7th Circuit Court

7th Circuit Scolds Hogan Lovells for ‘Misleadingly’ Describing Case in Appellate Brief

In an opinion filed yesterday in redistricting dispute involving the Girl Scouts of the United States, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court took a well-known law firm to task for its characterization of a case cited as authority for its client’s position. Hogan Lovells “misleadingly” described a…

Jun 1, 2011 9:55 PM CDT

Blago Takes Stand, Discusses ‘Almost Catastrophic’ 1L Year, Initial Bar Exam Failure, ‘Disco’ Hair

Impeached former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich took the stand today in his second political corruption trial, telling a federal jury in Chicago the story of his life. In hours-long testimony before he struggled to retain his composure as his wife began to weep in court and the judge declared a…

May 26, 2011 8:13 PM CDT

Ex-Cheerleader Sues Colts for Discrimination, Says Others Involved in ‘Notoriety’ Weren’t Fired

A former cheerleader for the Indianapolis Colts has sued the team alleging that it discriminated against her by firing her after she posed in racy photographs when it had not fired others for similar conduct. Malori Wampler, 27, says in her federal lawsuit that she did not violate a team…

May 23, 2011 11:07 PM CDT

7th Circuit: Chicago Fire Department Must Hire 111 Black Candidates

After a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court opinion that found Chicago’s entry-level firefighter test had a disparate impact based on race, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today ordered that the city must hire 111 bypassed black firefighter candidates. The 7th Circuit also ordered that the city distribute “tens…

May 13, 2011 6:19 PM CDT

Felony Franks Sign Doesn’t Cut the Mustard, Chicago Says; Owner of Misdemeanor Wiener Provider Sues

Tired of what he describes as unreasonable ongoing delay by the city of Chicago and a local alderman in approving a sign for his restaurant, the owner of Felony Franks has filed a federal lawsuit. Customers deserve a chance to buy a “misdemeanor wiener” at his Near West Side hot…

May 5, 2011 12:31 AM CDT

Neo-Nazi Conviction Nixed; Gov’t Said He Targeted Juror in Trial re Soliciting Murder of Fed’l Judge

A federal district judge has reversed a jury conviction earlier this year of a self-avowed neo-Nazi accused of using a now-defunct website to solicit harm to the foreman of a federal jury. The government argued that William White, although he did not expressly call for jury foreman Mark Hoffman to…

Apr 20, 2011 4:53 PM CDT

7th Circuit Nixes Challenge to National Day of Prayer

A federal lawsuit challenging the National Day of Prayer was thrown out today by the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Associated Press reports, on the basis of standing. The plaintiff, the Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, was not harmed by President Barack Obama’s proclamation, the three-judge…

Apr 14, 2011 8:20 PM CDT

‘I Am the Prize’ Ex-DA: Civil Rights Law Doesn’t Protect Crime Victim from DA’s ‘Flirtatious’ Texts

Seeking to bring a swift conclusion to a civil rights lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin domestic abuse victim to whom former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz admittedly sent flirtatious text messages as he was prosecuting her ex-boyfriend, a lawyer for the ex-DA filed a motion to dismiss in federal…

Apr 11, 2011 1:59 PM CDT

7th Circuit’s Posner Rebukes ‘Quarrelsome Lawyers’ for Tendentious Bickering,’ Threatens Sanctions

It isn’t just Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who has harshly criticized lawyers in rulings this week. Judge Richard Posner apparently has reached his limit too, telling corporate lawyers in a patent case to avoid further “tendentious bickering” or expect sanctions in a…

Mar 25, 2011 1:13 AM CDT

Blistering 7th Circuit Opinion Fines Lawyer $5K, Orders Him to Alert Clients to Possible Malpractice

Yesterday can’t have been a good one for attorney Michael J. Greco, who apparently has found a foray into federal court in Chicago a tougher slog than he may have initially anticipated. The 20-year Chicago practitioner was excoriated and fined $5,000 in a 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion…

Mar 23, 2011 11:03 PM CDT

Convicted Ex-Bankruptcy Attorney Could Get Up to 20 Years Per Count in Mortgage Fraud

A disbarred Illinois bankruptcy attorney has been convicted of three counts of wire fraud as part of a nationwide mortgage fraud prosecution involving 67 defendants. Lorie Westerfield allegedly purchased homes from two clients, misrepresented the purchase prices and down payments and her income to lenders from whom she obtained mortgages,…

Mar 23, 2011 5:38 PM CDT

7th Circuit: Landlord Who Rented to Murder Suspect Has No Constitutional Claim for Property Damage

A Wisconsin landlord who had the misfortune to rent to convicted murderer Steven Avery has no constitutional claim for damages to his property caused by investigators, according to a federal appeals court. The opinion by Judge Terrence Evans begins this way: “A landlord is lucky when he rents a dwelling…

Mar 16, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

7th Circuit Zaps Lawyer for Exceeding 14K Word Limit in Brief, Summarily OKs Lower Court Decision

In a blistering opinion (PDF) today, a federal appeals court not only stated or implied that a lawyer had been untruthful in his certification that a brief met the 14,000-word limit but criticized his “rambling” writing. Then, saying that any further effort by appellant attorney John Caudill to file a…

Mar 10, 2011 12:15 AM CST

Students Have Right to Wear ‘Be Happy, Not Gay’ T-Shirt, 7th Circuit Appeals Court Rules

A suburban Chicago school district that promotes tolerance must also allow students to express opposing views, so long as they are not unduly disruptive, a federal appeals court ruled as it upheld the right of high schoolers to wear a “Be Happy, Not Gay” T-shirt. “A school that permits advocacy…

Mar 3, 2011 12:24 AM CST

Attorney Confessed Bank Robbery In Order to Continue Pretend Practice, His Lawyer Says

Seemingly, the federal time Peter Elliott knew he was facing after pleading guilty to bank fraud for siphoning some $3.6 million from his attorney trust account might well have been one of the Wisconsin lawyer’s biggest problems in July of last year. But after he was brought in by a…

Feb 24, 2011 11:30 PM CST