MOUNT VERNON – Justice Judy Cates, whose noisy Supreme Court campaign ended in defeat by 26 points two years ago, quietly seeks retention as Fifth District Appellate Court judge.
SPRINGFIELD – Since Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville) first ran for state representative in 2016, she has raised 94 percent of her itemized revenue - $4.28 million – from outside the Metro East counties.
CHARLOTTE – Bankruptcy Judge Laura Beyer held 2,140 asbestos plaintiffs in contempt on Feb. 10, and gave them a week to answer questions of Georgia Pacific entity Bestwall.
CHARLOTTE - U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laura Beyer laid a $402,817.70 penalty on St. Louis asbestos firm Maune Raichle on Aug. 31, to reimburse a Georgia Pacific entity for defending an Illinois lawsuit the firm filed in violation of an order she entered.
BENTON – U.S. District Judge Staci Yandle dismissed a challenge to a North Carolina order requiring asbestos plaintiffs to answer questions about their exposure history.
BENTON – Asbestos attorney John Simmons of Alton broke the ranks of Illinois asbestos lawyers by dropping out of a suit at U.S. district court and agreeing to file client questionnaires for a bankruptcy judge in North Carolina.
SPRINGFIELD – Among 74 Democrats in the state House, 32 campaigned with Rep. Jay Hoffman’s money in their treasuries from January 2018 to last September.
Appeals Court Judge Judy Cates has long benefitted from generous donations from lawyers and law firms far and wide. Now that she’s running for a seat on the Illinois Supreme Court, the generosity is snowballing.
SPRINGFIELD – Business owners spending $5 million against retention of Tom Kilbride in the Supreme Court’s Third District started spending against election of Fifth District candidate Judy Cates on Oct. 15.
SPRINGFIELD – Ninety percent of the $1.9 million in contributions and transfers received by Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride in the third quarter came from sources in or near Chicago and St. Louis.
SPRINGFIELD – Supreme Court candidate David Overstreet received 134 contributions from the rural side of his district in the third quarter, while opponent Judy Cates received none.
SPRINGFIELD – With two Supreme Court seats at stake, far more Democrat dollars flow to retention of Justice Thomas Kilbride than to election of Judy Cates.
ALTON - The House of Representatives’ Special Investigating Committee was abruptly paused Tuesday by Democratic Chairman Chris Welch (D-Hillside), halting the legislative investigation into Speaker Mike Madigan’s alleged pay-to-play bribery scheme with ComEd until after the Nov. 3 General Election, giving fodder to Republicans who say House Democrats aren’t serious about ending corruption.
ROCK ISLAND – Tom Keefe’s firm in Swansea and John Simmons’s firm in Alton each contributed $100,000 to retention of Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride after he removed the limit on his contributors.
ELMHURST – Now that Gov. J. B. Pritzker has limited civil liability for health care providers fighting a global virus, the Illinois Civil Justice League is calling on legislators to give his executive order the force of law.
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – Bankruptcy court administrator Shelley Abel knocked asbestos giants Simmons Hanly Conroy and Motley Rice off a committee of firms with claims against CertainTeed Corporation.
