A law requiring party-slated candidates for the Illinois General Assembly to gather voter signatures before they may be placed on the ballot passes muster under the First Amendment, a federal appeals court ruled today.

Three litigators said they seized a chance to bolster their intellectual property practices by joining Steptoe & Johnson LLP in the past five weeks.

When Michelle M. Kohut takes the reins of the state's largest women's bar group next month, she will face what many of its members also confront — balancing motherhood with the demands of a legal career.

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Patrick J. Quinn must decide if he will sign a measure allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes after the state Senate approved legislation today.

SPRINGFIELD — The state's high court is set to decide whether a minor should be incarcerated for violating probation after getting caught drinking alcohol.

A typical weekday for Jennifer Wood began at 6 a.m. After driving 30 to 45 minutes from her Plainfield home to a Metra station in Naperville, Wood rode a train for 45 minutes to the Loop.

SPRINGFIELD — Politics has long been a family business in Illinois, a place where who you know — and who you're related to — matters more than most. But the family drama shaping up around the next governor's race adds a new layer of intrigue in a Capitol already grappling with huge financial problems.

WASHINGTON — A second federal appeals court has found that President Barack Obama exceeded his power when he bypassed the Senate to install a member to the National Labor Relations Board.

CINCINNATI — An Ohio man was found guilty Thursday of fatally shooting a man who authorities say identified his assailant by blinking his eyes while paralyzed and hooked up to a ventilator.

PHILADELPHIA — A federal appeals court is weighing the constitutionality of a Delaware law allowing chancery judges to oversee secret arbitration in high-stakes business disputes.

In the new psychiatric manual of mental disorders, grief soon after a loved one's death can be considered major depression. Extreme childhood temper tantrums get a fancy name. And certain "senior moments" are called "mild neurocognitive disorder."

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder and a leading House Republican clashed Wednesday over the Justice Department's refusal to turn over the private e-mails of Thomas Perez, a top department official nominated to be labor secretary.