First, the players:

A. Illinois Supreme Court. The top court in Illinois, elected by the public, retained if they achieve a certain level of supporting votes. Pretty much respected for being fair, smart, and beyond ethical reproach (See Iowa, Kansas, NC, Texas, and the New Jersey Supremes for a comparison)

B. Judge Daniel Lynch. An interesting legal career, if by interesting, you take the Chinese Curse definition. In 2013, a $25,000,000 trial in his court was settled, when the plaintiff's firm was contacted by the court bailiff, advising them that the jury was ready with a verdict (probably adverse). The plaintiff's firm immediately contacted the defense's insurer, accepted $25 million, and shortly afterwards the jury came out and said "Not Guilty." The investigation of the ethical behavior of that plaintiff's firm is ongoing and the settlement has been cancelled by the courts.

C. Goldberg Cairo Weisman. A top level plaintiff's firm in Chicago. Many good, hard verdicts. In my several decades of practice on both the insurance defense and plaintiff's side, there has never been a taint or a serious ethical allegation against them.

D. Williams Montgomery John. An insurance defense firm. Famous for losing $50 Millions when Rachel Barton lost a leg trying to retrieve her famous Strad violin from a Metra train, and for losing another $50 million in a fraud case defending an LLC. In recent years, they went from 100 attorneys to 31 after they complained that insurance companies did not pay them enough.

E. Bengaly Sylla. He was the administrator of the Estate of a woman killed by a Roadway Truck driver. Goldberg Cairo represented the Estate.

F. Hawa Sissoko. The woman killed by the Roadway Truck.

The Facts: (we think, and the papers report)

In 2013, a jury in Lynch's courtroom returned a verdict of $4.25 million dollars due to the death of Hawa Sissoko. Her estate's administrator, Sylla, was the victor.

Also in 2013, Williams Montgomery had the verdict overturned, claiming that Sissoko was actually married at the time of her death to a man in West Africa, and that her "husband" had already settled the case for $60,000.

Williams Montgomery provided signed, sworn affidavits, claiming that Sissoko was married at the time of her death. They also claimed that the Administrator of her Estate, Sylla, knew of her marriage (and settlement) at the time that they tried the case against Roadway.

As a result, a second trial took place, this time against the Estate's administrator, Bengaly Sylla, for civil contempt of court by claiming that she had never been married at the time of her death. Judge Lynch sentenced him to 6 years in jail for contempt of court.

Last month, things changed a tad. Goldberg Cairo produced evidence that the insurance defense firm had improperly bought the "affidavits" from West African officials, which were then used to claim that she was married to the man who Roadway paid $60,000. Those were the affidavits that were used to overturn the verdict and to convict Sylla of contempt of court.

This shocking disclosure came from a Williams Montgomery employee.

Yesterday, the Illinois Supreme Court granted a motion from Goldberg Cairo to remove Judge Lynch from the case.

Sylla was just released from prison, despite the 6 year contempt conviction, because of these recent disclosures. On probation, yes, but still out of jail.

Given that the disclosure of the purchased (faked?) affidavits came from an employee of Williams Montgomery, I suspect that several people are under investigation. Williams Montgomery, Judge Lynch, and the purported husband who gladly took $60,000 to settle his "wife's" case.

The Onion is jealous.