Sidley Austin said Friday that it has agreed to pay $27.5 million to settle an age discrimination suit brought by the government after the prominent Chicago law firm stripped 32 lawyers of partnership status in 1999... As part of the settlement, the firm made no admission of wrongdoing. "This settlement puts the cost, time and distraction of this litigation behind us," the law firm said... The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought the case in 2005.