In a case that could resonate in Washington, the Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the state’s five-year-old medical malpractice law because it limited compensation to injured patients for pain, suffering and other non-economic harms.

The ruling came down as federal proposals to cap malpractice awards are receiving fresh attention on Capitol Hill. Republicans enthusiastically support the limits, and they are seen as a potential vehicle for restarting the stalled health care negotiations in Congress with bipartisan impetus. Neither the House bill that Democrats passed late last year nor its Senate counterpart included significant changes to medical malpractice regulations.

In a 4-to-2 ruling, the Illinois court wrote that the legislature, in enacting the 2005 law, violated the state Constitution’s separation of powers clause by imposing decisions that should be reserved for judges and juries. The law established caps of $500,000 for non-economic damages in verdicts against doctors and $1 million in cases against hospitals.

The decision armed opponents of such provisions with fresh ammunition, and held a particular sting for the American Medical Association, which has its headquarters in Chicago.

Weight Watchers International Inc. settled a lawsuit in which it accused rival Jenny Craig Inc. of running a misleading ad campaign.

“Jenny Craig has permanently agreed to terminate its advertising campaign,” Weight Watchers said today in a statement that didn’t mention money damages. Jenny Craig said it paid no damages or costs and admitted no wrongdoing.

In advertisements featuring the actress Valerie Bertinelli, Jenny Craig falsely claimed that independent clinical trials showed its clients on average lost twice as much as customers on “the largest weight loss program,” New York-based Weight Watchers said last month in a federal court complaint in New York. A judge on Jan. 20 issued a temporary court order blocking the ads.

Cleveland-based law firm Ulmer & Berne has signed a lease to occupy 18,000 square feet in the Citigroup Center for a larger Chicago office.

The new office at 500 W. Madison St. signals that the firm plans to expand from its current roster of eight attorneys. The new space can accommodate 30 lawyers plus staff. In September, the firm grew from two lawyers to eight with the addition of litigators from Reed Smith and Levenfeld Pearlstein.

Ulmer & Berne is the third Cleveland firm to enter or move to new offices in the Chicago market in recent months. Baker & Hostetler opened a new office at 191 N. Wacker Drive in November with four attorneys. In September McDonald Hopkins leased 24,000 square feet at 300 N. LaSalle St.

A Wisconsin appeals court has overturned the conviction of a man who was accused of trying to meet an underage girl to have sex.

The District 2 Court of Appeals says the prosecutor knew the woman that Clifford Bvocik wanted to meet was actually 28, but falsely suggested she was really 14 in his closing arguments.

Bvocik had been trying to meet the woman after they both joined a sex-themed Web site for adults.

The 28-year-old woman listed her actual age on the site, but later lied to Bvocik that she was 14. He continued to try to meet despite the claim, and she contacted Manitowoc Police.

Police continued communicating with Bvocik under her persona, and he was arrested after he went to meet her.

Toyota's public relations nightmare appears far from over.

The beleaguered automaker is facing renewed allegations that it systematically withheld information and ignored safety issues that could have prevented fatal accidents.

Dmitrios Biller, a former Toyota lawyer who handled product liability lawsuits, said in multiple media interviews that the automaker willfully tried to suppress evidence of defects.

"Toyota is a very secretive corporation," Biller told the L.A. Times. "It doesn't believe anybody outside the corporation deserves to know what is going on inside, even if it kills somebody."

"You have to understand that Toyota in Japan does not have any respect for our legal system. They did not have any respect for our laws."

An appeals court says an Orange County family can proceed with a lawsuit against the California Highway Patrol over graphic crash photos that were leaked by the agency.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana on Monday reversed a lower court's dismissal of the lawsuit against the CHP and two of its employees for leaking the photos of a decapitated teenager that ended up on the Internet.

In the ruling, the court said the family of Nicole "Nikki" Catsouras can pursue damages for negligence, invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress.

The CHP admitted that two employees e-mailed nine photos of Nikki's body to friends and family for apparent shock value on Halloween day in 2006.

An attorney for one of the employees says he is considering an appeal.