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A COURSE CORRECTION FOR ANALYZING CLAIMS OF TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE WITH AT-WILL CONTRACTS: ABANDONING A LINE OF ILLINOIS DECISIONS FOUNDED ON A MISTAKE

An Article by Joe Jeffery

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Illinois recognizes two types of torts to remedy an actor’s interference with a party’s business relationships: tortious interference with contract and tortious interference with prospective economic advantage.[1] Whether interference with an at-will contract is more appropriately remedied under the interference-with-contract tort or the interference-with-prospective-economic-advantage tort is a distinction with a significant difference. Determining which tort applies may be critical to the outcome of a dispute because the two torts provide different levels of protection against a third party’s interference.[2] Contractual relationships enjoy greater protection from interference than relationships based on the mere possibility of future economic advantage.[3]

[1] See Fellhauer v. City of Geneva, 568 N.E.2d 870, 877–78 (Ill. 1991); see also Speakers of Sport, Inc. v. ProServ, Inc., 178 F.3d 862, 865 (7th Cir. 1999) (“[I]nducing the termination of a contract, even when the termination … Read the rest

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GUARDING THE AMERICAN DREAM: RESTRICTING INSTITUTIONAL ACQUISITIONS TO PRESERVE FAMILY HOMEOWNERSHIP

A Note by Kyle Laird

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Since the real estate market collapse of 2008-2009, the American housing market has seen a plethora of changes.[1] Cost of living has skyrocketed, making the American Dream unattainable for many.[2] Cost of living has risen for a multitude of reasons, including high interest rates, housing price influxes, and new market competitors.[3] Homeownership is essential for building wealth and a retirement: families can build equity through the gradual price increase, tax deduction incentives, and capital gains exclusions on sales, setting up generational wealth.[4] Further, home equity is often the largest component of net worth, a great incentive to fostering financial growth.[5] The American home ownership rate has decreased since its peak in 2004 and has hovered around sixty-five percent since.[6] Congress has made attempts to spark a resurgence, but it has struggled finding the … Read the rest

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HIGH EXPECTATIONS: WHAT RESCHEDULING MARIJUANA COULD MEAN FOR THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY

A Note by Elsie Layman

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On January 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a review addressed to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that recommended marijuana (Cannabis sativa L.) be rescheduled from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substance Act.[1] The unredacted recommendation was released as a result of the effort of Matthew Zorn, who filed a Freedom of Information Act complaint against HHS in September 2023.[2] Zorn announced the recommendation would be released on January 11, 2024 on his blog, writing: “I win . . .  Impossible just takes a few weeks.”[3] The release of this recommendation is a win not only for Zorn and people who enjoy the drug recreationally, but for the U.S. cannabis market, which was valued at $13.2 billion in 2022.[4]

[1]… Read the rest

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BIPA VS. CUBI: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MAJOR BIOMETRIC PRIVACY ACTS IN ILLINOIS AND TEXAS

A Note by Anastasiia Cheban

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Over the past several years, the Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) has expanded in scope and other states have adopted similar acts.[1] BIPA requires businesses and private entities that collect any biometric information from individuals to disclose that collection.[2] The act prohibits collecting, capturing, purchasing, or obtaining an individual’s biometric information without a written disclosure of the nature of the collection.[3]

Other states have also been influenced by Illinois’ legislation on the collection, retention, and sale of biometric information.[4] For example, Texas adopted a similar statute in 2009, titled, the “Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act” (CUBI).[5] The act is structured similarly to BIPA; however, it has significant differences that affect its enforcement, which has affected the number of lawsuits brought under the act.[6] Although there are only three states that … Read the rest

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THE COPYRIGHT CONUNDRUM: EXPLORING THE LEGAL CHALLENGES TO THE COPYRIGHTABILITY OF AI-GENERATED WORKS AND THE FUTURE OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

A Note by Reilly Alridge

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The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes of 2023 sparked major controversy over the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the entertainment industry.[1] Writers have fears of AI being used to take over their script-writing jobs and reduce their bargaining power for pay.[2] Actors have fears of AI being used to replace the work of background actors and using their scanned body images posthumously without permission from the actor or the actor’s estate.[3]

[1] See Andrew Dalton, The Hollywood Writers Strike is Over After Guild Leaders Approve Contract with Studios, The Associated Press (Sept. 26, 2023, 10:24 PM), https://apnews.com/article/writers-strike-deal-hollywood-vote-actors-d3119d670a4fd3449773bf8f4026fb2b; see also Megan Cerullo, SAG-AFTRA Reaches Tentative Agreement with Hollywood Studios in a Move to End Nearly 4-Month Strike, CBS News (Nov. 9, … Read the rest

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A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW: AMERICA’S UNREGULATED SUPPLEMENT INDUSTRY AND THE COST TO CONSUMERS

A Note by Jessica Bury

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In 2021, the global dietary supplement market was worth USD 149 billion, and was projected to grow to USD 240 billion by 2028.[1] The U.S. alone was responsible for approximately thirty-two percent of the market.[2] This growth is attributable to a variety of societal changes including increased concerns over healthcare costs, skin health, shifts in lifestyle choices, celebrity endorsements, fears about immune system health resulting from COVID-19, greater self-care awareness, and sports and fitness trends.[3] Although supplement use within American society is rampant, with 57.6% of adults aged twenty and over consuming at least one dietary supplement within the past month, few people understand how they are produced, manufactured, and regulated.[4] A 2019 survey indicated that a majority of Americans overestimate the FDA’s role in regulating supplements, assuming that the FDA tests supplements before sale … Read the rest

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FROM GUIDELINES TO GRIDLOCK: THE CHALLENGES FACING DOJ AND FTC’S NEW MERGER GUIDELINES AND THE PATH FORWARD

A Note by James Zhang

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The year of 2023 has seen the lowest level of M&A activity in over a decade, since the period after the 2008 global financial crisis.[1] Inflation, rising interest rates and fear of a recession halved Global M&A deal values to $2.5 trillion USD from their peak of more than five trillion dollars in 2021.[2] In the midst of such difficult situations, increasing regulation scrutiny has cast yet another shadow over the flickering future of the M&A market.

On December 18, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released the 2023 Merger Guidelines.[3] This is the final version after gathering public feedback from the draft version released in July 2023.[4] This guideline marks another step forward of the Biden administration’s aggressive and interventionalist antitrust policy.[5] It not only lowers … Read the rest

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LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS AND ETHICAL PITFALLS: TESTING THE LEGAL LIMITS OF “ROBOLAWYERING”

A Note by Lee Walter

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Over the past several months, advanced machine learning algorithms called “large language models” (LLMs) have led to the creation of a variety of AI-powered legal software services.[1] LegalZoom leverages a simple LLM to interpret user responses to online questionnaires and generate boilerplate forms for estate planning and new business registration.[2] EU-based LegalAi uses the technology to provide prelitigation assessments of lawsuit validity to consumers.[3] And Casetext provides document drafting and review for attorneys.[4] But by far the buzziest and highest profile of these large language models is Open AI’s ChatGPT (short for “generative pre-trained transformer”). Launched in 2015, ChatGPT has rapidly become synonymous with LLMs, and many legal tech companies have already integrated ChatGPT into their platforms.[5] Most recently, Casetext announced a contract with Am Law 20 firm DLA Piper to provide a ChatGPT-powered … Read the rest

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TELEMENTAL HEALTH TAKES CENTER STAGE: HOW PANDEMIC-ERA WAIVERS OPENED THE DOOR TO BETTER MENTAL HEALTH CARE

A Note by Jabari Turner

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Millions of Americans were stuck in their houses during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] The rising death tolls, financial insecurity, and growing uncertainty increased anxiety, depression, and a surge in emergency department visits for mental health conditions.[2] Federal and state-level licensing alongside permit waivers allowed many Americans needing mental health care, access to telemental health services.[3] As a result, Americans had more options in and out-of-state that were unavailable before the pandemic.[4] During the pandemic, federal agencies waived previous telehealth restrictions.[5] Moreover, in most states, through executive orders, out-of-state mental health providers in good standing were permitted to provide telemental services to patients.[6]

Telehealth gives patients and providers better access, options, and overall healthcare treatment and management without needing to be physically present.[7] In addition, it gives providers more continuity of care, and better … Read the rest

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BRINGING ACCOUNTING STANDARDS INTO THE MODERN ERA: ANALYZING THE FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD’S PROPOSED DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR DIGITAL ASSETS

A Note by Zack Stutler

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Technology’s growth over the past decade has permeated all aspects of life.[1] Financial markets have not been isolated from this increasing digitization.[2] More specifically, the introduction of digital assets (crypto-currency, non-fungible tokens, etc.) has taken the world by storm.[3] With the introduction of new assets comes the need for new regulations. While consumer regulations are important, so too are regulations on companies and how they report their ownership of digital assets.[4]

Regulations on companies are important because they increase the transparency of companies as well as look out for the interest of investors and the general public.[5] Without government intervention and regulations, corporations would logically operate in profit-maximizing ways that are self-serving.[6] This self-serving nature often lacks an eye for public interest and may promote a lack of disclosure which is not optimal … Read the rest