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Saw an interesting online article from ABC News about some legal unpleasantness at Deutsche Bank. Kelly Voelker, pictured above, had been a stellar VP in Deutsche Securities for 14 years. In 2011, Voelker filed a sex discrimination lawsuit claiming that Deutsche had a “hostile and degrading” atmosphere toward women and that male co-workers allegedl… Read More

The internet is abuzz with the story of Bradley Birkenfeld. Mr. Birkenfeld is a former employee of UBS Bank. Birkenfeld recently got out of jail after confessing that while an employee of UBS, he helped American clients avoid paying taxes to the IRS. More specifically, he pled guilty to assising one client conceal $200 million in assets and avoid over $7 milli… Read More

Saw on the internet today that Joe Francis[who gave the world “Girls Gone Wild”] took a beating in a California courtroom today. Francis had allegedly made statements that Steve Wynn, the creator of some of the most luxurious resorts in Las Vegas, had threatened to kill Francis in relation to a $2 million dollar gambling debt Francis ran up at a Wy… Read More

The Illinois Appellate Court recently handed down an interesting decision setting forth what is expected of a plaintiff seeking to assert a claim under The Illinois Whistleblower Act[“the Act”]. In Sardiga v. The Northern Trust Company, Darren Sardiga was terminated from his Vice President position with Northern Trust on January 3, 2005 – les… Read More

Some interesting news in the Winter issue of Litigation, the quarterly publication from the American Bar Association Section of Litigation. Seems like social media has indeed entered the courtroom. According to research done by Reuters Legal, going back to 2008, at least 45 verdicts have been challenged due to jurors twittering, blogging or using the internet.… Read More

On Wednesday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission[CPSC] unanimously outlawed drop-side cribs, after dozens of infant deaths and massive recalls. The manufacture, sale or resale of cribs that have a side rail that moves up and down are now banned. The new standard, calling for cribs to have fixed sides becomes effective in June, 2011. Hotels and child care c… Read More

The Illinois State Bar Association[ISBA], the largest voluntary association of lawyers in Illinois, is condemning some radio ads concocted by JUSTPAC, the political action committee of the Illinois Civil Justice League. The ads, which attack Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride, were described as “inappropriate” and the ISBA said they dis… Read More

Great piece today by Greg Hinz in Crain’s Chicago Business about the efforts by the Illinois Civil Justice League[ICJL] to unseat Illinois Supreme Court Judge Thomas Kilbride. [pictured above]. The ICJL, through its political action committe JUSTPAC has issued a couple of vicious smears on Kilbride. A recent JUSTPAC radio ad featured actors, playing crim… Read More