A recent report cast a critical eye on the widespread practice of charging "user fees" to defendants in the Illinois criminal justice system.

Gun trusts, a useful but controversial estate planning tool, can enable trust users to obtain federally restricted firearms without meeting some requirements imposed on individuals.

By minimizing the need to appear in front of Illinois courts, the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act reduces the complexity and cost of litigating across state lines.

A federal district judge issues a strongly worded rejection of Jacoby & Meyer's challenge to New York's rule banning nonattorney ownership of law firms.

Under a proposed change to the Rules of Professional Conduct, Illinois prosecutors would have to disclose credible post-conviction evidence that a person found guilty is in fact innocent.

An Illinois court awarded custody and control of frozen pre-embryos to the woman whose eggs were fertilized to create them.

In Hadley, the Illinois Supreme Court rules that a defamation plaintiff who can survive a motion to dismiss can expose an anonymous online defendant.

If a spouse gets a government pension instead of Social Security, can the pension be protected in a divorce settlement to offset the other spouse's Social Security? No, the Illinois Supreme Court held.

Now that all couples can marry, will companies continue to offer benefits to same-sex partners?

Collectors of data will have to notify consumers and the Illinois Attorney General about a broader range of breaches if a newly passed bill becomes law.

After years of effort, a major reworking of Illinois family law passes the General Assembly.

Among other things, a bill reworking the Parentage Act allows courts to refuse DNA testing that could deprive kids of their only known parent.

A look at the Illinois Supreme Court's reasoning in In re Pension Reform Litigation.

HB 218 would lower the penalty for possessing small amounts of marijuana to a fine and change DUI law so that drivers could no longer be charged for registering only trace amounts of cannabis.

After police said dashcam videos of a traffic-related marijuana arrest didn't exist, the defendant announced he already had them. How? He got them in response to a FOIA request.

The proposed Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act would make it easier for executors and others to access the growing body of electronic data Illinoisans leave behind.

Unidentified funds rattling around in your IOLTA account? Effective next month, amendments to Illinois Rule of Professional Responsibility 1.15 make it easier to dispose of them.

Illinois bar examiners are raising the passing score - but not as much as originally planned.

Creating a new critical-self-analysis privilege is the job of the legislature, not the judiciary, the Illinois Supreme Court rules recently.

Pending Illinois House and Senate bills could adversely affect condominium owners and contractors, among others.

In McCormick, the Illinois Supreme Court rules in an interstate custody dispute that subject matter jurisdiction comes from the constitution, not from a statute.

Ernie Banks' family has said they'll challenge his will, which was executed before Illinois' tough new Presumptively Void Transfers Act took effect.

Governor Rauner's Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform has a goal of reducing the population of Illinois' overcrowded prisons by 25 percent over 10 years.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled recently that the state can't categorically forbid carrying an uncased, loaded gun on a "public way" - but that banning minors or non-FOID-card holders from possessing weapons is a different story.

Judge Michael McCuskey made the rare journey from the state to the federal bench and back again - and he's happy to leave federal court behind.

A new law requires Amazon and other online retailers without a physical presence in Illinois to collect sales tax, the way their brick-and-mortar counterparts do.

Senate Bill 23 would allow noncitizens who meet the requirements of the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival to apply for admission to the bar.

The challenge of choosing a six-person panel may make you rethink your jury-selection strategy. But some lawyers are asking whether the change in jury size violates the Illinois Constitution.

Since 2011, banks have been required to report IOLTA-account overdrafts to the Illinois ARDC. The resulting investigations often uncover bookkeeping mistakes that get lawyers into trouble.

Bills creating six-person civil juries and a new eavesdropping law were signed by the governor.