Last year, the Illinois Judicial Conference Task Force on Artificial Intelligence (IJC) was created to develop recommendations for how the Illinois Judicial Branch should regulate and use artificial intelligence (AI) in the court system. The IJC made recommendations to the Illinois Supreme Court, which adopted a policy on AI effective January 1, 2025.

Republican lawmakers put forward a proposal to expel students who sexually assault another student at school. Current Illinois law has no provisions requiring schools to expel a student who commits sexual violence or assault against another student at school. However, the law says that if a student brings firearms, knives, brass knuckles, or other any other weapon that can be used to cause bodily harm into a school, they must be expelled for at least a year.

Former Cinespace Chicago Film Studios executive Alexander S. “Alex” Pissios worked undercover for federal authorities after they threatened to charge him with bankruptcy fraud. Recently, he gave a $50,000 campaign contribution to Cook County’s new state’s attorney, Eileen O’Neill Burke.

A Missouri Congressman has introduced a bill that would label unborn American children as people in the eyes of the law, and two Congress members from Illinois support it. U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri, a Republican, authored legislation that would "affirm the fundamental right to life for every human being, born and unborn,” and declare unborn children as “persons” under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, according to a news release.

The trial against one of the former owners of a Quincy business facing two theft charges was dismissed last week, and the trial for the other former owner also will be dismissed—if he follows through with an agreement reached Tuesday in Adams County Circuit Court. The trial for Andy P. Reardon, 58, of Spring Hill, Fla., was placed on the February jury docket during a Jan. 24 pretrial hearing. However, a trial for his wife, Michelle M. Reardon, 52, was dismissed at that hearing after Assistant State’s Attorney Brett Jansen filed a nolle prosequi—a formal entry of record by the prosecuting attorney who declares he or she is unwilling to prosecute a case.

 The Sangamon County Juvenile Center closed in October 2023 after an inmate got a gun, took another inmate hostage, and was shot by police while attempting to escape. Now the facility is back open, but it was a long process to reach that point.

Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the appointment of Kimberly Przekota as a judge in the Eleventh Subcircuit of the Cook County Circuit Court. 

Growth in billing rates contributed to a 12.5% increase in law firm revenue in 2024, up from 6% in 2023, according to a year-end survey by Wells Fargo’s Legal Specialty Group.