Judge Says

By Celeste Bott

A Seventh Circuit judge observed Thursday that the state of Illinois made a "big concession" in its suit accusing 3M of polluting local waters with toxic "forever chemicals" when the state said 3M could avoid liability if Illinois can't prove contamination came exclusively from a particular facility.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Wine Distribution Giants Must Face Provi's Antitrust Suit

By Lauraann Wood

The nation's two largest wine and distilled spirits distributors must face unfair competition claims from an online marketplace accusing them of illegally trying to stifle competition and shut it out of the market, an Illinois federal judge determined Thursday.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Chicago Kiosk Salesman Gets 1 Year For Filing False Returns

By Anna Scott Farrell

An electronic-sweepstakes kiosk salesman from Chicago was sentenced to a year in prison for filing false tax returns that included more than $500,000 in inflated business expenses, according to Illinois federal court documents.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Travelers Loses Dismissal Bid In BIPA Coverage Dispute

By Jennifer Mandato

A New York federal judge declined to trim a software company's lawsuit seeking coverage from a Travelers unit for underlying claims that the company violated the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act, finding the company's declaratory relief and bad faith claims were not duplicative of a breach of contract claim.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Target's Surveillance System Violates BIPA, Shoppers Say

By Gina Kim

Target faces a proposed class action in Illinois federal court filed Thursday accusing it of gathering shoppers' biometric data through surveillance systems and other sophisticated technology in its campaign to prevent organized retail theft, while failing to advise it is doing so or obtaining their permission.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Divided FTC Won't Delay Kroger-Albertsons In-House Case

By Bryan Koenig

The Federal Trade Commission's three Democrats refused Wednesday to delay the agency in-house challenge to Kroger's $24.6 billion purchase of Albertsons, blaming the grocery giants for their scheduling challenges and drawing a sharp dissent from the FTC's two Republicans.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Veradigm Execs Sued Over Company's Nasdaq Delisting

By Katryna Perera

Current and former members of healthcare technology company Veradigm Inc.'s top brass were sued in Illinois federal court by shareholders alleging that the company suffered stock drops following a string of financial reporting blunders starting in 2021, which caused it to overstate roughly $40 million in revenue before facing a delisting notice from Nasdaq.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Christian Teacher Appeals Pronoun Case To 7th Circ.

By Amanda Ottaway

An evangelical teacher who lost his job after he objected to using gender-affirming names and pronouns for his transgender students is asking the Seventh Circuit to take another look at his religious bias case.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Perspectives

Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Orrick Leads List Of Top Law Firms For Women, Diversity

By Aebra Coe

Talent strategies firm Seramount released its latest list of the 45 best law firms for women and diversity this week, with the 2024 cohort of winners showing strides over previous years in representation, advancement and benefits for lawyers who are women or from other underrepresented groups.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Houston Judge's Vast Display Reflects 25 Years On Bench

By Catherine Marfin

Along the hallways leading to U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison's Houston courtroom hang hundreds of notes, photos, thank-you cards and other correspondence, serving as a kind of interactive scrapbook of Judge Ellison's 25 years on the bench.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

In Rarity, 1 Party's Judges Gain 100% Control Of Circuit Bench

By Jeff Overley

At the First Circuit, the judges' robes are all black, but the judges are all blue. It's a new and unusual instance of one political party's judicial picks controlling each active seat on a federal appeals court, and the Democratic dominance could prove magnetic for ideologically charged litigation.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Orrick's $8M Deal To End Data Breach Claims Nears Prelim OK

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge indicated Friday that she'll preliminarily approve Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's $8 million deal to end putative class claims over a 2023 data breach that purportedly exposed personal information for 638,000 individuals, but said the "very broad" scope of the settlement's release "raised my eyebrows."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Smith Gambrell Faces Slimmed Data Breach Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A California federal judge has trimmed the claims a proposed class of data breach victims brought against international law firm Smith Gambrell & Russell LLP, leaving the firm to face claims of negligence, invasion of privacy and violation of the California Unfair Competition Law.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Blockbuster Summer: 10 Big Issues Justices Still Must Decide

By Katie Buehler

As the calendar flips over to June, the U.S. Supreme Court still has heaps of cases to decide on issues ranging from trademark registration rules to judicial deference and presidential immunity. Here, Law360 looks at 10 of the most important topics the court has yet to decide.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Del. Chancellor Questions 'Rush' To Amend Corporation Law

By Jeff Montgomery

Weeks before the Delaware State Bar Association sent state lawmakers a draft bill explicitly allowing corporations to broadly cede some governance rights to chosen stockholders, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of Delaware Chancery Court made an unprecedented, direct appeal to think twice.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump Condemns NY Trial As Verdict Echoes In DC

By Rachel Scharf

A day after his conviction on 34 felony counts, former president Donald Trump on Friday attacked the Manhattan jury's verdict in a lengthy speech that mischaracterized multiple elements of the case as the decision reverberated through Washington, D.C.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump's New York Prosecutors Called To House Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the House Judiciary Committee and its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, demanded on Friday that Manhattan prosecutors appear for a hearing on June 13 on the prosecution of former President Donald Trump, who was convicted on Thursday of 34 felonies.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Disbarring Giuliani Would 'Protect The Public,' DC Panel Says

By Alison Knezevich

A Washington, D.C., attorney ethics panel agreed Friday that Rudy Giuliani's role in former President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn Pennsylvania's presidential election in 2020 amounted to misconduct "of the utmost seriousness," and that disbarring him would "protect the public, the courts, and the integrity of the legal profession."

Report attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Texas Judge Opts Not To Recuse And Tosses Chamber Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A Texas federal judge has thrown out the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's suit seeking to block the Federal Trade Commission from implementing a ban on noncompete clauses because a different plaintiff was first to file, adding he declined to recuse himself because no companies in his stock portfolio were parties in the case.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Illinois Strengthens Atty Ethics Rules For Harassment, Bias

By Celeste Bott

The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that the state's professional conduct rules for attorneys have been amended to deem the act of engaging in harassment or discrimination as professional misconduct, and not just in the event a court or administrative agency finds that a lawyer violated a law prohibiting such actions.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Looks To End A Legacy Of Bias In Sex Assault Cases

By Hannah Albarazi

The U.S. Department of Justice says that legal fallacies and misogynistic stereotypes often lead prosecutors to decline to charge alleged perpetrators of sexual violence, but new guidance from the department is pushing prosecutors to give more credence to victims and see that their claims are more thoroughly investigated.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Brewer Attorneys & Counselors, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and attorneys Eugene Volokh and Alan Morrison lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the National Rifle Association can proceed with certain claims in the gun rights group's lawsuit against a former New York state official.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

The Top In-House Hires Of May

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the last full month of spring included high-profile appointments at Southwest, Hormel and UnitedHealth. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from May.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Off The Bench: NCAA Transfers Freed, Atty Plays Cards Right

By David Steele

In this week's Off the Bench, the NCAA agrees to more historic rule changes while experts examine its post-House settlement future, and a patent lawyer looks back at his transformation into a poker champion.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »