On August 15, 2025, Governor Pritzker signed Senate Bill 328 into law, effective immediately. The bill makes significant changes to the law governing jurisdiction in Illinois, namely changing Illinois from a specific...more
8/20/2025
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
General Jurisdiction ,
Illinois ,
Jurisdiction ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
New Legislation ,
Pending Litigation ,
Specific Jurisdiction ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Tort Reform ,
Toxic Exposure
Oklahoma has now joined many other states creating specialty business courts to handle complex business litigation. Senate Bill 632 creates two new specialized business courts, which will be located in Oklahoma County and...more
6/30/2025
/ Breach of Contract ,
Business Court ,
Business Litigation ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Complex Litigation ,
Copyright ,
Effective Date ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Judges ,
Jurisdiction ,
New Legislation ,
State and Local Government ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Trade Secrets
On January 24, 2025, the Illinois Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Martin v. Goodrich Corp., upholding the constitutionality of a 2019 amendment to the Illinois Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act (the...more
1/28/2025
/ Asbestos ,
Asbestos Litigation ,
Civil Claims ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Due Process ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
IL Supreme Court ,
Illinois ,
Occupational Exposure ,
Statute of Repose ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Workers' Compensation Claim
On December 19, 2019, the First District issued its opinion in Daniels v. Arvinmeritor, Inc., affirming a $6 million verdict for the estate of Patrick O’Reilly, a union pipefitter from 1957 to 1998 who passed away from...more
The Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Sullivan v. A. W. Chesterton, Inc., et al., No. 18-3622 (E.D. Pa. June 6, 2019), grappled with the constitutionality of the Pennsylvania statutes, 15 Pa.C.S. § 411 and 42 Pa.C.S. §...more
In October, a Cook County jury awarded a $6 million dollars to the family of a deceased pipefitter in a mesothelioma trial. Daniels, et al. v. John Crane Inc., et al., No. 2016-L-011308 (Ill. Cir. Ct., Cook Cty.). John Crane,...more
The stage is set for a heated showdown between GOP leaders and bipartisan critics over implementation of HB 1645. If adopted by the Senate, the bill would alter several provisions related to a plaintiff’s ability to bring...more
New Developments -
Which Came First: Subject Matter or Personal Jurisdiction?
Two recent Eastern District of Missouri cases examined the same issue, yet the court reached opposite results. In Lewis v. Johnson & Johnson...more
A Review of 2017 Personal Jurisdiction Decisions -
In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court in cases such as BNSF Railway Co. v. Tyrrell and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California continued the trend that began in...more
1/19/2018
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Appeals ,
Asbestos Litigation ,
BNSF Railway Co v Tyrrell ,
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co v Superior Court of California - San Francisco County ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Damage Caps ,
Expert Testimony ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Petition For Rehearing ,
Product Defects ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Toxic Exposure