The Gray Area Of Anti-SLAPP
In 2007, the Illinois General Assembly enacted the Citizen Participation Act. The Act was designed for the quick dismissal of “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation,” or SLAPPs. The General Assembly found that firms, developers, and other entities were using the legal system to attack and bankrupt opponents that took public action against them. A heavily
White Collar Wage Wars
There has been an exponential boom in the amount of cases being filed against corporations. In 2006 and 2007, the likes of Citigroup, UPS, IBM, Sony, and Carnival Cruise Lines paid out over $260 million in settlements for unpaid overtime cases. While overtime lawsuits are not new, multi-million dollar settlements have been in the past
Buyers Beware: Seventh Circuit Holds Asset Purchaser Liable for Target Company’s Fair Labor Standards Act Violations under Successor-in-Interest Liability
In the world of mergers and acquisition law, corporations and their attorneys have long used asset purchases to avoid a target company’s unsavory liabilities. The strategy is relatively straight-forward: by purchasing the target’s assets only, the buyer typically avoids the target’s liabilities, which the buyer would otherwise have to assume in a merger or stock
When Does a Primary Insurer Have a Duty to Advise an Insured of Potential Excess Policy Exposure
An insurance company’s duty to its insured does not end with the appointment of counsel. Rather, it extends past that and requires a primary insurer keep their insured abreast of the litigation progress, status and, as described in length in R.C. Wegman Construction Co. v. Admiral Insurance Co., that there would be excess insurance exposure
The Illinois Business Corporation Act’s Survival Statute for Suits against Dissolved Corporations
In the recent case of Pielet v. Pielet, 365 Ill. Dec. 497 (Ill. 2012), the Illinois Supreme Court discussed when a plaintiff may sue a dissolved corporation under Section 12.80 of the Illinois Business Corporation Act, also referred to as the “Survival Statute.” In Pielet, the Pielets, a husband who died during the litigation and
How Facebook Posts Are Protected Under The NLRA
THE DIGITAL WATER COOLER: HOW FACEBOOK POSTS ARE PROTECTED UNDER THE NLRA THE LAW: The National Labor Relations Act was created to protect the rights of employees. One such right was for employees to act together to address conditions at work. The common image is of employees standing around the water cooler, complaining about the
The Cat, The Monkey, And The Liable Employer
A monkey convinces a cat to reach into a fire to extract some roasting chestnuts. The cat burns its paws and loses all of the chestnuts to the monkey. The monkey escapes unharmed, free to perform the same con all over again. The term “cat’s paw” seems out of place in the middle of a
Fiduciary Duties To Employers And Non-Competes
A recent Northern District of Illinois decision, Instant Tech., LLC v. DeFazio, 12 C 491, 2014 WL 1759184 (N.D. Ill. May 2, 2014), has shed some light on the applicability of non-solicitation, non-recruitment and non-disclosure covenants in Employment Agreements. In Instant Tech, the court held that these types of restrictive covenants were unenforceable in certain
The Seventh Circuit’s Recent Opinions Upholding Dismissal of First Amendment Claims in Favor of the Government Entity’s Interest in Restricting Speech.
In Volkman v. Ryker, 736 F.3d 1084 (7th Cir. 2013), the plaintiff, a correctional facility employee, filed suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging several Illinois Department of Corrections (“IDOC”) employees retaliated against him for engaging in protected speech. More specifically, Volkman alleged that he was given a
Illinois Mortgagors Barred From Vacating A Judgement Of Foreclosure And Sale After The Mortgagee Files Its Motion To Confirm Sale
In Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. McCluskey, 2013 IL 115469 (Nov. 21, 2013), the Illinois Supreme Court clarified a perceived tension between the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure and the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law (“IMFL”). Specifically, section 5/2-1301(e)[1] of the Civil Code allows the court to set aside a default judgment against any party before