Illinois

Jerry Springer Is Commencement Speaker at Northwestern Law

Jerry Springer, a 1968 grad of Northwestern law school, is this year’s commencement speaker. The choice is sparking controversy. Many students have signed petitions and circulated e-mails protesting the television host’s appearance, but he remains a speaker, the Chicago Tribune reports. However, their objections spurred the school’s graduation committee and…

Apr 28, 2008 3:20 PM CDT

Judge Refuses Request for More Openness in R. Kelly Trial

A Chicago judge has refused a media request to open pretrial proceedings in the prosecution of singer R. Kelly on a child-pornography charge. Judge Vincent Gaughan has ousted reporters from some pretrial hearings in the case against Kelly, who is accused of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl,…

Apr 25, 2008 12:01 PM CDT

Rezko Trial Bombshell Claim: GOP Top Guns Tried to Oust US Attorney

Republican heavyweights allegedly tried to use their influence with the White House to get U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald removed from office as he was pursuing a politically charged case against a Chicago real estate developer, according to a prosecutor in the ongoing Illinois federal case. “In a bombshell disclosure before…

Apr 23, 2008 7:15 PM CDT

When Protective Orders Don’t Work, Satellite Monitoring May Control Abusers

It’s a sad and all-too-frequent story when an abuser, often male, violates a court protective order. Today, for instance, the Chicago Tribune is reporting that a woman found murdered yesterday had an order of protection against her husband. While he is reportedly not a suspect in that crime, he is…

Apr 22, 2008 11:27 PM CDT

Posner Blasts Asylum Courts, Calls for Judicial Conference

Long a critic of “inadequate” and “ill-trained” asylum courts, the 7th Circuit’s Richard Posner reportedly offered up some remedies in a speech Monday. “This is a system of adjudication that is clearly inadequate,” Posner told a Chicago Bar Association audience. The National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports that Posner called…

Apr 22, 2008 2:59 PM CDT

26-Year Inmate Freed After Lawyers Reveal Real Killer

A Chicago-area judge has ordered a new trial for a man serving a life sentence for the murder of a security guard. He walked out of the Cook County, Ill., jail after relatives quickly raised the $1,000 bail in the case. Alton Logan, 54, had little hope of being freed…

Apr 21, 2008 9:52 AM CDT

Ex-Radical Now a Law Prof and a Campaign Issue

Bernadine Dohrn, a former member of the Weather Underground, is now a law professor at Northwestern University with an expertise in children’s law. Her husband, former Underground member Bill Ayers, has also joined the mainstream as an advocate of school reform who is an informal adviser to Chicago Mayor Richard…

Apr 18, 2008 4:14 PM CDT

Lawyer Hated Securities Practice, But Loves Fox News

As a practicing lawyer, Megyn Kelly hated her long work days. But now, four years after pleading her way into a part-time gig as a legal affairs expert in Washington, D.C., the 37-year-old Fox News anchor loves her job, reports the Washington Post. “When I was practicing law and had…

Apr 14, 2008 9:31 PM CDT

‘Epidemic’ Leads to UofC Law Web Ban

The University of Chicago Law School has shut down Internet access for most of its classrooms because too many students were surfing the Web instead of taking notes on their laptops. U of C law Dean Saul Levmore told students and faculty in an e-mail that he took action after…

Apr 11, 2008 6:28 PM CDT

Judge Opts to Keep Teen Off Ill. Sex Offender Registry

Taking advantage of a new law giving judges more discretion in Illinois, one judge, possibly for the first time, has opted to leave a youthful offender’s name off the a sex offender registry. Kane County Juvenile Court Judge Wiley Edmondson ruled last week that a college student, who was 13…

Apr 9, 2008 11:57 AM CDT

Obama’s Legal Career Wasn’t All About Civil Rights

During his four-year career as a Chicago lawyer, Barack Obama did indeed handle a number of civil rights cases. But in addition to the legal work he highlights in his initial autobiography and on the presidential campaign trail, he also handled a number of more routine cases, such as real…

Apr 8, 2008 4:23 PM CDT

Legal Eagle: Don’t Forget the Jury is Smarter than You Are

One of the lasting legacies left by a renowned Chicago lawyer who died last week at age 82 is a book that went on sale today. Entitled, Your Witness: Lessons on Cross-Examination and Life, it describes the techniques that helped R. Eugene Pincham become a legend in the city’s courtrooms.…

Apr 7, 2008 7:18 PM CDT

Jenner’s New Managing Partner to Pave a Path for Other Women

Jenner & Block had 12 female partners when Susan Levy joined the Chicago law firm in 1982, a number that was considered high at the time. Now Levy will become the managing partner, one of only 8 percent of females in such posts at the nation’s top law firms. Levy…

Apr 7, 2008 1:52 PM CDT

Judge Orders Couple to Remove Bird Feeders

An Illinois couple who say they just wanted to enjoy seeing birds in their yard have been ordered to remove their feeders because neighbors complained they attracted too many pests to the area. A Cook County judge ordered Halina and Richard Rogulski, of Prospect Heights, to empty their five feeders…

Apr 4, 2008 4:49 PM CDT

Proskauer to Open Office in Chicago With Three Mayer Brown Partners

Proskauer Rose is opening a Chicago office despite the economic downturn that is battering some law firms. Staffing the office will be three partners from Mayer Brown who specialize in representing corporate policyholders in coverage disputes with their insurance companies, the Chicago Tribune reports. Mayer Brown is now planning to…

Apr 4, 2008 10:53 AM CDT