Imagine issuing a document request, being met with claims of privilege and redacted documents, issuing a subpoena in an effort to acquire the information requested, and being met with silence. If you are the Inspector General of the City of Chicago (“Inspector General”), you may assume outside counsel could help you enforce the subpoena in…
Category Archives: Litigation
Illinois Courts Attempt to Distinguish SLAPP Suits From Legitimate Defamation Claims
Lawyers and legislators are fond of acronyms. It is rare that a significant bill in Congress does not have one of these mnemonics. Everyone knows of the USA PATRIOT Act, but few realize that it is actually the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. One of…
Trademark Dilution Webinar
Here is the recording of the February 6, 2013 webinar entitled “Trademark Dilution.” How do you protect famous marks from uses which tarnish or otherwise harm them? Trademark Dilution claims help to protect famous marks from other uses which tend to harm their uniqueness. In this webinar we will discuss the concept and some cases…
Narrow Definition of “Claim Accrual” Under the UCC
The Illinois Appellate Court recently followed the weight of foreign authority to narrowly define “claim accrual” under Section 9-404(a)(2) of the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”). (810 ILCS 5/9-404(a)(2)). Specifically, the Court held a claim does not accrue until a cause of action has accrued. The case is: Puritan Finance Corp. v. Bechstein Construction Corp., 2012…
Ineffective Assignment for Collection
What happens when there is acrimony amongst the sibling shareholders of a family owned and operated business? The case is Kenny v. Kenny Industries, Inc., 2012 IL App (1st) 111782 (September 4, 2012). Kenny Industries, Inc. was formed as a holding company for the Kenny family’s business entities. Several Kenny siblings, including Gerard Kenny, were…
E-Book Publishing Leads to Clash Between Digital Giants
When Amazon introduced the Kindle in 2007, I was of the opinion that e-books would never catch on. Why would anyone want to spoil the enjoyment of reading a good book by doing it on an odd looking gray toned screen? Certainly the tactile and olfactory joy of opening the fresh new pages of The…
Online Defamation Webinar Recording
Here is the recording of the September 5, 2012 webinar in the Davis McGrath LLC IP Webinar Series on “Online Defamation.” What can you do when someone disparages you or your business online? In this webinar, we discuss what actions can be taken to handle a case of online defamation. Come learn from Davis McGrath…
Just Answer the Complaint
Benjamin Franklin said: “it takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” To establish and maintain their reputations, practitioners should do their best in representing their client, drafting pleadings, making representations to the court, and participating in pro bono and community activities. In an attorney’s eagerness…
New Rules for Citations to Discover Assets
Governor Quinn just signed into law the amendment to 5/2-1402 which deals with supplemental proceedings and in particular, citations to discover assets. See: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=097-0848 . The effective date is July 25, 2012. The amendments apply to any Citation and subsequent actions initiated AFTER that date. Members of the Illinois Creditors Bar Association and the Creditors…
Passing The Buck
Businesses have to spend money to make money. Sometimes, businesses have to spend money to comply with various government regulations. Although a business can pass along some of its costs of doing business, a business may find itself subject to a class action lawsuit if it passes along its costs by adding a “Government Processing…