Illinois State Bar Association Offering Free Trust Accounting & Billing Software to All Members With Smokeball Bill

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Marybeth Stanziola

Small law firms across Illinois just scored a major win. Smokeball, the industry-leading legal practice management software platform and legal AI trailblazer, today announced an exclusive relationship with the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) to provide all members with complimentary access to Smokeball Bill, its powerful trust accounting and billing solution.

in November 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court spoke on section 22.1 of the Illinois Condominium Act, holding that it did not provide condo sellers with a private right of action against their associations’ boards or property managers related to allegedly excessive fees for the production of documents mandated under that section.

From: 
The National Law Review

A federal judge has allowed several claims to move forward in a lawsuit accusing Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago of failing to protect patient data in a 2024 cyberattack that compromised the personal and medical information of about 791,784 people.

From: 
Becker's Health IT

Flock Safety has reinstalled the automatic license-plate reader cameras that the City of Evanston ordered it to take down in August over privacy concerns. The north suburb responded to the cameras’ reappearance by covering them in plastic sheeting to make sure they’re not photographing license plates.

From: 
Chicago Tribune

Gov. JB Pritzker said the Illinois National Guard obtained a memo that the Department of Homeland Security sent to the Defense Department, which sought to request 100 military personnel for Illinois.

From: 
Chicago Sun-Times

The Illinois Community Emergency Services and Support Act, signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2021, limits police presence unless violence or criminal activity is anticipated. The law’s full implementation has faced repeated delays, with the deadline now pushed back to June 30, 2027, as the state conducts pilot tests in select 911 centers.

From: 
Advantage News

Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres Secures Appellate Victory in Estate of John Podmajersky, Jr.

Posted on September 29, 2025 by Marybeth Stanziola

Chicago, IL, September 26, 2025– Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres (CFDB) announced that the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, today affirmed in full the trial court’s judgment in favor of CFDB’s client, Lisa Podmajersky, reinforcing the validity her father, John Podmajersky, Jr.'s estate plans, concluding a multi-year, complex litigation.

Dozens of federal immigration agents took individuals into custody during a winding patrol Sunday through downtown Chicago, and a top U.S. Border Patrol official told WBEZ the agents were arresting people based on “how they look.”

From: 
Chicago Sun-Times

Energy company ExxonMobil has pledged to appeal what it calls an "irrational verdict" delivered by a Chicago jury this week, which awarded $32 million to a woman who slipped on spilled oil at an ExxonMobil facility while working as a truck driver.

From: 
Legal Newsline

As the U.S. government escalates immigration raids in Illinois and nationwide, some Illinois sheriffs are expressing support and a desire for greater cooperation with federal immigration enforcement despite state laws that limit their involvement.

From: 
Capitol News Illinois