Courts have been flooded lately with claims by non-exempt employees who have not been compensated for time spent logging into computer systems and performing other start-up procedures. As experienced overtime lawyers, Lubin Austermuehle has been tracking many of these cases, and the Northern District of Illinois made a recent ruling…
The Chicago Tribune has recently reported on two lawsuits arising out of the bankruptcy of the franchisor for the Giordano’s pizza chain. In one suit the bankruptcy trustee has sued franchisee for failing to use the the required pizza dough thus allegedly harming the quality and uniformity of Giordano’s pizzas.…
CNN reports that French Shoe Designer Christian Louboutin lost the first round of a trademark lawsuit seeking to protect his iconic red soled high heels. Louboutin’s lawyer blasted the Court’s decision and vowed he would fight on in an appeal. The story explains that many designers want to use…
The New York Times reports that the SEC has now opened for business its new whistblower office as required by the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. The office will respond to consumer tips regarding securities fraud. If a consumer tip leads to a successful prosecution and recovery, the consumer and…
One of the most important issues at the outset of every class-action lawsuit is determining the size of the class itself. In some instances, making such a determination can be accomplished through preliminary investigations by the named plaintiff in the suit. However, the true size and scope of the class…
There are hundreds of new cases filed in Illinois courts every day, and many of those cases involve business disputes. At Lubin Austermuehle, we pride ourselves on staying on top of new court filings so that we know of changes in the law as they happen. Our Waukegan business attorneys…
Most companies encourage their employees to innovate and come up with ways to improve the processes, products, and service of the business. Such improvements may be patentable inventions, and it is important for business owners to establish who owns that intellectual property and protect any IP that accrues to the…
Class-action lawsuits are common in unpaid overtime cases because the misclassification of employees or miscalculation of overtime usually happens on a large scale because major companies have such sizable work forces. Because such lawsuits can prove to be quite costly, defendant employers will do whatever they can to dispose of…
This American Life reports in an excellent piece on how a billioinaire inventor who founded a company to aggregate patents and to sue for infringement. This practice may in fact be hindering innovation and the economy the story reports: Nathan Myhrvold is a genius and a polymath. He made hundreds…
Our Chicago consumer rights private law firm handles individual and class action unfair debt collection and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have…