Illinois

  • October 07, 2026

    Ill. Widow Sues Over Fatal 'Projectile' Whipped Cream

    Walmart, Sam's Club and an Illinois container company are facing Illinois state wrongful death claims from a widow who claims they sold whipped cream in a defective cannister that exploded after falling from her fridge and contributed to her husband's premature death.

  • October 07, 2026

    JPML Consolidates Nevro, Abbott Spinal Cord Device Suits

    The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has created separate MDLs over purportedly defective spinal cord stimulators manufactured by Nevro LLC and Abbott Laboratories, rejecting the manufacturers' arguments that the cases' plaintiffs do not share enough common factual questions to warrant consolidation.

  • October 07, 2026

    Crypto Founder Indicted Over $9M Crypto Rug Pull

    Cryptocurrency founder Alexander Sisemore has been indicted in Illinois federal court for orchestrating a fraudulent scheme that netted him about $9 million, with prosecutors alleging he concealed tokens he had allocated himself for free and surreptitiously sold them while misleading investors about the project's ownership.

  • October 07, 2026

    BMW Beats X5 Transmission Defect Suit, For Now

    BMW has defeated for now a proposed class action alleging it knew about a transmission component defect causing some of its cars to jerk and shudder but refused to cover repair costs, with a New Jersey federal judge saying Wednesday the allegations are insufficient to infer BMW knew about any defect.

  • October 07, 2026

    States Say DHS Is Tying Grants To Immigration Agenda, Again

    A coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia told a Rhode Island federal court Wednesday that the Trump administration is still unlawfully tying certain grant funding to their assistance with immigration enforcement efforts, in violation of the court's permanent injunction rulings.

  • October 06, 2026

    Kraft Heinz's Global GC To Step Down After Two Years

    The Kraft Heinz Co.'s global general counsel and corporate affairs officer, Angel S. Willis, who has served in her role for two years, plans to leave the company later this month to pursue other opportunities, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

  • October 06, 2026

    Sprout Social Must Face Suit Over Troubled Acquisition

    An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday denied a bid from Sprout Social Inc. to dismiss a proposed investor class action alleging the social media management company missed its financial guidance and struggled to integrate an influencer marketing platform it acquired, finding the suit's challenged statements are actionable and that the claims suggest the defendants knowingly committed fraud. 

  • October 06, 2026

    Tesla Defect Sparked Garage Fire, Insurer Says

    Tesla Inc. has been hit with product liability claims in Illinois state court by an insurer looking to recoup the money it paid a policyholder whose Model X was deemed a total loss after an electrical defect caused the vehicle to catch file while charging.

  • October 06, 2026

    Approach The Bench: Judge Panter On Mediating Vs. Judging

    When attorneys come before retired Judge Michael Panter, a former circuit court judge in Cook County, Illinois, they sometimes forget that he is not there to decide their cases, but to resolve them.

  • October 06, 2026

    7th Circ. Told Boeing Investors Fail 'Comcast' Cert. Test

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is among those backing Boeing's call to the Seventh Circuit to overturn class certification in a case accusing the aerospace firm of misleading investors about the safety of its 737 Max fleet, arguing that the certification is dependent on a damages model that the U.S. Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit have rejected.

  • October 06, 2026

    GM Faces Class Claims Over SUV Brake Systems

    Certain 2025 Chevrolet, GMC and Buick vehicles have defective master brake cylinder assemblies that can fail suddenly, causing severe safety hazards, according to a proposed class action brought against General Motors LLC in Pennsylvania federal court Tuesday.

  • October 06, 2026

    Chicago Woman Sues Over Shooting By Border Patrol Agent

    A Chicago woman who was shot five times by a U.S. Border Patrol agent during an immigration enforcement operation last year sued the federal government Monday, alleging that the agent deliberately struck her car and shot her without justification while she was alerting her neighbors to the officers' presence.

  • October 06, 2026

    Dentists Can't Avoid Delta Dental MDL

    The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation held that dentists pursuing five new lawsuits against Delta Dental and its network cannot avoid the Illinois federal court MDL accusing the insurance giant of anticompetitively carving up markets and driving down reimbursements.

  • October 06, 2026

    7th Circ. Judge Hints Precedent Dooms Worker's Vax Fight

    A Seventh Circuit judge appeared disinclined Tuesday to restart a religious discrimination suit brought by a hospital pharmacy technician who was fired for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, emphasizing that the same employer's recent win in a similar appeal is "binding authority."

  • October 05, 2026

    PVC Pipe Price-Fixing Settlements Get Final OKs

    An Illinois federal judge has given her final blessing to more than $200 million in settlements consumers have struck in their antitrust suit accusing major polyvinyl chloride pipe producers of participating in an illegal price-fixing conspiracy, teeing the rest of the case up for the evidence-gathering phase of litigation.

  • October 05, 2026

    Verogen Genealogy Website Can't Escape DNA Privacy Suit

    A California federal judge has preserved a proposed class action against the owner-operator of a genetic genealogy website, finding that the plaintiffs sufficiently showed that a technical loophole wrongly let law enforcement circumvent user opt-out privacy settings.

  • October 05, 2026

    Illinois' Curbs On Kalshi Sports Contracts Blocked For Now

    An Illinois federal judge temporarily blocked the state from enforcing its gambling license requirements against Kalshi and Coinbase on Friday, saying that the companies' core sports betting contracts are likely federally regulated swaps.

  • October 05, 2026

    McDonald's Accused Of Using AI To Hike Menu Prices

    A potential class action filed in Illinois federal court Friday accuses McDonald's of flouting federal and state antitrust laws by using artificial intelligence to coordinate prices among independently owned restaurants, causing customers to overpay and average menu prices to rise by roughly 40% in a five-year period.

  • October 05, 2026

    7th Circ. Rejects Ex-Club Prez's Claim Of Fake Canceled Debt

    The Seventh Circuit upheld the dismissal of a former country club president's claim that the club filed a fraudulent information return with the IRS reporting a canceled debt, saying he failed to make a case for overturning precedent that limited taxpayers' ability to seek damages for fraudulent return filings.

  • October 05, 2026

    Groups Sue For Cook County, Ill., Judge Assignment Records

    Two public interest groups and a legal news outlet sued the chief judge of Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois, the circuit clerk and the state's court administration director, alleging they withheld records showing when judges were authorized to handle other judges' cases, potentially concealing unauthorized rulings.

  • October 05, 2026

    High Court Won't Hear Chicago Workers' Vaccine Appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court again refused Monday to weigh in on a challenge to COVID-19 vaccine and testing requirements for Chicago city workers, declining to take up the case after the Seventh Circuit refused to revive their lawsuit in December.

  • October 05, 2026

    High Court Won't Review United Challenge To Vax Bias Class

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review class certification in a religious bias lawsuit over United Airlines' COVID-19 vaccine mandate, leaving in place a Fifth Circuit ruling that found no issue with the trial court's decision.

  • October 02, 2026

    Costco 'Health Washing' Electrolyte Drink Mix, Customer Says

    Costco has been accused in Washington federal court of illegally "health-washing" its variety pack of Kirkland brand electrolyte drink mix by labeling the product as though it's sugar-free despite containing an ingredient federal and state labeling standards consider a sugar.

  • October 02, 2026

    Live Nation Fights States' Latest Bid For Insight Into DOJ Deal

    Live Nation has fired back against the latest request in New York federal court by some state attorneys general seeking material related to Live Nation's midtrial antitrust settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, arguing the states are seeking burdensome discovery, including communications between third parties and outside counsel.

  • October 02, 2026

    Dunkin' Sued Over Allulose In 'Zero Sugar' Energy Drinks

    The owner of Dunkin' faces a proposed class action claiming its "zero-sugar" energy drink is deceptively marketed and actually contains "a rare sugar," according to a complaint filed in Massachusetts federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • The Deep Split Over Mandatory Detention, And What's Next

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    The government’s mandatory detention policy for noncitizens who entered the U.S. without inspection has led to a spate of decisions this year, with nine circuits rejecting the government's reading of the Immigration and Nationality Act against two that have accepted it, making the issue ripe for U.S. Supreme Court review, says attorney Kemal Hepsen.

  • Attorneys Using AI May Have Ethical Duty To Redact Docs

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    The trajectory of legal ethics guidance in recent years strongly suggests that as redaction technology becomes more accessible, the failure to use it when uploading highly confidential materials into artificial intelligence tools will become increasingly difficult to defend as reasonable, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.

  • Retailers Must Navigate State Innocent-Seller Law Patchwork

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    States' innocent-seller statutes can shield nonmanufacturing retailers from product liability claims to varying degrees, and by building the evidentiary record strategically throughout discovery, companies can improve their chances of obtaining summary judgment — but it is essential to stay abreast of the rapidly evolving policy environment, say attorneys at Chamberlain Hrdlicka.

  • State AI Safety Laws Raise New Liabilities For Healthcare Cos.

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    Healthcare and life science companies using third-party artificial intelligence tools should pay particular attention to the changing state-level legal landscape, where the rollout of multiple AI safety laws is introducing both new compliance obligations and potential consumer protection liabilities, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Series

    Juggling And Unicycling Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Because I juggle (sometimes with fire) and ride the unicycle, friends and family used to joke that I should join the circus, but I pursued the practice of law instead and learned that my hobbies benefit my profession in several important ways, says Morgan Eddy at Smith Currie.

  • AI Note-Taking Suits May Fill Gap In Privacy Law Structure

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    A recent class action against Granola joins other pending lawsuits against AI note-taking providers, highlighting the legal uncertainty surrounding these tools, but there are practical steps companies using "invisible" AI services can take to mitigate risk, including conducting inventories and reviewing access permissions, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Home Equity Products Face Expanding Regulatory Patchwork

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    Home equity investment providers, which have recently come under scrutiny from regulators and industry groups, face meaningful burdens as the U.S. Senate and a growing number of states take divergent regulatory approaches, with no uniform standard likely anytime soon, say attorneys at Bradley.

  • Series

    Ballet Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of learning and performing ballet taught me that success — whether in dance or practicing law — comes only through hours of thorough preparation, boundless energy and relentless effort, says Sharon Katz-Pearlman at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Illinois BNPL Law Casts Wide Net Over Loan Providers

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    A new Illinois law's broad definition of buy now, pay later providers under its new dedicated licensing and supervisory regime notably imposes conduct standards similar to other consumer credit regimes and aggressively looks through a wide range of business activities and arrangements, say attorneys at Ashurst Perkins.

  • How Economic Analysis Informs Consumer Lending Disputes

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    A new wave of consumer lending class actions makes clear that economic analysis of control, pricing, repayment risk and borrower behavior will be central to litigation involving fintech platforms, earned wage access products and online lending models as regulatory enforcement recedes, say economists at The Brattle Group.

  • Insurer Spoliation Ruling Flags Continuing Duty To Preserve

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    An Illinois federal court’s recent decision to impose spoliation sanctions on the insurer in H.D. Smith v. Cincinnati Insurance provides practical guidance for navigating long-tail coverage litigation, underscoring the importance of evaluating preservation obligations in light of the full life cycle of a dispute, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Fed. Circ. In July: Meeting The Enablement Requirement

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    The Federal Circuit's decision in Wyeth v. AstraZeneca last month exemplifies when a generalized conception of an invention is insufficient to enable the full scope of asserted patent infringement claims, and may lead to more enablement challenges, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • 10 Ways To Avoid Privacy Risks Revealed In AI Notetaker Suits

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    Litigation claiming Otter.ai trained its AI-powered transcription tool on user conversations and a recent complaint alleging Granola’s notetaking bot joined video calls unbeknownst to participants show companies should assess these technologies as communications-capture tools with privacy and wiretap risks, says Jennifer Ruehr at Hintze Law.

  • Series

    Taekwondo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Taekwondo has taught me to recognize when to fight for a position and when to focus on finding a solution, and that the best outcomes are often achieved by solving problems — all of which has improved my work as a bankruptcy lawyer, mediator and Subchapter V trustee, says Amy Denton Mayer at Berger Singerman.

  • What To Know As Legal Duty To Consider AI Takes Shape

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    While the U.K. Jurisdiction Taskforce’s recent statement on liability for artificial intelligence harms is nonbinding for both U.K. and U.S. lawyers, it highlights the importance of being able to distinguish between the availability of a tool and a professional obligation to use it, say Jonny Frank and Michael Costa at StoneTurn.

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