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“I think eventually we’ll get back to numbers that we had before,” Loop Alliance president Michael M. Edwards said of works in the area generally. But other changes are also impacting the legal hubbub in the Loop. – Photo courtesy of Chicago Loop Alliance

Law and the Loop: Attorneys reckon with past, future of community’s longtime nexus

As Chicago wrestles with the changing nature of the Loop, lawyers who enjoyed a centerpoint of activity around the Daley Center say its heyday as a legal hub isn’t likely to return.
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Pain, terror can be considered in Boeing Max crash, judge rules

Families of passengers who died in the crash of a Boeing 737 Max in Ethiopia can seek damages for the pain and terror suffered by victims in the minutes before the plane flew nose-down into the ground, a federal judge has ruled.
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Budget vote brings General Assembly’s spring session to a close

The 2023 spring legislative session came to an end in the early hours of Saturday morning after the Illinois House gave its approval to a $50.6 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1.
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State budget teed up for early Saturday morning vote

The Illinois House is planning to work until the early hours of Saturday morning to finalize a $50.6 billion state spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

How I Did It

Chicago civil rights attorney pivots to launch Jamaican resort

Longtime civil rights attorney Dana L. Kurtz traded the courtroom for an ocean view when she left her practice in 2019 to launch a boutique hotel in Jamaica.

Family awarded $4M in Winnebago wrongful death suit

The family of a woman who died from a stroke resulting from an untreated dural tear was awarded $4 million by a Winnebago County Circuit Court jury.

Gamer’s defamation suit against rival goes forward

A North Carolina professional gamer who allegedly stalked an Illinois competitor online must face the competitor’s defamation lawsuit in this state, a federal judge ruled.

Supreme Court takes ‘Trump too small’ case for trademark

The Supreme Court said Monday it will hear a case in which a man tried to trademark a phrase mocking former President Donald Trump as “too small.”

Suboxone maker reaches $102.5M settlement over antitrust claims

The company that makes the opioid addiction treatment drug Suboxone has agreed to pay $102.5 million to 41 states including Illinois to settle claims that the company engaged in anticompetitive practices, it announced Friday.

Courts & Cases

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Contributors

Trial Notebook

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Michigan judge ponders legislative entrenchment

Relying on the rule against “legislative entrenchment” to counter a clever maneuver by Disney Co., Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law on May 5 that ostensibly authorizes the Central Florida Tourism Development District, formerly known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, to ignore a long-term development agreement that was approved by Disney-appointed board members shortly before they were replaced by DeSantis’ appointees.

Cotter’s Corner

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Three decisions, nearly 30 to go as court’s term draws to a close

A lot of things became victim to the debt ceiling negotiations, but one thing that survived was the penny, which costs the U.S. Mint more than 2 cents (2.72 cents) to make. Also surviving another week was the divided opinions soon to come in the next few weeks, as June opinion Thursday seems to be the new norm.

For the Defense

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Illinois Supreme Court active on merits, orders, ‘shadow’ dockets

Just like the Supreme Court of the United States, the Illinois Supreme Court has a merits docket; an orders docket, including rulings on petitions for leave to appeal, and a “shadow docket.” The state high court has been active on all three of late.

Family Law

Changes to 529 accounts allow tax-free rollover to ROTH IRAs

Late last year, President Joe Biden signed into law a $1.7 trillion federal spending bill that included a provision to allow families to roll over funds from their Section 529 college savings plans to Roth individual retirement accounts — free of tax — starting in 2024.

Opening Statement

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Rat Pack show brings a trip down memory lane

Years ago in Chicago, there was a unique attorney named Oscar Brotman, who was more interested in show business than law.

Opening Statement

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‘Ernest Shackleton Loves Me’ speaks to beatnik generation

Back in my day, when the beatniks and hippies of the 1960s were beginning to populate the theatrical scene of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district and Chicago’s Old Town, productions bordering on the psychedelic would have drawn shouts of “far out, man” and “right on” by an enthusiastic counterculture.

Opening Statement

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‘Big River’ scores big in Chicago

In an age of the banning of certain books in public libraries and schools, I recommend seeing “Big River,” Roger Miller’s musical based on Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” It’s playing through June 11 at Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Ave.

Sports Marketing Playbook

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Women’s March Madness scores big with brands, breaks records

Louisiana State University’s 102-85 victory over Iowa in the National Collegiate Athletic Association women’s Division 1 basketball championship game proved women’s hoops can bring as much on-court excitement and trash-talking controversy as a men’s final.

Opening Statement

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‘Damn Yankees’ knocks it out of the park

I recently learned that composer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical “Phantom of the Opera,” the longest-running show in Broadway history, has closed its curtain after almost 14,000 record-breaking performances since it first opened in 1988.

Social Scene

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Overstreet sworn in as IJA president

Illinois Supreme Court Justice David K. Overstreet, left, was sworn in as president of the Illinois Judges Association by retired high court Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier on Friday at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. He succeeds 1st District Appellate Court Justice Eileen O’Neill Burke. Photo by Rena Naltsas
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Sox host swearing-in ceremony

The Chicago White Sox held the first-ever naturalization ceremony at Guaranteed Rate Field Wednesday. Longtime Katten partner Sheldon T. Zenner helped coordinate the event and presented the motion to U.S. District Court Judge Marvin E. Aspen, who presided over the ceremony where 24 men and women from 17 countries were sworn in as U.S. citizens. Photo courtesy of Darren Georgia/Chicago White Sox
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Women of Influence honored

Levin & Perconti managing partner Margaret P. Battersby Black was awarded the Illinois State Bar Association’s Carole K. Bellows Women of Influence award in May. Lisa Bradley of JPMorgan Chase was this year’s other awardee. Judge Carole K. Bellows was the first woman in the country elected to serve as president of a state bar association. She was ISBA president from 1977 to 1978. Photo courtesy of Levin & Perconti
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ABOTA Illinois welcomes speaker

American Board of Trial Advocates Illinois President Jill M. Webb of the Law Offices of Jill M. Webb, left, and Suzanne Spaulding, senior adviser for homeland security and director of the Defending Democratic Institutions project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, gather before ABOTA Illinois’ Law Day meeting this month in Chicago. The chapter also recognized Judge Ronald F. Bartkowicz for his service to the Cook County Law Division. Photo courtesy of ABOTA Illinois

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