Marcellis Stinnette Sr. (“Marcellis Sr.”) was shot and killed by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20, 2020. At the time, Marcellis Sr. was in a car driven by Tafara Williams, the mother of his son, Marcellis Jr., while she was attempting to flee the police. The police officer was…
The Illinois Supreme Court reversed a dismissal by the appellate court and affirmed the circuit court judgment in a personal injury case in which the following issues were considered: whether an employer who admits liability under the doctrine of respondeat superior may be independently liable for its own negligence, even…
The Illinois Appellate Court for the First District reversed and remanded a court decision from the Cook County Circuit Court. In this case, a car driven by Jamie Lichter was rear-ended by the vehicle driven by Donald Christopher on Feb. 27, 2016. On Jan. 19, 2018, Lichter filed a personal…
In a recent order, the Illinois Supreme Court held that “remote jury selection by video conference … in civil cases is permissible to reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure so that litigants can access justice in a timely fashion while keeping all jurors, court personnel, litigants, and the public safe.”…
Margaret Decharinte, 93, was ruled to be competent to act as administrator of the estate of her late husband, Frank Decharinte. A hearing was conducted in 2018 hearing on objections made by her step-daughter, Joanne Bartolone. Bartolone’s attorney reported that she had interviewed Decharinte and that Decharinte “doesn’t know what…
An appellate court has ruled that Cook County is an appropriate venue for a lawsuit that involved a truck crash in Ohio and a company that primarily does its business out of a southern Illinois town. The Illinois First District Appellate Court found that plaintiff Sergiu Tabirta’s lawsuit against driver…
Six investors in Lancelot Investors, a Cayman Islands hedge fund, were suckered by the operator of a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme. They sued Lancelot’s auditors in Cook County, where the offshore company is headquartered. The lawsuit alleged that fraudulent and negligent audit reports duped the six investors into pumping $79 million…
Frank Russo appealed from an order that wiped out his $9.9 million jury verdict against Corey Steel. In this case, the trial judge stepped aside during the post-trial proceedings and Corey Steel’s request for a new trial was granted by a second judge. This was based on his disagreement with…
The question in this case, which was posed to the Illinois Appellate Court, was: “Does the trial court have discretion to permit a Rule 215 medical examiner to testify when the attorney for the party examined has not been served with the examiner’s report within the time specified by Rule…
The Illinois Appellate Court for the First District affirmed a decision from the Circuit Court of Cook County, Probate Division. In this case, when James Cerami died on Jan. 16, 2013, he had been married to Christina Cerami for nearly 20 years. About seven months after James’s death, Christina opened…