In a period of three months, Jim Genden won two major tenant class actions brought against some of our large landlord clients, which own many residential apartment buildings in Chicago.
Each case sought to recover significant penal damages under the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, on behalf of large groups of tenants, as well as an award of attorneys' fees. In the first case, the court granted our motion to dismiss the class action, with prejudice. This required an analysis of a provision of the Ordinance not previously construed by the courts. In the second case, the judge initially denied our motion to dismiss. We filed a motion to reconsider, because we strongly felt that the judge had misunderstood the law. We persuaded the judge to change her mind and to dismiss the lawsuit against our client, with prejudice.