Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is pleased to announce that partners Megan Lopp Mathias, Vaishali Rao, and Paula Wegman have been selected by Crain’s Chicago Business among its 2024 Notable Women in Law. A total of 141 women attorneys from 78 law firms were honored, with Hinshaw among only 20 firms to have three or more attorneys selected.

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP today announced the addition of eight attorneys in its Consumer Financial Services practice and the opening of a New Jersey office in Iselin. Ben Raindorf, Anthony Scali, Mitchell Zipkin, and Robert Bailey have joined as partners, Kyle Stefanczyk as counsel, and Asha Abraham and Karena Straub are new associates. As part of this group, Donald Seeley has joined Hinshaw as an associate in the Boston office.

A significant win by Hinshaw client Merchants Credit Guide Co. at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit was named one of the "Top Ten Most Influential Cases" for the Accounts Receivable Management industry in 2020 by Collector Magazine. The putative class action case involved a decisive victory on an FDCPA claim that centered on a credit reporting method that is widely used in the credit and collections industry. David Schultz, Jennifer Weller, and Stephen Swofford represented Merchants Credit on the successful dismissal of this case at the district court level and on appeal.

In a recent InsuranceNewsNet article, Scott Seaman, a Chicago-based partner and co-chair of Hinshaw's Insurance Services Group, discussed how a legislative amendment to the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) will benefit insurers and policyholders while further protecting biometric data.

Hinshaw's Ambrose McCall recently appeared on the Greg & Dan Show to discuss Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), a comprehensive statutory scheme governing the collection of biometric data by private companies. McCall discussed BIPA’s scope and requirements, along with scenarios in which the statue would or would not apply.

In the February 8, 2021 edition of the ARM Compliance Digest, Hinshaw partner Vaishali Rao reviews the release by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of a special edition of its Supervisory Highlights report, detailing information it received from the entities it regulates about how they have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic:

Hinshaw attorney Judy Selby will co-present at a Columbia University webinar on the topic of Privacy and Cross-Border Jurisdictions. The panelist will share their insights and best practices related to data privacy, and review the current landscape of enterprise risk.

Hinshaw partners Judy Selby and John DeLascio will co-present at a National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) webinar titled "Liability, Coverage, and Underwriting Issues Related to Biometric Privacy Laws," on September 17, 2020.

New Hampshire is the fourteenth state with a comprehensive privacy law, as signed by Governor Sununu on March 6, 2024. The new law will go into effect on January 1, 2025. Continue reading for our Q&A on the "trusted" number 14!

The Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act (“GIPA”) was enacted in 1998, and although minimal litigation followed in the years following its enaction, we are now seeing a significant surge in litigation similar to that experienced under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”).

We share news of a significant defense victory before the Illinois Supreme Court in a claim involving the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). In a case argued by Hinshaw partner John Ryan, the Supreme Court handed down the first employer-friendly decision in any BIPA case it has considered. The issue before the Court was whether "Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (29 U.S.C. §185) preempt Privacy Act claims (740 ILCS 14/1) asserted by bargaining unit employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement?"

Yesterday, the Illinois Supreme Court held that the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act's exclusive remedy provisions do not bar employees from filing lawsuits in civil court against their employers for alleged violations of the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), when no other injury is alleged. McDonald v. Symphony Bronzeville Park, LLC, 2022 IL 126511. 

The Illinois state legislature passed the Biometric Information Privacy Act in 2008. The law, known as BIPA, covers and regulates private employer use of biometric identifiers and biometric information of Illinois employees. Local and state governmental employers are specifically exempted.