Common Grounds for Appeals: Exploring Legal Errors and Misjudgments
Navigating the complex landscape of legal appeals demands a thorough understanding of two pivotal elements: legal errors and misjudgments. These elements can significantly impact the course and outcome of litigation, thus highlighting the crucial role of adept appellate attorneys. By learning about the intricacies of legal errors and misjudgments, individuals can...
The Imperative Nature of Subject-Matter Jurisdiction
Litigation is a costly endeavor. Failing to ensure you are in the correct court after years of litigating can thus have costly consequences. This dilemma was on recent display when a federal appeals court tossed a case that had been litigated in federal court for four years because subject-matter jurisdiction was...
Trademark Infringement Defense Victory
This week, I obtained a win for my clients in a trademark infringement lawsuit. My clients were three established online retailers sued for trademark infringement in the Northern District of Illinois, Bestway Inflatables v. Corporations Identified on Schedule A. The defendants faced substantial statutory damages in excess of $100,000 if...
Your Odds Of Winning On Appeal
It is common knowledge that obtaining a reversal in federal appellate court is tough. But how tough? Well, the federal appellate court numbers are in for 2022, and the picture is dire for appellants. In the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, private civil cases had a reversal rate of 13.6%, followed by civil appeals...
Unpublished Appellate Opinions-A Tale of Two Circuits
It's an open secret that most federal appellate courts dispense with their cases via unpublished opinions. The numbers are in for 2022, and to be precise, 86% of federal appellate opinions were unpublished. This published-unpublished distinction is important because an unpublished decision is not precedential, and thus does not create circuit law....
Seventh Circuit Win on Appellate Sanctions
This week, an appellate opinion was issued by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Kinsella v. Baker Hughes. I represented the Appellant in this appeal of an arbitration ruling. The Appellee contended my client pursued a frivolous appeal and sought Rule 38 sanctions. While the Seventh Circuit ultimately...
The Perils of Forfeiture
Federal appellate courts are loathe to address arguments not preserved in the district court. The Seventh Circuit is no different. That position was personified today in the Seventh Circuit's opinion in Sunny Handicraft v. Envision This!, No. 21-1579. Judge Frank Easterbrook, writing for the Court, refused to consider an issue the defendant...
Podcast Discussion on Law & Crime
I recently had the honor of being invited to speak on a podcast with Adam Klasfeld. As Mr. Klasfeld explains: On the latest episode of Law & Crime’s podcast, “Objections: with Adam Klasfeld,” appellate attorney Christopher Keleher, who also wrote the University of San Francisco Law Review article “The Repercussions of Anonymous...
Seventh Circuit Win
This week, I won a reversal in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The case, Bradley v. Village of University Park, concerns the constitutional issue of procedural due process. However, this appeal focused on whether the law of the case doctrine and mandate rule applied. This is the second time the case...
The SAFE-T Act, Stalled, For Now
The Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity-Today Act, commonly known as the SAFE-T Act, is an Illinois statute enacted in 2021 that reforms the criminal justice system. It represents a shift in the approach to policing, pretrial detention, bail, sentencing, and corrections. The law—a lightning rod in the debate over crime and punishment—was...