Last week, Seventh Circuit Judge Illana Rovner took senior status. She had been an associate judge on the Seventh Circuit since 1992. Prior to that, she was a district court judge on the Northern District of Illinois for almost a decade. A member of what could be described as the Court’s “old guard,” Judge Rovner was a consistent source of levity for the bench and bar alike. I have had the honor (and luck) of arguing many times before Judge Rovner. Every time I argued, she was gracious, unassuming, and courteous. And every time, she asked the question that decisively struck at the heart of my case. Judge Rovner has become an institution at the Seventh Circuit, and her wit, compassion, and keen legal mind will be missed.
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