Breaking legal news for Thursday, Feb. 25

Central Illinois

• Knox County smoking cases dismissed, Peoria Journal Star

Chicago area

• Obama nominates two from Illinois for federal judgeships, Chicago Tribune
• Nurse accused of suspicious deaths gets $10,000 to help defense, Daily Herald
• $14.7 million settlement in trampoline suit against CPS, Chicago Tribune

Northern Illinois

• Man who used 11-year-old to commit crime gets 30 years in prison, Quad-City Times

Nation

• Bad-check schemes targeting lawyers are "increasingly sophisticated", ABA Journal
• Weil Gotschal clocked $300K a day on Lehman; total bill now nears $150M, ABA Journal