Blog

It's an open secret that most federal appellate courts dispense with their cases via unpublished opinions. The numbers are in for 2022, and to be precise, 86% of federal appellate opinions were unpublished. This published-unpublished distinction is important because an unpublished decision is not precedential, and thus does not create circuit law....

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 rebuffed our position...

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...

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...

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 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...

The Honorable William J. Bauer has stepped down from his post as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He served that position since 1974 with fairness, kindness, and wit. He will be missed by both bench and bar. I had the honor of serving as...

I had the honor of being published in this month's edition of the Illinois Bar Journal. The article is entitled, "To Remain Silent: Navigating The Minefield of Custodial Interrogations." It examines Miranda warnings and the latest developments in Illinois and federal courts on this ever evolving issue.

The Seventh Circuit has issued its annual report for 2021, and once again, the trend is down. The number of appeals filed in 2021 was 2,493, a decrease of 5% from 2020. This cannot be attributed to the pandemic or economic forces alone. Examining the bigger picture, the number has steadily declined...

The Seventh Circuit evenly split on an en banc petition this week, five to five in Johnson v. Prentice, No. 18-3535. The tie vote meant the panel decision stood, and thus the Court would not hear the case en banc. The issue generated a concurrence from Judge Michael Scudder and a passionate...