In Federal Court, Supplementary Proceedings Under 735 ILCS 5/2-1402(c)(6) Require An Independent Jurisdictional Basis

Even after a final money judgment is awarded, judgment debtors are not always willing or able to satisfy it.  Sometimes supplementary proceedings are required to obtain satisfaction of the judgment.  These supplementary proceedings can take the form of disputes with third-parties that may owe money to the judgment debtor (insurance companies, for example) and can […]

Chicago Daily Law Bulletin Quotes Tabet on Victory in Internet Sales Tax False Claims Act Case

On October 20, 2016, TDR partner Caesar Tabet was quoted by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin in an article about the Illinois Appellate Court opinion in People ex. rel. Beeler, Schad and Diamond, P.C. v. Relax the Back Corp., 2016 IL App (1st) 151580.  The Appellate Court’s opinion exonerated TDR’s client of all liability under […]

Appellate Court Rules in Favor of TDR Client in False Claims Act Suit Directed to Internet Taxation

On October 17, 2016, the Illinois Appellate Court issued an opinion that exonerated TDR’s client of all liability in connection with allegations that TDR’s client violated the Illinois False Claims Act by not collecting sales tax on Internet and mail-order catalog sales.  The lawsuit was one of hundreds filed by an Illinois law firm against […]

TDR Prevails on Key Patent Claims in Inter Partes Review Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board

TDR partners Meredith Martin Addy and Daniel Konieczny successfully defended key patent claims against an invalidity challenge in an inter partes review proceeding concerning motion tracking technology with applications to the helmet mounted displays used in military aircraft.  On October 14, 2016, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark […]

Circumstantial Evidence Insufficient to Establish Causation in Premises Liability Claim

The Illinois appellate court was recently presented with an interesting fact pattern that allowed it to consider the boundary between permissible inferences drawn from circumstantial evidence and impermissible speculation.  In Berke v. Manilow, 2016 IL App (1st) 150397, the appellate court held that the defendant in a premises liability claim was entitled to summary judgment […]

TDR Successfully Defends Accounting Firm From Claims By Former Client

TDR partners Caesar Tabet, Mark Horwitch and John Fitzgerald recently obtained the dismissal of an accounting malpractice suit in Indiana state court filed against one of the country’s largest public accounting firms. The plaintiffs were seeking millions of dollars in damages, and the lawsuit had been pending for about two years when TDR stepped in […]

TDR Wins TRO in Federal Court in Corporate Governance Dispute

TDR partners Caesar Tabet, Daniel Stanner, and John Fitzgerald, and TDR associate Uri Abt successfully represented a minority owner of a Delaware Limited Liability Company.  The controlling members planned to sell the assets of the company and then to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  The controlling members scheduled a shareholder meeting to approve that transaction.  […]

TCPA Class Actions and the Question of Adequacy – For Counsel and Plaintiff

In Byer Clinic and Chiropractic Ltd. v. Kapraun, 2016 Il App (1st) 143733, a divided panel of the Illinois appellate court considered the class representative adequacy requirement under Illinois law in the context of a TCPA suit.  A TCPA class action was similarly the backdrop for the Seventh Circuit’s consideration of the class counsel adequacy […]

Wilkow Authors CDLB Article

TCPA Class Actions Provide Backdrop for Illinois Courts’ Struggle with the Adequacy Requirement for Both Counsel and Plaintiff TDR attorney Jordan Wilkow authored an article in the June 30 edition of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.  The article examines conflicting views among Illinois state and federal courts regarding the severity of the adequacy requirement in […]

Plaintiff X: Orders Denying Leave to Litigate Anonymously Are Immediately Appealable

There seems to be an increase in judicial decisions addressing a litigant’s right, if any, to use the court system without disclosing his or her name.  Perhaps this trend is inspired by people’s experience on the Internet, where one may interact with others, express opinions, and engage in all manner of transactions without unmasking oneself.  […]

Rule 2-619(a)(2) Motion to Dismiss May Constitute Arbitration Waiver

The Illinois Appellate Court recently ruled that, where a party raises a substantive arbitral issue in a motion to dismiss pursuant to Illinois Code of Civil Procedure § 2-619(a)(2), that party has submitted to the jurisdiction of the court and waives its right to compel arbitration.  Watkins v. Mellen, 2016 IL App (3d) 2016. Albert […]

Seventh Circuit Rejects The Separate-Accrual Rule In Copyright Ownership Disputes

The Seventh Circuit recently answered an important question about when suits under the Copyright Act accrue for purposes of its three-year statute of limitations.  See 17 U.S.C. § 507(b).  In Consumer Health Information Corp. v. Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., No. 14-3231, 2016 WL 1534013 (7th Cir. April 15, 2016), the Court of Appeals held that the […]

Seventh Circuit Holds that Website Failed to Provide User Adequate Notice of Arbitration Clause

The Seventh Circuit recently issued an important opinion for any business that conducts transactions through a website.  In Sgouros v. TransUnion Corp., No. 15-1371, 2016 WL 1169411 (7th Cir. March 25, 2016), the Court held that TransUnion’s website did not provide users with adequate notice of the arbitration clause in its “Service Agreement” to bind […]

Suit to Enjoin Corporate Dissolution and Suit for Fraud are Same Cause for Purpose of 2-619(a)(3) Dismissal

The Illinois Code of Civil Procedure provides a mechanism for the circuit court to dismiss an action where there is “another action pending between the same parties for the same cause.”  735 ILCS 5/2-619(a)(3).  In Schacht v. Lome, 2016 IL App (1st) 141931, the appellate court considered whether the defendant’s prior suit to enjoin dissolution […]

Seventh Circuit Indicates Willingness to Revisit Causation Standard for ADA Claims

Although it left the issue undecided, the Seventh Circuit recently noted that the 2008 amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act may have altered its causation standard.  The case, Arroyo v. Volvo Group North America LLC, No. 14-3618, 2015 WL 5846595 (Oct. 6, 2015), was discussed by John M. Fitzgerald and Uri Abt in “The Bottom […]

Intermediate Standard of Review Applied to Deny Conditional Pre-Notice Class Certification Under FLSA

In an article in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Jordan Wilkow discusses a recent case from the Northern District of Illinois that, for the first time in the Northern District, denied conditional pre-notice class certification under the Fair Labor Standards Act after applying an “intermediate” standard of review.

Circuit Court Lacks Jurisdiction to Review Arbitrator’s Ruling In Favor of Failed Bank

John M. Fitzgerald and Uri Abt discuss a recent Illinois appellate court opinion interpreting the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA), the federal law governing claims against failed banks, in their regular column in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.  The appellate court held that the plaintiff’s failure to file an administrative action before the FDIC within […]

Illinois Supreme Court Distinguishes between Confidential and Privileged Information

Do statutory confidentiality provisions mandate that information designated “confidential” is also non-discoverable?  No, the Illinois Supreme Court recently held in Klaine v. Southern Illinois Hospital Services, 2016 IL 118217.  Rather, “the confidential nature of information does not prevent it from being discoverable unless the plain language of the statute so provides.”  The Supreme Court’s ruling […]

Federal District Court Applies Newly Amended Rule 37(e)

Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV of the Southern District of New York recently granted, in part, a motion for sanctions that raised “significant issues concerning the reach of newly amended Rule 37(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the standard of proof governing spoliation, and the relief appropriate for destruction of electronically stored […]

Appellate Court Considers Illinois’ Relation Back Rule After Krupski

In their regular column in the the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, “The Bottom Line,” John M. Fitzgerald and Uri Abt discuss a recent a Illinois appellate court opinion that answered two certified questions about Illinois’ relation back rule in light of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Krupski v. Costa Crociere S.p.A., 560 U.S. […]

Intradistrict Conflict on the Effect of Video Played for the Jury in the Courtroom in the Presence of Judge, Attorneys, and Defendant, after Commencement of Jury Deliberations

Although not directly related to any codified evidence rule, it is important to be aware of three appellate court split decisions in the Third District resulting in intradistrict conflicts about the propriety of playing a video—at the request of the jury after jury deliberations had begun—in the courtroom in the presence of the jury, the […]

Appellate Court Holds that Trial Is Needed to Determine Whether Commercial Dispute Must be Arbitrated

The recent case of Sturgill v. Santander Consumer USA, Inc., 2016 IL App (5th) 140380, demonstrates that while most motions to compel arbitration pursuant to a written contract will be determined based only upon the allegations of the plaintiff’s complaint and the language of the contractual arbitration clause, there are times when more information is […]