News


  • RCC's Fay Clayton will be presented by the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc. with the Edwin A. Rothschild Award for Lifetime Achievement in Civil Rights at its July 11, 2013 annual luncheon at the Palmer House Hilton.
      
  • RCC obtained a default judgment as a discovery sanction on behalf of the plaintiffs in a multi-million dollar RICO case pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. After recounting the defendants' extensive and ongoing discovery violations, as well as plaintiffs' prior demonstration of a likelihood of success on the merits, the court found that "plaintiffs cannot be expected to try their case in the face of such intransigence," and declared RCC's clients the winners on the merits of their claims. The opinion can be read here.
  • Representing eleven construction workers, RCC, alongside the EEOC, obtained a $2.75 million settlement from a national corporation in an employment case that included allegations of hangman's nooses and other invidious acts of discrimination.  The settlement, which was reached on the eve of trial in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, also included a stringent consent decree that imposes training and reporting requirements for three years. The settlement benefits not only RCC's African-American clients who were subjected to racial harassment, but also its white clients who were harassed for standing up for their black co-workers.  On August 23, 2012, the court entered the public consent decree containing the terms of the settlement, which can be read here .

  • RCC's Robert Michaels moderated a panel discussion about fraud at the Turnaround Management Association's Mid-America Regional Conference, on September 13, 2012 at the Hyatt Magnificent Mile in Chicago.  Featuring former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley as keynote speaker, the Conference offered terrific educational and networking opportunities with a broad range of professionals in the turnaround and restructuring arenas.   Click here to learn more about the Conference.

  • RCC obtained two important victories in a major ongoing RICO and shareholder derivative suit pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, including a grant of a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.  Click here and here to read the opinions.

  • RCC won summary judgment for a volume buyer of waste paper against one of its former suppliers, which had sought $3 million in liquidated damages under the parties' contracts.  Judge Darrah of the United States District Court for the Northern Disrict of Illinois agreed with RCC that the liquidated damages provisions were uneforceable penalties, and that because the supplier sought only liquidated damages, its claims failed.  Click here to read the opinion. 

  • RCC shareholder Fay Clayton was honored as a Chicago "legal legend" by the American Constitution Society, and just joined the Board of Advisors for the organization's Chicago Chapter.  Ms. Clayton was also named one of "Chicago's Best Lawyers" for 2012 by Best Lawyers Guide.  

  • Representing American investors in a major business park outside Krakow, Poland, RCC defeated nine motions to dismiss a complex RICO and fraud case against the park's other shareholders and their co-conspirators.  Judge Bucklo of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois found that the complaint RCC drafted "sets forth lucid, detailed allegations that identify with substantial precision the specific wrongdoing attributed each defendant," and that it "is as well-organized as it is detailed, and the story it presents is cogent and plausible."  Click here to read the opinion.

  • On March 29, 2011, RCC partner Lydia Bueschel appeared on WTTW's nightly news program, Chicago Tonight, to discuss the Supreme Court's consideration of Walmart v. Dukes.  Click here to see a video clip of the discussion.

  • RCC obtained a dismissal of all claims against the FDIC in its capacity as Receiver of Mutual Bank of Harvey, Illinois, in a case filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  The court recognized the FDIC's role as receiver is distinct from its role as bank regulator or insurer of bank deposits.  The court held the Administrative Procedures Act does not apply to the FDIC in its capacity as Receiver, and refused to second-guess the Receiver's decision to deny plaintiffs' claims against Mutual Bank's estate.  Click here to read the opinion. 

  • Representing the successor to a major mortgage lender, RCC filed a federal RICO case against more than 70 defendants arising from a notorious $100 million residential mortgage fraud scheme in Michigan.  The Complaint in Fremont Reorganizing Corp. v. Duke et al., No. 2:10-cv-11923-DML-RSW (E.D. Mich.) alleges that Ronnie Earl Duke and his co-conspirators perpetrated a ghost and straw loan scheme to defraud mortgage lenders, including RCC's client, which suffered approximately $20 million in damages.  Defendants include Duke, property buyers and sellers, title companies, real estate and mortgage brokers, appraisers, and a bank.  

  • Nevada Insurance Commisioner Brett J. Barratt and Deputy Receiver Betty Cordial appointed RCC as counsel to advise on receivership and liquidation issues in connection with Financial Advisors Assurance Select, RRG, an insolvent Nevada risk retention group.

  • FIFTH CIRCUIT VICTORY.  RCC won a major victory for the Mississippi Insurance Commissioner in his capacity as Receiver of three insolvent insurance companies looted by the notorious Martin Frankel.  Chaney v. ALA Acquisitions, Inc., 595 F.3d 219 (2010).  The court unanimously reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment on the Receiver's negligence claims against Dreyfus Service Corporation, a major financial institution through which Frankel looted and laundered over $200 million of the insurance companies' assets.  The court agreed with RCC that Dreyfus owed its insurance company customers a duty of reasonable care and that Dreyfus's efforts "to identify the origin, legitimacy, or ultimate destination of the funds passing through its accounts were . . . non-existent."  The court remanded the case for trial and denied Dreyfus's motions for rehearing and en banc review.

  • ILLINOIS APPELLATE COURT VICTORY.  RCC won a significant appeal for the Director of the Illinois Division of Insurance in his capacity as Liquidator of three insolvent insurance companies.  McRaith v. BDO Seidman, 391 Ill. App. 3d 565, 909 N.E. 2d 310 (2009).  The court unanimously reversed the dismissal of the Liquidator's professional negligence claims against the insurance companies' former auditor, rejecting the auditors' imputation-based in pari delicto defense.  Recognizing that insurance company receivers/liquidators are "statutorily charged with preserving the rights of [] policyholders and creditors," the court found it would be "unlawful, as well as illogical" to impute to the Liquidator the misconduct of the insurance companies' former CEO/Board Chairman who looted the companies.  The Court held:  "the imputation doctrine does not apply to the director of the State of Illinois Division of Insurance when acting as an insolvent insurance company liquidator under the statutory authority provided by the Illinois Insurance Code."  The court also agreed with RCC that the "sole owner" doctrine does not apply to insurance companies because of the unique regulatory environment in which they operate.  The decision sets an important precedent for insurance company liquidators, who frequently face imputation-based in pari delicto affirmative defenses from third-party service provider defendants.  

  • RCC's Fay Clayton was profiled in Today's Chicago Woman magazine.
    icon Click Here to read this article. 

  • Several RCC lawyers have been chosen to play key roles in important legal and civic organizations.  Fay Clayton was named a member of Senator Dick Durbin's Bipartisan Screening Committee for Federal Judges, U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals for the State of Illinois, which will recommend candidates for those vital jobs to Senator Durbin and President Obama.  Philip Curley was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Association of Insurance Receivers.  Cindy Hyndman was selected to serve on the Board of Advisors of the Chicago Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society.  And Robert Margolis was selected to serve on the Board of Directors of Lawyers for the Creative Arts.  

  • ANOTHER SUPREME COURT VICTORY (this time as amicus curiae).   By a vote of 9-0, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Bridge v. Phoenix Bond & Indemnity Co. that plaintiffs in civil RICO cases with mail or wire fraud predicate acts need not prove that they personally relied on defendants' misrepresentations; they need only show that their injuries were proximately caused by the misrepresentations, even if a third party relied on them.  This was the exact position taken in the amicus curiae brief RCC filed on behalf of the International Association of Insurance Receivers ("IAIR").  The Court's ruling is a major victory for IAIR, whose members are now free to pursue RICO claims against malefactors who loot insurance company assets by making misrepresentations to third-party insurance regulators.  The Court's opinion is here and RCC's amicus brief is here.

  • SUPREME COURT VICTORY.  RCC won a major victory for civil rights plaintiffs in the United States Supreme Court.  By a vote of 7 to 2, the Court ruled in the case of CBOCS West, Inc. v Humphries that Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 allows claims for retaliation.  The details are here. 

  • RCC obtained a $9 million settlement for victims of workplace racial harassment. The settlement, which was reached in the midst of trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, also included a tough consent decree, which includes five years of independent oversight and monitoring of defendant International Truck & Engine Co.

  • RCC won a $1.2 million judgment for Chicago-based Stratego Consulting, which was wrongly denied full compensation by one of its clients. The judgment resulted from a week-long bench trial in the Circuit Court of Cook County.