Page 3 - Celeste Bott News Today

An Illinois appellate court ruled Tuesday that two insurers are not responsible for part of a $19 million settlement in underlying biometric privacy litigation based on a broad violation-of-law policy exclusion, saying the Seventh Circuit's recent analysis of nearly identical language is not "an accurate reflection of Illinois law."

Counsel for a former Chicago alderman accused of leveraging his power to get developers that had business before the city to hire his law firm urged jurors Thursday to see past the government's "noise and confusion," saying they shouldn't focus on "offhanded, inappropriate comments" they heard on tapes played at trial but only on his official actions.

A key government informant called to the stand by defense counsel for former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke testified Tuesday that he cooperated with the government and made secret recordings of the once-powerful politician to spare himself from criminal prosecution and jail time, lying "some of the time" while undercover.

A former Chicago alderman facing charges that he used his considerable power to steer property tax work to his law firm was heard Wednesday on recordings made by a government informant resisting involvement in a developer's plans to renovate Chicago's Old Main Post Office because "the cash register has not rung yet."

Jurors tasked with determining whether former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke abused his considerable power heard on Tuesday the first secret recordings made by a key government cooperator, in which Burke urges the cooperator to recommend his law firm to a developer and promises a benefit to the informant as part of the deal.

The top executive of one of the country's largest fast food franchisees testified Tuesday that he felt construction on a Chicago Burger King he was remodeling was shut down because he hadn't followed up with city Alderman Ed Burke about hiring his law firm and that work resumed after the company took steps to give Burke legal business.

Counsel for powerful former Chicago alderman Ed Burke told an Illinois federal jury Friday that jurors will see no tie between Burke's work as a lawyer on tax appeals and any city decision, urging them to reject prosecutors' claims that he repeatedly leveraged his City Council position to drum up business for his law firm.

One of Chicago's longest-serving local politicians, former Alderman Edward Burke, used his considerable power to "line his own pockets with money," leveraging his position to steer business to his personal law firm and attempting to get a job for a family friend, federal prosecutors told a Chicago federal jury Thursday.

An Illinois Supreme Court justice on Wednesday pushed counsel for three staffing agencies that have argued the state's antitrust law doesn't apply to them to explain why their position doesn't require the court to reach an "absurd result" and allow companies to suppress wages through collusion. 

An attorney's positive test for COVID-19 prompted an Illinois federal judge on Thursday to postpone jury selection and opening statements in the public corruption trial of Chicago alderman Ed Burke, who is set to defend claims that he used his official position to extort tax business for his personal law firm.