The Illinois Supreme Court ruled that prior misdemeanor DUI convictions – even if the defendant was unrepresented – can be used to bump a later DUI charge to a felony.
Pending legislation would require that debtors get personal service, not merely notice by mail, before courts begin key legal processes that could put them behind bars.
A proposed constitutional amendment that would have made crime victims party to the defendant’s trial undermined the constitutional presumption of innocence, the ISBA and other opponents, including prosecutors, argued.
Illinois courts have not recognized a fiduciary-duty exception to attorney-client privilege. On March 22, 2012, the Illinois Appellate Court refused to find such an exception, reversing the opinion of the trial court.
Starting next month, jurors will be permitted to submit written questions for witnesses to the court for consideration. Proponents say it will help jurors understand the case and stay engaged.
A new law forbids someone who took a partisan primary ballot from running as an independent in the general election – even those who pulled the ballot in the March primary, before the law was enacted.
In People v. Chapman, the supreme court upheld admission into evidence of the defendant's earlier conviction for domestic battery of the woman he was accused of murdering.
A new supreme court criminal case underscores the importance of challenging - and if necessary, appealing - a judge's failure to rule on pre-trial evidentiary motions.
An Illinois legislative proposal would give members of a civil union the same benefits enjoyed by married couples under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
Proposed legislation would forbid employers from asking for employees' and job applicants' social-media passwords, but some lawyers argue for a public-safety exception.
Among other changes, the legislation would make nonjudicial trust modifications easier and limit the risk of liability for fiduciaries who handle specific trust-related tasks.
A McLean County program puts homeowners and lenders together with mediators to help work out agreements and uses U of I law students to represent homeowners in mediation.
Lying to a police officer can support a conviction for obstruction of justice if the lying directly hinders the officer's official performance, the Illinois Supreme Court rules.
Unlike teachers outside Chicago, tenured Chicago public school teachers have no right to be rehired after they are laid off for economic reasons, the Illinois Supreme Court rules.
The Illinois Supreme Court holds in Powell v Dean Foods that a defendant does not have standing on appeal to challenge the ruling on a co-defendant's motion for substitution of judge.
The AG and appellate defender and prosecutor may now file documents electronically with the supreme court in an early step toward modernizing judicial-system technology.
The Illinois Supreme Court reins in a statute designed to stop misuse of defamation lawsuits to silence critics speaking out on matters of public interest.
The attorney general's office and a circuit court judge describe steps they're taking to help prevent debtors from being unfairly jailed for failure to pay.
Illinois' northern district is one of 14 courts participating in a federal program that allows videorecording of civil cases before district judges if all parties consent.
Rumors of the death of the legitimate-business-interest test as a measure for determining the legitimacy of restrictive covenants were greatly exaggerated, the supreme court says.
