7th Circuit Court

Lawyer who pointed client in accident case to high-interest loan did nothing wrong, judge rules

Unable to work after a 2001 accident in which the Chicago commuter train she was riding hit a car at a railroad crossing, Debbie Crim eventually asked her lawyer for a loan to help with her medical bills and living expenses. Peter Vrdolyak instead referred her to Client Funding Solutions,…

Apr 1, 2014 9:50 PM CDT

Posner cites in-chambers donning and doffing experiment; dissenter is ‘startled, to say the least’

An appellate opinion (PDF) by Judge Richard Posner relates how the court’s own experiment rebuffed suggestions that poultry processing workers needed as long as 15 minutes to change into and out of required clothing for their jobs. Dissenting Judge Diane Wood said she was “startled, to say the least,” to…

Mar 25, 2014 11:15 AM CDT

Released from jail in civil contempt case, Kevin Trudeau starts 10-year criminal contempt term

Infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau can only serve one contempt sentence at a time. So a federal judge who jailed Trudeau last year for civil contempt to try to force him to pay something towards a $37.6 million fine released him Wednesday. That will allow Trudeau to begin serving a 10-year…

Mar 19, 2014 8:55 PM CDT

Lawyer is suspended for faking illness to avoid oral argument

An Illinois lawyer will be suspended for 60 days for faking an illness to avoid oral arguments before the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Michael Joseph Finn was suspended by consent in an Illinois Supreme Court order issued on Friday. Finn initially told the court clerk he had…

Mar 19, 2014 3:36 PM CDT

Infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau gets 10 years in criminal contempt case over diet-book claims

Showing no sympathy for the current situation of a television infomercial pitchman said to have earned—and lost—some $37 million as a result of diet-book sales and other ventures, a federal judge in Chicago on Monday blasted Kevin Trudeau and sentenced him to 10 years in prison for criminal contempt. Described…

Mar 18, 2014 7:00 PM CDT

Posner: Appeal brief is ‘a gaunt, pathetic document’; lawyer ‘shenanigans’ should have been reported

Judge Richard Posner of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had little patience for a Georgia lawyer and the law firm representing him in an appeal from a contempt order. In a March 12 opinion (PDF), Posner called the appellate brief “a gaunt, pathetic document” and said the…

Mar 13, 2014 3:30 PM CDT

Thefts of $470M in bitcoins spur lawsuits, calls for regulation; a ‘bitcoin paradox,’ law prof says

Following recently discovered thefts of some $470 million in virtual currency that shut down the world’s largest bitcoin exchange and a Canadian bitcoin bank, hundreds of investors who lost assets are looking to seek redress in class actions. But observers are wondering how it will be possible to solve crimes…

Mar 5, 2014 11:30 PM CST

Rejection letter reveals 7th Circuit judge’s plan to retire

Judge John Daniel Tinder of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t need to make a formal announcement about his plans to retire. The information became public after Tinder indicated his plans in a rejection letter that was published by Above the Law. The letter reads: “Thank you…

Mar 4, 2014 4:32 PM CST

Federal judge nixes plea deal for ex-jurist in drug case, calls 18-month sentence ‘not sufficient’

Calling an 18-month prison sentence “not sufficient,” a federal judge in downstate Illinois has nixed a plea bargain in a drug case against a former state court judge. In an order last month, U.S. District Judge Joe Billy McDade signaled his doubt about the sentence. He pointed to the facts…

Feb 26, 2014 11:15 PM CST

7th Circuit nixes boys-only long-hair ban, says rule didn’t just target ‘Age of Aquarius’ styles

Calling a junior high basketball coach’s short-hair rule for boys a violation of the constitutional right of equal protection under the law, a divided federal appeals court Monday reversed a trial judge who had dismissed a case brought by the parents of a now 17-year-old former player. The short-hair rule,…

Feb 24, 2014 11:35 PM CST

Bank robber who used bedsheet rope to exit 17th-story prison cell gets 41 months for escape

A bank robber who used a rope fashioned from bedsheets and dental floss to descend from the window of his 17th-story federal jail cell in Chicago is now paying the price for his daring escape. Despite an argument by an defense attorney Gary Ravitz that Kenneth Conley has already been…

Feb 24, 2014 8:30 PM CST

Seized cellphones led to capture of ‘most wanted’ Mexican drug trafficker, authorities say

The U.S. will seek extradition of the claimed leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, who was captured over the weekend sleeping in a condo in a Mexican beach resort town in an early-morning raid backed by the American government. Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, 56, said to be the “most wanted”…

Feb 24, 2014 6:30 PM CST

Posner questions basis for ‘archaic’ hearsay rule, proposes flexible approach

Judge Richard Posner is proposing a rewrite of the hearsay rule and its exceptions in a concurring opinion in a gun case decided by the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Posner derides the approach taken by the Federal Rules of Evidence (PDF) in his Feb. 13 concurring opinion…

Feb 18, 2014 11:45 AM CST

Posner tells BigLaw chief, ‘stop babbling,’ threatens to end argument in contraception mandate case

A contentious oral argument Wednesday before a federal appellate court panel in Chicago included a lesson in appellate advocacy for the BigLaw litigation leader representing the University of Notre Dame in a high-profile health care case. “Don’t interrupt,” Judge Richard Posner told Jones Day partner Matthew Kairis several times during…

Feb 13, 2014 8:00 PM CST

Estate of James Dean sues Twitter and fan over @JamesDean account

Iconic actor James Dean, best-known for his leading role in Rebel Without a Cause, has been dead for decades. So there’s scant likelihood that those following the Twitter account @JamesDean think they’re dealing with the real silver screen legend. However, the actor’s estate has sued the anonymous owner of the…

Feb 11, 2014 4:50 PM CST