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The ceiling of Kansas City's Union Station. Photo by Flickr user Luca Sartoni.

Legislation RDM’s Knowledge Blog Archives

The Illinois State Capitol Building in Springfield, IL. Legislators recently approved a bill providing for prejudgment interest. Photo by Daniel X. O'Neil.

By Andrew J. Ascher
 · September 26th, 2022

On May 28, 2021, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law Senate Bill 0072, which established the first pre-judgment interest regime in the state. The Amendment applies only to personal injury and wrongful death actions and imposes a 6% pre-judgment interest on future damage awards. The interest accrues from the date of filing. It does not apply to all such cases, though; the Amendment provides defendants the opportunity to set off the pre-judgment interest through speedy settlement negotiations.

Continue reading Illinois Pre-Judgment Interest Statute Encourages Early Settlement

The United States Supreme Court.

By Dyanna Ballou
 · July 27th, 2022

In October 2020, RDM member attorney Dyanna Ballou wrote an article about jurisdiction stripping, a doctrine that allows Congress to remove jurisdiction from federal courts, including the Supreme Court. In light of recent Supreme Court rulings on abortion, gun control, and climate change regulations, Dyanna takes a fresh look at the concept of jurisdiction stripping below.

Continue reading Another Look at Jurisdiction Stripping, the Supreme Court, and Politics

A fingerprint being scanned for security. Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) regulates the collection and usage of biometric data by private entities.

By Nathan A. Lindsey
 · February 9th, 2022

The Illinois Supreme Court has answered a long-awaited question regarding the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) and its interaction with the state’s workers compensation statute. In McDonald v. Symphony Bronzeville Park, LLC, the Supreme Court addressed a certified question from the Court of Appeals to determine whether the Worker’s Compensation exclusivity provisions bar an employee’s claims filed under BIPA. The Court distinguished those workplace injuries suffered that were subject to the exclusivity provision, reasoning that a BIPA violation “is not the type of injury that categorically fits within the purview of the Compensation Act and is thus not compensable under the Compensation Act.”

Continue reading The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act

A person receiving a COVID-19 vaccination. RDM's Brandon Powell discusses employer mandated vaccinations.

By Brandon Powell
 · August 19th, 2021

In a previous post on the RDM Knowledge Blog, we wrote about the legal authority of both federal and state governments to mandate vaccinations among its citizens. In the article, we surmised that although states would have the authority to require vaccines, the political climate rendered such a position unlikely. This has been largely borne out, as no state has made vaccinations compulsory among non-employees, even more than six months after the widespread availability of multiple vaccines and despite lagging vaccination numbers in many states.

Continue reading Can Employers Require COVID-19 Vaccinations?

The Missouri Supreme Court recently issued an opinion on non-economic damages caps.

By The RDM Team
 · July 27th, 2021

The Missouri Supreme Court has issued an opinion that could greatly impact the trajectory of tort law in the state. On July 22nd, 2021, the Court upheld Missouri’s non-economic damages cap for medical negligence claims and further held that it does not violate the Missouri Constitution’s right to trial by jury for the legislature to abolish personal injury causes of action existing in common law and replace by statute the same type of claim with new standards.

Continue reading Non-Economic Damages Caps: A Creature of Statute