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Carl Smith Jr. was convicted of residential burglary and sentenced to 6 ½ years’imprisonment. The conviction arises from the crime victim arriving home to find a door thatdid not open properly, and who subsequently found dozens of missing hydrocodone pills,removed jewelry, and that an apartment window had been broken.At the trial court, Mr. Smith moved to exclude iPhone video evidence which re-recordedsurveillance video. Mr. Smith argued the videos were not admissible pursuant to the IllinoisRule of Evidence 1003 and 1004, or alternatively that they are barred by the common lawbest evidence rule. In short, Mr. Smith contended that the duplicate…
Continue Reading Illinois Supreme Court: iPhone Recording of Surveillance Video is Not Barred by Best Evidence Rule (People v. Smith)

Nakiya Moran was convicted for murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, arising out of a 2006 shooting in Calumet City, Illinois. After being convicted, the defendant learned that Calumet City had failed to turn over a ballistics report, which tied the firearm used to a different shooting. Moran alleged that this evidence had to have been turned over pursuant to Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) (establishing the rule that the prosecution must turn over all evidence that might exonerate the defendant). Moran sought postconviction relief under the Brady standard, a state court vacated the conviction and allowed…
Continue Reading Nakiya Moran v. Calumet City, Illinois

 A federal class action lawsuit was filed Thursday against Mercedes-Benz in the Northern District of Illinois. The Complaint brings suit on behalf of Jim Rose, of Illinois; Anita Gian, of New York; and similarly situated individuals. Specifically, individuals who purchased Mercedes vehicles which were equipped with the “MBRACE” systems in their vehicles. A variety of Mercedes models included this technology, ranging from models created in 2000, up to certain models from 2017; the 2017 models included some of the most expensive offerings, like the G-Class Coupe, S-Class cabriolet, and the S65 AMG. The Complaint alleges however that the technology became effectively…
Continue Reading Class Action Suit Filed Against Mercedes Over 3G Internet Compatability

The chess world has been turned upside down, by a 19-year-old champion who defeated the perennial greatest in the world, Magnus Carlsen. After the teenager defeated Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup tournament (“Cup”) in September of 2022 in St. Louis, Missouri, rumors swirled about alleged cheating by the teenager, Hans Neiman, the champion of the important chess tournament. While it was not the first time Carlsen was defeated by Nieman, it was the first time that happened at an officially sanctioned event. While Carlsen never directly accused Nieman of cheating, he is purported to have done so in so many words.
Continue Reading Chess World in Uproar as Defamation Lawsuit Filed Against Reigning World Champion Carlsen

 A Pennsylvania Appeals Court considered the extent that a purported arbitration agreement is enforceable for riders on the Uber app. It is increasingly commonplace for users to “agree” to clickthrough, scroll through, or hyperlinked terms and conditions, in order to use an app or other sort of online program. While these sorts of agreements are generally considered to be acceptable, there may be certain provisions which require further attention.Shannon Chilutti filed a lawsuit against Uber after being injured while riding in the car. Uber contends however, that Chilutti may not file a lawsuit and request a jury trial because of…
Continue Reading Court Finds Uber Arbitration Agreement Invalid, In-App Terms and Conditions Not Enough

Tuesday morning, the Department of Labor announced new regulations pertaining to how gig workers are classified. The battle has often taken place in the past at the state level, for example, ride share companies recently invested heavily to defeat propositions in California which would have required that drivers for Uber and Lyft be classified as traditional employees, rather than independent contractors. The regulation will require a review period and comments will be received. The 184 page proposed regulation includes a new framework, which departs from the Trump-era test, which primarily considered 1.) the nature and degree of control over the work;…
Continue Reading Biden Administration Looks to Change Who is Considered a Gig Worker Under Proposed DOL Regulation

A privacy suit against Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions was removed to federal court last week, six weeks after it was originally filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The complaint was filed by several Chicago-area activists, who are objecting to Lexis Nexus’s bulk sale of personally identifiable data, specifically regarding the sale of this information to law enforcement agencies.Lexis Nexis offers data available to purchase, the company claims the information is 99% accurate, and that there are 276 million so-called “Lexis IDs.” Put into context, there are just over 258 million American adults, according to the 2020 census.The complaint, primarily…
Continue Reading New Complaint Filed Against Lexis Nexis, Over Personal Information Collected and Distributed to Law Enforcement

A Biometric Information Privacy Act Complaint against Amazon was removed to the Northern District of Illinois on Wednesday morning. The class action Complaint alleges that Amazon unlawfully obtained biometric information of its employees at several locations. Notably, the suit states that it is unclear how long Amazon stores the biometric information, which likely runs afoul of the Illinois statute. Among other portions of the Act, the Complaint alleges that Amazon knowingly disregarded the requirements to inform employees that biometric information was being collected, that a written release be obtained prior, and that the company was profiting off of the information. One particularly…
Continue Reading More Biometric Information Privacy Act Litigation, BIPA Suit Against Amazon Removed to Federal Court

 Xpressdocs Partners, L.P. (“ExpressDocs”) filed a breach of contract lawsuit Monday morning against D’Aprile Properties, LLC, Midwest Lending Corporation, and Ryan D’Aprile (“D’Aprile”), individually; in the Northern District of Illinois, alleging breach of contract in the amount of $317,391.57 for alleged marketing services rendered. The Complaint alleges that the Defendants are ultimately one and the same, as D’Aprile, and the entities largely operate in the same fashion, as such, it alleges the Defendants together failed to pay the marketing bills for over six months. Xpressdocs provides a wide variety of marketing services, its website lists brand management, automated direct mail, and…
Continue Reading Breach of Contract Complaint Filed Over Unpaid Marketing Materials

With so many companies switching to a cloud solution, it is difficult to imagine it any other way than good. However, that is far from the truth.
Cloud ERP is unquestionably great for vendors. It shortens the sales cycles, decreases contract negotiations, and above all increases software vendor profits. For vendors it results in a consistent revenue stream. Because of the perpetual nature of cloud payments, the cost of cloud solutions for customers over the long term is much higher than traditional on-premise solutions – and the profits for vendors can be exponentially higher.
For customers, the ease of implementation,…
Continue Reading Migrating To The Cloud – Don’t Believe The Hype

From modernizing business processes, accelerating workflows, and increased profitability, there are plenty of upsides to an ERP software implementation or full scale digital transformation. However, there are many things that can go wrong during and after the implementation process that can result in an implementation train wreck. In the cases we litigate on behalf of ERP customers victimized by software failures, the reason for the failure almost always lies squarely with the ERP vendor or integrator.
Failure can take a multitude of forms, from not realizing expected business benefits, blown budgets, extended timelines, and the failure of deliverables to conform…
Continue Reading Why ERP Software Implementations and Digital Transformations Fail

Oversold and misrepresented software, missed deadlines, inexperienced consultants, and budget overruns are all common occurrences in a digital transformation. The reality is that as a customer, the odds of a successful ERP implementation, or digital transformation, are stacked against you.
When clients come to us in the midst of an ERP or digital transformation train wreck, they are overwhelmed and frustrated. Many times they are convinced they have a case, and want to sue their ERP vendor. Our response is almost always the same: “have you done everything you can – within reason – to make sure that the project…
Continue Reading The Question You Need To Ask Yourself Before Filing A Lawsuit Against Your ERP Software Vendor:

While the ERP contract negotiation process is dependent on the facts of the particular transaction, all negotiations have a similar process and a similar trajectory. The cost of the software and implementation, the importance of the software being licensed, the number of vendors, and the risk presented by the technology will all impact the length and difficulty of the contract negotiation process.

  • Dollar Amount of the Deal. Smaller sized deals usually demand less of an investment in attorney time and attorney review than larger sized deals. There is also the issue of risk; smaller deals usually (though not always) present

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    Continue Reading The ERP Contract Negotiation Process – How Long Does It Really Take?

    There are lots of ways a digital transformation can go wrong, even with a negotiated contract that spells out in detail what the software vendor and integrator will do, when they will do it, and what they will be paid. This is even more true during a recession. As we have repeatedly said on this blog, implementing software solely because you want the latest and greatest technology almost guarantees failure. The project has to be tied to a business case. Digital transformations that do not add value to the business simply do not make sense. Projects that add value are…
    Continue Reading Recessions Amplify The Risks To A Successful Digital Transformation