Illinois

  • October 16, 2025

    States Battle Trump Admin To Recover Solar Program Funds

    Attorneys general from across the country are suing the Trump administration for allegedly violating the Constitution and federal law by canceling a $7 billion program providing solar equipment to low-income households.

  • October 16, 2025

    Trump Taps V&E's Swett As New FERC Chair

    President Donald Trump will appoint Vinson & Elkins LLP energy regulatory counsel Laura Swett as chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the White House confirmed to Law360 Thursday.

  • October 16, 2025

    Tech Co. Gets Ex-Employee's Bias Suit Shipped To Texas

    An information technology services company must face a Black former employee's lawsuit claiming she was fired for complaining about a supervisor's racist remarks, an Illinois federal judge ruled, but said the case should be sent to Texas based on the worker's employment agreement.

  • October 16, 2025

    Ill. Judge Tosses Law Firm's $36M Pandemic Loan Fraud Suit

    An Illinois federal judge dismissed a Michigan law firm's $36 million whistleblower suit against dozens of automotive dealerships, ruling that the information underpinning its claims of pandemic loan fraud was already publicly available.

  • October 15, 2025

    $60M Deal Gets Final OK Over Adviser's Role In Ponzi Scheme

    An Illinois state judge on Wednesday gave the final nod to a settlement deal that includes a $60 million judgment, ending investors' negligence claims against their investment adviser, though claims remain ongoing against a movie producer who allegedly misused their investment funds.

  • October 15, 2025

    Proposed Bill Could Stall NFL Bears' Suburban Stadium Plan

    A member of the Illinois General Assembly has introduced a bill that could delay the Chicago Bears' efforts to build a stadium in the suburbs by requiring a 30-day window to review any proposed state or local agreements on new or renovated pro sports stadiums.

  • October 15, 2025

    States Want To Keep Eye On $14B HPE-Juniper Deal Review

    The Justice Department is in the middle of trying to settle its challenge to Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks, but a dozen states are now trying to get involved and have asked a California federal judge to allow them to intervene in the litigation.

  • October 15, 2025

    Munchkin Wants $3.9M Sippy Cup Verdict Boosted To $8.2M

    Munchkin Inc. has asked an Illinois federal court to award it almost $8.2 million in damages after a jury last month said baby product maker TOMY International owes it $3.9 million for infringing a pair of patents on a spill-proof cup.

  • October 15, 2025

    Bankruptcy Can't End Caterpillar Privacy Suit, Ex-Worker Says

    A former Caterpillar employee urged an Illinois federal judge on Tuesday not to let his bankruptcy spell doom for his lawsuit claiming the machinery manufacturer illegally collects applicants' family medical histories, arguing he properly used a 'wildcard exemption' to shield his assets from creditors.

  • October 15, 2025

    Chief Judge Bars Civil Arrests In Cook County Courts

    Cook County's top judge issued an order Wednesday prohibiting the warrantless civil arrest of individuals attending court proceedings in Chicago-area state courthouses, as the federal government has ramped up immigration enforcement and arrests in the area.

  • October 15, 2025

    States Seek To Revive FEMA's Disaster-Mitigation Funding

    A group of 22 states and the District of Columbia urged a Massachusetts federal court Wednesday to block the Trump administration's termination of a disaster mitigation program under the Federal Emergency Management Agency, arguing such authority lies with Congress.

  • October 15, 2025

    Loan Originator Gets 1½ Years For $10M Mortgage Fraud

    An Illinois federal judge sentenced a loan originator to 1½ years in prison Wednesday for his role in a lengthy and complex mortgage fraud scheme that involved conning elderly victims out of an estimated $10 million in home equity.

  • October 14, 2025

    Mass. Judge Strikes Down Pentagon's Research Rate Cap

    A Massachusetts federal judge ruled that the U.S. Department of Defense unlawfully capped universities' indirect research cost reimbursements at 15%, calling the move a sudden break from six decades of agency practice that lacks justification and ignores federal regulations. 

  • October 14, 2025

    Ill. Jury Awards Record $104M For Construction Zone Crash

    A Chicago-area jury has awarded $104.6 million to a couple who were riding in a limo when it crashed due to the allegedly negligent design of a highway construction zone, handing up the largest road construction verdict in Illinois history, according to plaintiffs' counsel.

  • October 14, 2025

    State Farm Must Submit Underwriting Data, Ill. Regulator Says

    Illinois' director of insurance accused State Farm of failing to turn over nationwide data at a zip-code level relating to its homeowners insurance business, telling a state court that the insurance giant has relied on two "legally baseless objections" to avoid its data-sharing obligations.

  • October 14, 2025

    Hytera 'Can't Be Trusted,' Motorola Says In Push For Payment

    Motorola Solutions argued Tuesday that Chinese rival Hytera Communications Corp. should pay the full $371.7 million it still owes on a 2020 judgment and be permanently blocked from selling any mobile two-way radios using stolen source code so their long-running trade theft dispute in Illinois federal court can be brought to a just close.

  • October 14, 2025

    United Airlines Workers Ask Justices To Revive Vax Battle

    United Airlines workers urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their push to reinstate a suit over the company's COVID-19 vaccination mandate, arguing the justices should clarify whether federal law safeguards an employee's right to refuse drugs approved during national emergencies.

  • October 14, 2025

    Judge Slams Feds' 'Ham-Handed' Bid To Skirt DHS Aid Order

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies did "precisely" what a Rhode Island federal court forbade when they recently told states that they must agree to help with immigration enforcement in order to receive disaster and security funding, a judge ruled Tuesday.

  • October 14, 2025

    Ex-Illinois Privacy Chief Joins BakerHostetler In Chicago

    BakerHostetler has hired the former chief privacy officer in the data security unit of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General as a digital assets and data management partner in Chicago, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • October 14, 2025

    Madigan Ally, Ex-ComEd CEO Can't Delay Prison For Appeal

    An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday rejected requests by the former CEO of Exelon subsidiary Commonwealth Edison and a former lobbyist to remain out of prison while they appeal their convictions for engaging in a scheme to illegally influence ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, saying what's left on appeal are not substantial questions and they aren't likely to overturn their guilty verdicts.

  • October 10, 2025

    Real Estate Recap: Data Diligence, REIT Reinvention, Q3 Deals

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including attorney tips for data center approvals, one Big Law partner's perspective on the reinvention of real estate investment trusts, and the third quarter's 10 largest global real estate mergers and acquisitions.

  • October 10, 2025

    Ill. AG, Retailers Will Split Swipe-Fee Law's Defense At Hearing

    A Chicago federal judge has agreed to allow a coalition of merchant groups to take part in a key hearing later this month that could decide a banking industry legal challenge to the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, a law banning swipe fees on tax and tip payments.

  • October 10, 2025

    DOJ Can't Pause Review Of UnitedHealth Deal Amid Shutdown

    A Maryland federal judge rejected the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to stay its recently settled case with UnitedHealth over the company's merger with Amedisys because of the government shutdown and lapse in appropriations, ruling that a stay would impede the DOJ's ability to evaluate the public interest in the settlement.

  • October 10, 2025

    Northwestern Urges Final Toss Of Ex-Coach's Defamation Suit

    Northwestern University urged an Illinois state court to permanently toss a former assistant football coach's defamation lawsuit, arguing that the amended complaint, "like the original," is based on "statements that were not about him, were not false, and caused him no harm."

  • October 10, 2025

    Feds Charge Ex-Chicago-Area School Chief In Kickback Plot

    A former Chicago-area superintendent now working in Georgia has been indicted in Illinois for an alleged kickback scheme in which prosecutors say he awarded vendor contracts to businesses he and his friends created in exchange for a cut of their false invoices.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Self-Care

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    Law schools don’t teach the mental, physical and emotional health maintenance tools necessary to deal with the profession's many demands, but practicing self-care is an important key to success that can help to improve focus, manage stress and reduce burnout, says Rachel Leonard​​​​​​​ at MG+M.

  • Birthright Opinions Reveal Views On Rule 23(b)(2) Relief

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    The justices' multiple opinions in the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 27 decision in the birthright citizenship case, Trump v. CASA, shed light on whether Rule 23(b)(2) could fill the void created by the court's decision to restrict nationwide injunctions, says Benjamin Johns at Shub Johns.

  • ABA Opinion Makes It A Bit Easier To Drop A 'Hot Potato'

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    The American Bar Association's recent ethics opinion clarifies when attorneys may terminate clients without good cause, though courts may still disqualify a lawyer who drops a client like a hot potato, so sending a closeout letter is always a best practice, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Latest Influencer Marketing Class Actions Pinpoint 5 Themes

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    Several recent deceptive marketing class actions against both brands and influencers attempt to transform arguably routine business practices into a new focus area for consumer complaints, suggesting a coordinated approach to test what could become an increasingly popular area of litigation, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Though participating in opera and the world of professional baseball often pulls me away from the office, my avocations improve my legal career by helping me perform under scrutiny, prioritize team success, and maintain joy and perspective at work, says Adam Unger at Herrick Feinstein.

  • 8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

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    Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

  • 3 Cautionary Tales For Cos. Using Facial Recognition Tech

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    Whether a business intends to develop its own facial recognition applications or contract with another company to use such services, three recent case studies should be kept in mind to help lower the risk of litigation or regulatory enforcement, says Adam Nyenhuis at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients

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    Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.

  • How State AG Consumer Finance Enforcement Is Expanding

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    As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau becomes less active, state attorneys general are increasingly shaping the enforcement landscape for consumer financial services — and several areas of focus have recently emerged, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • What Businesses Need To Know To Avoid VPPA Class Actions

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    Divergent rulings by the Second, Sixth and Seventh Circuits about the scope of the Video Privacy Protection Act have highlighted the difficulty of applying a statute conceived to regulate the now-obsolete brick-and-mortar video store sector in today's internet economy, say attorneys at DTO Law.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From US Rep. To Boutique Firm

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    My transition from serving as a member of Congress to becoming a partner at a boutique firm has been remarkably smooth, in part because I never stopped exercising my legal muscles, maintained relationships with my former colleagues and set the right tone at the outset, says Mondaire Jones at Friedman Kaplan.

  • Opinion

    Senate's 41% Litigation Finance Tax Would Hurt Legal System

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    The Senate’s latest version of the Big Beautiful Bill Act would impose a 41% tax on the litigation finance industry, but the tax is totally disconnected from the concerns it purports to address, and it would set the country back to a time when small plaintiffs had little recourse against big defendants, says Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law.

  • Series

    Performing As A Clown Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    To say that being a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has changed my legal career would truly be an understatement — by creating an opening to converse on a unique topic, it has allowed me to connect with clients, counsel and even judges on a deeper level, says Charles Tatelbaum at Tripp Scott.

  • Focusing On Fluoride: From FDA To Class Action

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    A class action filed two days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans to remove ingestible fluoride prescription drug products for children from the market may be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the connection between government pronouncements on safety and their immediate use as evidence in lawsuits, says Rachel Turow at Skadden.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Rejecting Biz Dev Myths

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    Law schools don’t spend sufficient time dispelling certain myths that prevent young lawyers from exploring new business opportunities, but by dismissing these misguided beliefs, even an introverted first-year associate with a small network of contacts can find long-term success, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

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