St. Clair County Circuit Judge Robert LeChien agreed on Nov. 9 to substitute attorney Jeffrey Millar's former law firm, Brent Coon & Associates, with his new employer Saville and Flint of Glen Carbon, in a proposed class action against Redbox DVD rental kiosks.

Millar, who used to be employed by the Lakin Law Firm in Wood River (now LakinChapman) before he left to join Coon's firm, is among a group of lawyers that represents Redbox lead plaintiff Laurie Piechur.

Piechur proposes to lead a class of DVD renters who claim that Redbox Automated Retail Inc. charged inappropriate late charges to customers using its kiosks.

The suit seeks damages in excess of $350,000, costs and other relief.

If certified, Piechur's suit would be a nationwide class action.

Redbox denies the claims in the suit.

The company has tried unsuccessfully to have the case dismissed.

The last filing in the case was a move by Redbox asking to be allowed to file additional defenses based on information gathered in the suit's ongoing discovery.

That motion was filed in September.

A move by the owner of Blockbuster Video, a third party in the suit's discovery, is also moving to quash Piechur's discovery requests.

Eric Brandfonbrener of Perkins Coie of Chicago and Robert Sprague represent Redbox.

Millar, Thomas Maag and others represent Piechur and the proposed class.

St. Clair County Circuit Judge Patrick Young presides until his retirement Nov. 30.