Illinois Business Journal Illinois Business Journal
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Madison County's class-action label may drive businesses away
By KERRY L. SMITH

   Poll business executives as to what kind of reputation Madison County, Ill. has when it comes to class-action litigation, and you can pretty much predict the negative response you will get.
   Sadly, Madison County has earned it. But the real issue is this: what kind of reform is doable, and how quickly can it be done before more companies cross this region off the list of prospective areas in which to [continue]

Madison County Illinois class-action lawsuits
Madison County Circuit Judge Nicholas Brown walks out at recess during a hearing in mid April on a motion by cigarette maker Philip Morris USA to reduce a $12 billion bond that Byron required the company to pay pending an appeal in Edwardsville. The world's largest cigarette maker lost a class-action suit in Madison County in March and Byron ordered the company to pay $10.1 billion for 'tricking smokers into believing light cigarettes are less harmful than regular brands.' Philip Morris proved successful in getting its appeal bond cut in half.
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Illinois Senate does two step in approving minimum wage increase

 
FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE HISTORY

 
 Effective Date
 
   Oct. 24, 1938
   Oct. 24, 1939
   Oct. 24, 1945
   Jan. 25, 1950
   Mar. 01, 1956
   Sep. 03, 1961
   Sep. 03, 1963
   Sep. 03, 1964
   Sep. 03, 1965
   Feb. 01, 1967
   Feb. 01, 1968
   Feb. 01, 1969
   Feb. 01, 1970
   Feb. 01, 1971
   May 01, 1974
   Jan. 01, 1975
   Jan. 01, 1976
   Jan. 01, 1978
   Jan. 01, 1979
   Jan. 01, 1980
   Jan. 01, 1981
   Apr. 01, 1990
   Apr. 01, 1991
   Oct. 01, 1996
   Sep. 01, 1997

 
Amount 
 
$0.25   
$0.30   
$0.40   
$0.75   
$1.00   
$1.15   
$1.25   
$1.15   
$1.25   
$1.40   
$1.60   
$1.30   
$1.45   
$1.60   
$2.00   
$2.10   
$2.30   
$2.65   
$2.90   
$3.10   
$3.35   
$3.80   
$4.25   
$4.75   
$5.15   
 

 Courtesy of U.S. Dept. Labor 
 
 By LISA VAZZI SCIRANKO
and KERRY L. SMITH

   While Illinois Democrats are touting the socioeconomic advantages of increasing the state's minimum wage by $1.35, Republicans and small business owners are concerned it will negatively impact an already weak labor economy.
   Where federal and state laws differ as to as to minimum wage, the higher standard applies. Illinois, Missouri and Indiana have minimum wage rates

identical to the federal wage rate.
   Illinois State Sen. Martin A. Sandoval, a Democrat from District 12 in Cicero, is one of three co-sponsors of Senate Bill 600. At press time, the bill had already passed through the Senate with a partisan vote of 33-23 and had been reassigned to the state House Labor Committee. The legislation proposes raising the rate from $5.15 to $6.50 an hour.
   The revised bill language calls for a two-step [continue]

 Attorney blends compassion, expertise
 in counseling clients

. richard_gillingham By KERRY L. SMITH

  CARROLLTON -- After nearly two decades of practicing law in his hometown of Carrollton, Richard Gillingham knows firsthand that who you are and how you treat others relates directly to the profession of being an attorney.
   A sole practitioner, Gillingham, 43, has owned his own practice for [continue]
 

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