The
Illinois Trade Secrets Act (“ITSA”), which is consistent with both other states that have adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act and the federal
Defend Trade Secrets Act, allows the recovery of attorneys’ fees for a party who has been forced to defend against a trade secret claim made in bad faith.
See 765 ILCS 1065/5. This fee shifting provision provides an important mechanism to obtain relief for defendants who are forced to incur significant legal fees fighting baseless claims.
In a
recent decision of the 1st Appellate District of Illinois,
Multimedia Sales & Marketing, Inc. v. Marison Marzullo, et al., 2020 IL App (1st) 191790, the court affirmed the award of attorneys’ fees incurred by defendants under the bad faith fee shifting provision of the ITSA. Plaintiff Multimedia Sales & Marketing, Inc. (“MSM”) sued one of its competitors, Radio Advertising, Inc. (“RAI”) and three of its former employees who joined RAI, alleging that the former employees mi
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The recent case of
Multimedia Sales & Marketing, Inc. v. Marzullo, et al., N.E.3d -, 2020 IL App (1st) 191790 (1st Dist. Dec. 21, 2020), demonstrates the peril that attorney fees sanctions present for litigants who bring trade secret misappropriation claims in bad faith.
Like the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, the Illinois Trade Secrets Act (“ITSA”) allows litigants to recover attorneys’ fees incurred in defending “bad faith” misappropriation claims.
See18 U.S.C. § 1836(b)(3)(D); 765 ILCS 1065/5. Illinois courts interpret claims of bad faith in conjunction with Illinois Supreme Court Rule 137 an analogue to Federal Rule 11 that obligates Illinois attorneys to only bring actions that are well-grounded in fact, warranted by existing law (or a good-faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law), and not for an improper purpose. Section 5 of ITSA complements Rule 137’s obligations and provides a mechanism for courts to penalize
The gunman in a fatal shooting at Comer Cox Park in Springfield in 2017 pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional murder in Sangamon County Court on Wednesday.
Rashod D. Postlewaite, 21, was sentenced to 35 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections by Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin.
Postlewaite was one of four men charged with the murder of Andre Booker III on May 31, 2017, while the 19-year-old Booker was playing basketball at the east-side park.
Based on police statements at the time, Booker was shot in retaliation for the shooting of Sheena Malone the night before because Booker was “associated with the group” involved in Malone’s death.
Issue
Did a trial court err in excluding evidence of subsequent formal diagnosis of autism when potentially alternative cause of current condition of minor?
Case Summary
Julien Florez was delivered via C-section in 2009. At birth, he had an Apgar score of 1, underwent neonatal resuscitation, and was eventually diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Fewer than 60 days before the trial date, plaintiff disclosed a report from a psychological evaluation performed for Julien, which showed that he met full diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Just over 30 days before trial, defendants filed supplemental disclosures in which experts opined that Julien s autism diagnosis supported their conclusions that his disabilities resulted from a chronic condition rather than an acute injury occurring at birth. The trial court granted plaintiff s motions to strike the supplemental disclosures as untimely and denied Defendants motions to continue the trial date to conduct further discovery.