** By HeplerBroom Summer Associate Tiffany B. Wong
A. Direct Participant Liability Negligence Theory in Illinois
In Illinois, it is a bedrock principle of limited liability deeply ingrained in our economic and legal systems that a parent company is not liable for the acts of its subsidiary. Liability for negligence arises when one person breaches a duty of care owed to another. To establish a cause of action for negligence under the law, a plaintiff must establish four “elements”: (1) a duty of care, (2) a breach of that duty, (3) an injury caused by the breach, and (4) resulting ...
In Russell v. SNFA, 2013 IL 113909 (Ill. Apr. 18, 2013), the Illinois Supreme Court held that Illinois courts had jurisdiction over a French company despite the fact that the company had no offices, assets, property or employees in Illinois, no license to do business in Illinois, and did not specifically direct product sales in Illinois and was generally unaware its products were being distributed in the state.
On January 28, 2003, the sole occupant and pilot of a helicopter died after his helicopter crashed in Illinois. The decedent was a resident of Georgia who was living in Illinois ...
Many, many articles have been published in recent years about the benefits and risks of accessing social media sites during the hiring process. Most of the articles focus on the screening of applicants rather than the sourcing of applicants. Screening applicants involves analysis and decision making. Sourcing involves casting a net for applicants by posting job openings. As between screening and sourcing, the use of social media in the screening of applicants is perceived to be more risky as the temptation to eliminate a candidate based solely on their online presence can be great ...
On March 19, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles that class-action plaintiffs cannot circumvent the jurisdictional requirements of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (“CAFA”) by stipulating damages under the jurisdictional threshold.
CAFA provides federal courts original jurisdiction over class actions where, among other things, the class has more than 100 members and the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $5 million exclusive of interest and costs. To calculate the amount in controversy, the claims of the ...
On January 17, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report revealing an increase in “pay-for-delay” or “reverse-payment” patent settlements between brand-name pharmaceutical companies and their generic counterparts
These controversial settlements typically involve a brand-name drug manufacturer who is granted a drug patent which gives the company the exclusive right to sell the drug for up to 20 years, depending on the type of drug. The patent is then challenged by a generic rival. Rather than risk losing their patent monopoly on account of a judgment ...
The attorney-client privilege is one of the oldest recognized privileges protecting confidential communications between two parties. While the privilege serves as the cornerstone of the attorney-client relationship, the privilege is waived when confidential communications are disclosed to third parties. In fact, the “subject-matter waiver” doctrine holds that where a privileged communication concerning a particular subject is voluntarily disclosed to a third party, waiver of the attorney-client privilege extends to all other communications pertaining to the ...
Following the lead of multiple Illinois appellate districts, the Illinois Supreme Court recently recognized for the first time an actionable tort for “intrusion upon seclusion.” Intrusion upon seclusion is one of four torts generally recognized under the umbrella of the "right to privacy" torts along with public disclosure of embarrassing private facts, publicity which places a person in a false light in the public eye, and appropriation of a person's name, likeness or identity for trade or advertising purposes without consent.
In Burress-Taylor v. American Security Insurance Company, 2012 IL App (1st) 110554 (Cook Co. 5th Div.) (October 26, 2012), an Illinois appellate court recently reversed the dismissal of an insured’s complaint against her insurance company for alleged violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (“Consumer Fraud Act”) (815 ILCS 505/1 et seq.).
The plaintiff alleged that in August of 2006 her home was damaged by a fire. The plaintiff had two insurance policies, both of which covered fire losses, and submitted claims to both. The first ...
When does a gift or entertainment risk being treated as a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)? When do payments associated with obtaining international business become bribes? What do you do when facilitation payments are requested? How can you deal with these thorny issues and maintain your competitive edge? The answers are fact and setting specific but the Feds have provided some important new guidance. And the best part is that it is free!
On November 14, 2012 the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission released a 120 page “Resource ...
If you are involved in the auto parts industry there is good reason to be concerned. Why? Read on.
On October 31, 2012 The Department of Justice-Antitrust Division announced the ninth guilty plea for price-fixing and bid-rigging in a continuing investigation of industry practices. The DOJ investigation reveals a long-standing conspiracy from approximately 2003 to 2010, when the first prosecutions were announced. Thus far, nine companies and eleven executives have pled guilty in prosecutions brought in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, in Detroit. A ...
