On March 29, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted the City of Waukegan’s motion for summary judgment in a long-running dispute about the city’s process for determining which casino license applicants would be forwarded to the Illinois Gaming Board.

The case began in October 2019, after the Waukegan City Council declined to forward the application of Waukegan Potawatomi Casino LLC to the Gaming Board. With that denial, the Potawatomi Casino filed suit, asserting claims under 42 U.S.C. §1983, the Illinois Gambling Act, and the Open Meetings Act. The District Court granted the City’s motion for summary judgment, holding: (1) Plaintiff Potawatomi Casino LLC was not a “person” under §1983 because it was an arm of the Potawatomi Tribe (a sovereign entity); and (2) even if the Plaintiff was a “person” within the meaning of the statute, it had failed to establish an Equal Protection violation as a matter of law. The Court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the two state-law claims.

Glenn Davis and Charles Insler spearheaded HeplerBroom’s defense of the City. Both are  partners in the firm’s St. Louis office and concentrate their practices on complex commercial litigation and business counseling, including the defense of governmental and civil rights matters, as well as cybersecurity, antitrust, and securities litigation. Davis leads HeplerBroom’s HBCyberGroup, which is a multidisciplinary combination of the firm’s resources and external organizations that provides value-oriented, practical solutions to cybersecurity issues. Both attorneys have been named to the list of Best Lawyers in America. Davis is also rated an AV Preeminent Attorney by Martindale-Hubbell and is a multi-year and multi-category recipient of Best Lawyers’ Lawyer of the Year award.