The Illinois appellate court recently faced an unusual issue and took the opportunity to clarify the law regarding the appealability of orders under Rule 137. It held that, absent a certification under Rule 304(a), an order granting sanctions under Rule 137 is not appealable if the amount of the sanctions remains to be determined, even […]
TDR partners Gino L. DiVito and John M. Fitzgerald and TDR associate Ashley Crettol Insalaco, along with their co-counsel, won an impressive victory in the Illinois Appellate Court in Koenig & Strey GMAC Real Estate v. Renaissant 1000 South Michigan I, LP, 2016 IL App (1st) 161783. TDR represented three individuals who signed a guarantee […]
The District Court giveth, and the District Court taketh away. In Kenosha Unified School District No. 1 Board of Education v. Whitaker (per curiam) (slip op. Nov. 14, 2016), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit faced a somewhat unusual circumstance. A transgender student sued his school district for denying him access to […]
In insurance, a follow form endorsement is typically understood to mean that an excess or umbrella insurance policy incorporates the terms of another underlying insurance policy. An excess carrier with such an endorsement might reasonably expect, then, that it could take advantage of an arbitration provision in the underlying policy. Not so fast, the Seventh […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
The Seventh Circuit recently weighed in on the meaning and effect of a “service of suit” clause in a reinsurance treaty. In Pine Top Receivables of Illinois, LLC v. Transfercom, Ltd., 2015 WL 8780611, F.3d (7th Cir. Sept. 1, 2016), the Court held that a service of suit clause gave the insured the right to […]
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 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 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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
As a general rule, the Illinois appellate court only has jurisdiction to review final judgments. Ill. Sup. Ct. R. 303(a). When there are multiple claims and parties, and there has been a final judgment as to one or more but fewer than all of them, the appellate court has jurisdiction to review that judgment if […]
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 […]
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.
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 […]
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 […]