August 3

Legal History

By Karen Conti

Karen Conti is a litigation partner at Beermann. She is a regular legal commentator on the local Fox affiliate, CNN and truTV. She appears every Sunday from 8 to 9 p.m. on WGN-AM 720 to discuss current legal events and to answer listeners’ questions.

Posted August 3, 2015 3:14 PM

1882Congress passed what is considered to be the first general immigration law. The law had two components. One created a “head tax” on certain immigrants. The second gave immigration officials the authorization to expel certain immigrants among whom were “idiots, convicts and lunatics.”1981More than 13,000 air traffic controllers began a strike seeking higher wages, shorter working hours and better retirement benefits. President Ronald Reagan offered an ultimatum to workers that, if they did not …

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Judge ponders prudential mootness in case over permits

A federal judge in the District of Columbia looked to a 1990 opinion from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for guidance when considering whether to dismiss several claims against the State of Florida under the “melange of doctrines” referred to as “prudential mootness.”
By Steven P. Garmisa
Book details how Puerto Ricans established foothold in Chicago

La Casa Cultural Latina at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign marked its 50th anniversary with a celebration last month.
By Justice Ramon Ocasio III
Prosecutor suspended for inappropriate comments

Accused of violating an Iowa rule that says it is professional misconduct for an attorney to “engage in sexual harassment or other unlawful discrimination in the practice of law,” the top prosecutor in Wapello County argued that comments he allegedly made to his staff about defendants, judges and his predecessor were protected by his First Amendment right to free speech.
By Steven P. Garmisa
Court assesses facts necessary to decide insurer duty to defend

The 1st District Appellate Court recently addressed the limits of “extraneous” facts to be taken into account in deciding whether a complaint against an insured gives rise to a duty to defend.
By Don R. Sampen
Trial-setting preference law deserves to be protected

Imagine you are terminally ill with blood cancer acquired from chemical exposure at work, wondering how to assure your teenage children that they will be OK without you. Or you and your husband of 55 years were rear-ended on the expressway and your husband died in your arms. You are now an 80-year-old widow suffering from the trauma of that accident. Or you’re an active retiree who fractured a hip when the casino bus prematurely closed its door on you. You’re healing, but you’re 96 years old and realistic. None of these people have much time left.
By Kathy Byrne
High court considers split on arbitration mootness

Relying on cases that included a federal decision from Illinois, the respondent in proceedings to confirm an $11.4 million arbitration award asked the Washington Supreme Court to decide the litigation was moot because it fully paid the petitioner before a judgment was entered. But the high court, surveying dueling decisions from across the country, disagreed.
By Steven P. Garmisa
CBA to mark sesquicentennial with gala, inaugural award

The Chicago Bar Association turns 150 years old May 27 and continues to be a vibrant, relevant association of lawyers. Come out this Friday to help celebrate.
By Daniel A. Cotter
Courts split on correct venue for subpoena battle

When a non-party located in New Hampshire challenged a subpoena duces tecum that called for production of documents in Las Vegas, the first hurdle was a venue question that has “befuddled attorneys and split courts.”
By Steven P. Garmisa