Illinois Lawyer Blog

Surprise Headline - Federal Appeals Court sides with injured plaintiff in Costco Spilled Smoothie case.

In a rather surprising development, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals recently handed down a decision resurrecting a plaintiff’s negligence case against Costco. I know, from painful personal experience, that federal court judges are not particularly excited to see personal injury cases on their dockets. So any helpful injury cases out of a federal court m… Read More
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Federal Judge tosses airline employees' lawsuit claiming uniforms caused illnesses.

I wrote a post back in November, 2023, about the substantial verdict a California jury awarded to four American Airlines employees for rashes, illnesses and respiratory issues the employees claimed were caused by their American Airlines uniforms. Specifically, the employees claimed that the clothing manufacturer, Twin Hill, used formaldehyde in the uniforms to… Read More
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Big Chicago Law Firms Sitting Out Challenge to Trump's Order blackballing law firm

Steven Strahler had an interesting article in Crains that dug into which Chicago firms were willing to sign onto an amicus brief challenging the Trump administration’s decision to blackball law firms that helped his political opponents. By way of background, Trump recently signed an executive order declaring that Perkins Coie(a large Chicago firm that re… Read More
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Categories: IN THE NEWS

Appellate Court rebuffs same proximate cause argument twice in taco restaurant crash.

Back in August, 2020, Darius King was a customer inside Taqueria El Paraiso – a Waukegan Taco joint – when a car driven by Melanie Sanders crashed through a wall, striking King who suffered serious injuries. King initially sued Sanders and Alberto Leguizamo, the owner of the El Paraiso. King then settled with Sanders and then dismissed Leguizamo. K… Read More
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Trial Judge: criminal attack outside bar not foreseeable. The Illinois Appellate Court: not so fast....

The First Appellate District of Illinois handed down a decision last week speaking to the duty of a bar when a patron becomes unruly, gets ejected and then hurts another patron outside the bar. Defense firms are quick to seek dismissal of these cases arguing that the bar had no reason to anticipate the attack(in legal speak, it was not “foreseeable”… Read More
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Johnson & Johnson intimidation lawsuit dismissed.

Johnson & Johnson[“J&J”] continues to make headlines for all the wrong reasons. J&J has recently taken some multi-million dollar beatdowns in courtrooms across America, as a result of countless lawsuits where it is alleged J&J knowingly marketed talc powder contaminated with asbestos to American consumers for years. And in 2022, J&a… Read More
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Bar pays alcoholic worker in booze. Worker gets drunk, falls, hits head, dies. Appellate Court says no independent cause of action against bar.

The First District Appellate court recently faced a novel question – what liability does a bar face when it provides free alcohol to someone who then falls, hits his head and dies? The case – Schramm v. 3258 Wells Street Restaurant – involved some unusual facts. Michael Schramm[“Michael”] worked as a busser at 3258 S. Wells, also… Read More
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Illinois Homebuyer alleges National Association of Realtors conspiracy resulting in higher home prices

As detailed in Dennis Rodkin’s article in Crain’s this week, a Chicago-area homebuyer just filed a lawsuit against At World Properties, alleging that At World – the largest residential real estate firm in Illinois, has engaged in a longtime conspiracy to inflate home prices and broker commissions. The complaint, filed by James Tuccori, ostens… Read More
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Flight Attendants Secure $1 Million Plus Dollar Verdict for Formaldehyde-tainted uniforms.

In September of 2016, American Airlines came up with yet another uniform change for its flight attendants. Tracey Silver-Charan had been working for American as a flight attendant for 35 plus years and had seen uniform modifications come and go many times over the years. She dutifully got the new uniform and started wearing it, and didn’t give it another… Read More
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A routine motion and the heartbreak beneath.

Judge Thomas Durkin ruled on a routine pleadings motion in Federal Court in Chicago this week. A defendant was moving to dismiss a complaint, asserting the injured party failed to include the necessary allegations to go forward with a complaint. Sometimes however, even dry rulings on routine pleadings motions cannot obscure the heartbreak beneath. On September… Read More
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