The Seventh Circuit in a recently issued decision held that an employer cannot invoke an arbitration provision to evade a shareholder class-action lawsuit seeking broad relief under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), a federal law aimed at protecting participants in private employer retirement plans. In its decision, the…
Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
When Flooding and Other Problems Occur, Developer and Residents Point Fingers
Back in September the resident-run condo board of 432 Park Avenue in Manhattan sued the developer of the building for $125 million to repair 1,500 alleged defects to the luxury condo building. According to the lawsuit, multiple residents experienced flooding in their units and noise as a result of alleged…
Illinois Supreme Court says State Farm, Other Insurers Can’t cut Claims Paid to Homeowners by Depreciating Labor
The Illinois Supreme Court recently issued its decision in a putative class-action lawsuit concerning the practice of State Farm of depreciating the cost of labor when paying out claims to holders of homeowner policies. In a 6-0 decision, the Illinois Supreme Court held that insurers may not depreciate labor costs…
Is There a Statute of Limitations on Reclaiming Stolen Artwork?
The Nazis viewed modern art as “degenerate” and therefore confiscated whatever pieces of art they found to be “degenerate,” but that didn’t stop them from profiting off those pieces of art. While the Nazi party refused to display artwork it did not approve of in German museums, they saw nothing…
Apple vs the NSO Group: Another Reason to Check Your Terms and Conditions
Apple recently sued the NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance company that allegedly uses Apple products to spy on targets for its government clients. While the NSO Group has tried to portray itself as a company that helps bring criminals to justice and save lives, a closer look at their clients…
Patrick Austermuehle of DiTommaso Lubin is Advocating for Consumer Rights on Behalf of Two Important Consumer Rights Organizations in the Illinois Appellate Court
Patrick Austermuehle of our firm filed an Amicus Brief on behalf of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and the National Association of Consumer Advocates on a important access to justice issue for consumers who have been defrauded including consumers who have been scammed by used car dealers. Who Are ITLA…
When the First Amendment Is at Stake
Our founding fathers may not have guaranteed the right to free speech in the first draft of the U.S. Constitution, but it did make it into the very first amendment to the document. A series of Supreme Court rulings during the Civil Rights movement extended the right to free speech,…
Illinois Appellate Court Affirms 5-Year Statute of Limitations Period for Certain BIPA Claims
Recently, the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District issued a significant decision on the question of which statute of limitations govern claims for violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”). In its opinion, the Court ruled that claims for unlawful profiting from or disclosure of biometric data,…
Federal Judge Denies Motion to Compel Apple to Provide Personal Information in Facial Recognition Suit
In a putative class-action lawsuit filed against Apple concerning alleged violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), the parties disputed the scope of discovery to which the plaintiffs were entitled. The plaintiffs sought to compel Apple to produce certain identifying information for Illinois residents with Apple devices containing…
Federal Appeals Court Revives Nunes’s Defamation Lawsuit Finding Reporter’s Retweet of Article Could Constitute Actual Malice
A federal appeals court has revived a portion of Representative Devin Nunes’s defamation lawsuit that was dismissed last year finding that the defendant’s tweeting a link to the allegedly defamatory article after the lawsuit was filed could satisfy the actual malice requirement. In September 2018, Esquire magazine published an article…