A caseworker assigned to monitor Illinois foster child Mackenzi Felmlee — who later died in May 2024 — had a troubling past, including an arrest for a violent crime and orders of protection filed against her by eight women for alleged threats, harassment, and abuse, court documents show.

According to the latest Legislative Heat Check Report, Illinois is now a lawsuit inferno. The report by the American Tort Reform Association says the General Assembly’s passage of Illinois Senate Bill 328 sends a message that Illinois is not open for business.

A deadly shooting in New York raises urgent questions—Illinois officials discuss how the state's red flag law aims to prevent similar tragedies through temporary firearm restraining orders.

At a community meeting in the West Loop, Kwame Raoul joins Democratic counterparts from other states in a discussion on the impacts of cuts to services, unlawful enforcement actions, and ways to respond via courts.

 A man accused of fatally shooting his daughter-in-law outside a northwest suburban hotel was ordered detained in the Cook County Jail on Monday. A Rolling Meadows Court judge ruled 76-year-old Roland Schmidt is a danger to the community, witnesses to the crime, and his family.

Debra B. Walker, a native of Carthage, and Chicago attorney Genevieve E. (nee Niemann) Miller, a native of Quincy, were recently honored by the Illinois State Bar Association. Miller received ISBA’s Young Lawyer of the Year Award, while Walker received ISBA’s Carole Bellows Woman of Influence Award.

A Macon County jury awarded a family $17.1 million Tuesday in a wrongful death lawsuit after their infant son died in 2019. Attorneys for Colton and Hannah Bayless said the family’s son Oliver suffered injuries during childbirth in May 2018, and the injuries resulted in his death in February 2019.

Justice David K. Overstreet and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the recall and appointment of the Honorable James Hackett to the Fifth District Appellate Court. Judge Hackett is being recalled and appointed to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Thomas Welch on July 7, 2025. The appointment is effective August 8, 2025, and will conclude on December 7, 2026.

A Chicago man faces multiple felonies in connection with properties being defaced on the city’s West Side. Philip Dominguez, 38, a resident of the 2400 block of South Springfield Avenue, faces five felony counts of hate crime to property, one felony count of criminal damage to property, and five misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property under $500.