A trial court may have personal jurisdiction over a defendant outside Illinois, but only if it can determine that the defendant’s alleged tort was motivated for personal reasons, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled. Femal v. Square D Company, No. 1-07-1990 (Ill. 1st Jan. 29, 2009). The…
As Illinois Internet trademark infringement attorneys, we have kept track of the series of lawsuits filed against Google for selling advertisements using trademarked names and phrases. So we were not surprised to see an article in BusinessWeek July 13 announcing that Rosetta Stone, a maker of language-learning software, has…
In a case of first impression, the Illinois First District Court of Appeal has ruled that copy shop Kinko’s may not be held liable under the Illinois Notary Public Act for misconduct by a notary it employed, but may be held liable for common-law negligence. In Vancura v. Katris,…
A trial court was correct to find a breach of fiduciary duty in a real estate partnership, the First District Court of Appeal ruled March 27. In 1515 North Wells LP v. 1513 North Wells LLC, No. 1-07-1881 (Ill. 1st. Dist. March 27, 2009), the appeals court also upheld…
In a Chicago legal malpractice lawsuit, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled that the defendant is not barred from certain defenses because the plaintiff improperly joined the malpractice claim with its underlying action. Preferred Personnel Services, Inc. v. Meltzer, Purtill & Stelle, LLP, No. 1-08-0389 (Ill. 1st.…
In a partnership dispute and breach of fiduciary duty claim, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled that an attorney may sue his former firm, but not his former partners. In Kehoe v. Harrold, Wildman, Allen & Dixon, No. 1-07-0435 (Ill. 1st Dec. 23, 2008), Robert Kehoe, a…
A client list and information on clients’ computer networks do not qualify as trade secrets under the Illinois Trade Secrets Act, the Fifth District Court of Appeal decided April 13 in a business trade secrets lawsuit. In System Development Services v. Haarman, No. 04-CH-30 (Ill. 5th 2009), System Development…
DiTommaso Lubin’s Illinois breach of contract litigation attorneys were pleased to see a split Illinois Third District Court of Appeal decision clarifying the circumstances under which a post-employment restrictive covenant is valid. The decision came in Brown & Brown v. Patrick Mudron, No. 03-CH-1363 (Ill. 3rd March 11, 2008),…
In a case based on the federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, the Seventh Circuit has ruled that a victim of a bait-and-switch scheme for title insurance may sue his lender. Doss v. Clearwater Title Co., No. 07-2400 (7th Cir.…
The Federal Reserve Board has prepared an excellent summary of consumer rights available under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) in an online handbook on the FDCPA. You can view the handbook by clicking here. Our consumer rights private law firm handles individual and class action unfair debt…