United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

	Northern District of Illinois
	Seventh Circuit
	;
	Active judges
	Castillo • Chang • Coleman • Darrah • Dow • Der-Yeghiayan • Durkin • Feinerman • Guzman • Kapala • Kendall • Kennelly • Lee • Norgle • Pallmeyer • St. Eve • Tharp • Zagel
	Senior Judges
	Aspen • Bucklo • Coar • Conlon • Duff • Gettleman • Gottschall • Grady • Hart • Kocoras • Lefkow • Leinenweber • Lindberg • Manning • Marovich • Nordberg • Reinhard • Shadur
	Magistrate Judges
Chief Magistrate:	Sidney Schenkier
	Ashman • Brown • Cole • Cox • Denlow • Keys • Mahoney • Mason • Nolan • Valdez
	Former Judges

	Northern District of Illinois
	Seventh Circuit
	;
	Active judges
	Castillo • Chang • Coleman • Darrah • Dow • Der-Yeghiayan • Durkin • Feinerman • Guzman • Kapala • Kendall • Kennelly • Lee • Norgle • Pallmeyer • St. Eve • Tharp • Zagel
	Senior Judges
	Aspen • Bucklo • Coar • Conlon • Duff • Gettleman • Gottschall • Grady • Hart • Kocoras • Lefkow • Leinenweber • Lindberg • Manning • Marovich • Nordberg • Reinhard • Shadur
	Magistrate Judges
Chief Magistrate:	Sidney Schenkier
	Ashman • Brown • Cole • Cox • Denlow • Keys • Mahoney • Mason • Nolan • Valdez
	Former Judges

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Contents

1 Court
1.1 Vacancy warning level
1.2 Jurisdiction
1.2.1 Cases heard
1.2.2 Case load
1.3 Clerk's office
1.4 History
1.4.1 Court history
1.4.2 Judicial posts
1.4.3 Notable decisions
1.4.4 Federal courthouse
1.5 Major news
1.6 See also
1.7 External links
1.8 References
2 Judges

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is the United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties in Northern Illinois, divided into two divisions:

The eastern division includes: Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, La Salle, Lake, and Will counties. It has jurisdiction over Chicago and its suburbs and the city of Rockford. Its courts are held in Chicago at the Everett M. Dirksen Federal Building.

The western division includes: Boone, Carroll, De Kalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago. Its courts are held in Rockford at the US Courthouse located in Rockford.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals located in the same courthouse the Northern District of Illinois is located in Downtown Chicago.

Vacancy warning level

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois's vacancy warning level is currently set at yellow. The court currently has three vacancies out of their twenty-two posts, constituting 13.6% of their seats. There are two pending appointments for the district.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Northern District of Illinois (click for larger map)

The geographic jurisdiction of the Northern District of Illinois consists of all the following counties in the northern part of the state of Illinois.

There are two court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Eastern Division, covering Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake County, LaSalle and Will Counties

The Western Division, covering Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago Counties

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals located in the same courthouse the Northern District of Illinois is located in Downtown Chicago.

Cases heard

The Northern District of Illinois has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

Case load

Federal Court Case Load Statistics^*

Year	Starting case load:	Cases filed:	Total cases:	Cases terminated:	Remaining cases:	Median time(Criminal)^**:	Median time(Civil)^**:	3 Year Civil cases^#:	Vacant posts:^##	Trials/Post
2010	9368	9840	19208	9035	10173	14.7	6.2	1207(13.7%)	51.0	16
2009	8605	9294	17899	8509	9390	15.1	6.2	943(11.7%)	18.5	12
2008	8091	8591	16682	8267	8415	14.5	6.2	752(10.2%)	8.1	11
2007	7711	8422	16133	7929	8204	14.7	6.2	456(6.5%)	15.8	11
2006	7914	8093	16007	8255	7752	13.9	6.5	500(7.4%)	5.7	11

^*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website and reflect the calendar year through September. ^**Time in months from filing to completion.
^#This statistic includes cases which have been appealed in higher courts. ^##This is the total number of months that any all judicial posts had spent vacant that year.

Clerk's office

The Northern District of Illinois has two separate courthouses. The Clerk's office is open Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m, excluding Federal holidays. Please consult the chart below for more information:

Branch	Address	Phone number
Chicago Office	Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse 219 South Dearborn Street Chicago, IL 60604	(312) 435-5670
Rockford Office	United States Courthouse 211 South Court Street Rockford, Illinois 61101	(815) 987-4354

^[1]

History

Court history

Illinois was established as one judicial district by Congress on March 3, 1819 with one post to cover the entire state. The district court was not yet assigned to a judicial circuit and was therefore granted the same jurisdiction as the United States circuit courts, excluding appeals and writs of error, which are the jurisdiction of the United States Supreme Court.

Congress repealed the circuit court jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the District of Illinois on March 3, 1837, and established a United States circuit court within the district and assigned it over to the Seventh Circuit.

Illinois divided into two judicial districts on February 13, 1855. The districts were known as the Northern District of Illinois and the Southern District of Illinois. One judgeship was assigned to each district and the District of Illinois was assigned over to the Northern District of Illinois.

Congress reorganized the circuits on July 15, 1862 and assigned Illinois to the Eighth Circuit and then to the Seventh Circuit on July 23, 1866.

The Eastern District of Illinois was established on March 3, 1905. One judgeship was authorized for the district court, as well as an additional judgeship to the Northern District of Illinois. Illinois was again reorganized into the Northern District of Illinois, the Central District of Illinois, and the Southern District of Illinois on October 2, 1978. Thirteen judgeships were assigned for the Northern District of Illinois, two for the Central District of Illinois, and two for the Southern District of Illinois. Over time 9 additional judicial posts were added for a total of 22 current posts.^[2]

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Northern District of Illinois:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
March 3, 1819	3 Stat. 502	1
February 13, 1855	10 Stat. 606	1
March 3, 1905	33 Stat. 992	2
May 29, 1928	45 Stat. 974	3
February 25, 1931	46 Stat. 1417	5
May 31, 1938	52 Stat. 584	6
May 24, 1940	54 Stat. 219	7(1 temporary)
August 14, 1950	64 Stat. 443	8
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	10
March 18, 1966	80 Stat. 75	11
June 2, 1970	84 Stat. 294	13
October 2, 1978	92 Stat. 883	13
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	16
July 10, 1984	98 Stat. 333	21(1 temporary)
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	22

^[2]

Notable cases

For a searchable list of opinions, please see Justia.com-Dockets and Filings-Northern District of Illinois.

• Michael Jordan image infringement case Judge(s):Gary Feinerman
*Jordan v. Jewel Food Stores, Inc No. 10 C 340

On February 16, 2012, Judge Gary Feinerman of United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled against basketball great Michael Jordan in a lawsuit against a store chain who made reference to Jordan in an ad-like magazine layout. According to Feinerman, the layout was constitutionally protected free speech, and did not constitute an advertisement. The lawsuit centered around a layout published by Sports Illustrated in 2009. In it, Jewel congratulated Jordan on his induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and included their logo in the layout. It also included basketball shoes with the number "23" on them, in reference to Jordan's jersey number while playing with the Chicago Bulls. Judge Feinerman's ruling stated that because the layout wasn't attempting to sell anything, there was no misappropriation of Jordan's image. He rejected the argument from Jordan's attorneys that the food chain didn't need to be selling a particular item to have used Jordan's image to promote the company.^[3]

Federal courthouse

Two separate courthouses serve the Northern District of Illinois.

Major news

For new stories and other related material see Illinois judicial news.

External links

References

↑ Court Clerk Information(Select the appropriate division for info and map)
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 FJC History of the Northern District of Illinois
↑ Associated Press, "Federal judge deals blow to Jordan in ad lawsuit", 16 February 2012

Share this Court:

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Contents

1 Court
2 Judges
2.1 Active Judges
2.1.1 Article III judges
2.1.2 Pending appointments
2.1.3 Senior judges
2.2 Past judges
2.2.1 Former Chief judges
2.2.2 Former judges

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has 22 posts and 3 vacancies. The current Chief Judge is James Holderman. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Chief Judge James Holderman	1946	Joliet, IL	Reagan	4/4/1985 - Present	2006 - Present	New Seat\|98 Stat. 333	U. of Illinois, B.S., 1968	U. of Illinois College of Law, J.D., 1971
Judge Ruben Castillo	1954	Chicago, IL	Clinton	5/9/1994 - Present		Nicholas Bua	Loyola U. Chicago, B.A., 1976	Northwestern U. School of Law, J.D., 1979
Judge John Darrah	1938	Chicago, IL	Clinton	7/14/2000 - Present		George Marovich	Loyola U., B.S., 1965	Loyola U. School of Law, J.D., 1969
Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan	1952	Aleppo, Syria	W. Bush	7/15/2003 - Present		Marvin Aspen	Evangel U., B.A., 1975	Franklin Pierce Law Center, J.D., 1978
Judge Robert Dow	1965	Madison, WI	W. Bush	12/5/2007 - Present		Charles Kocoras	Yale U., B.A., 1987	Harvard Law School, J.D., 1993
Judge Ronald Guzman	1948	Rio Piedras, PR	Clinton	11/15/1999 - Present		Brian Duff	Lehigh U., B.A., 1970	New York U. Law School, J.D., 1973
Judge Frederick Kapala	1950	Rockford, IL	W. Bush	5/10/2007 - Present		Philip Reinhard	Marquette U., B.A., 1972	U. of Illinois College of Law, J.D., 1976
Judge Virginia Kendall	1962	Evanston, IL	W. Bush	1/3/2006 - Present		Suzanne Conlon	Northwestern U., B.A., 1984	Loyola U. of Chicago, J.D., 1992
Judge Matthew Kennelly	1956	Marion, IN	Clinton	4/22/1999 - Present		Paul Plunkett	U. of Notre Dame, B.A., 1978	Harvard Law School, J.D., 1981
Judge Charles Norgle	1937	Chicago, IL	Reagan	10/4/1984 - Present		New Seat\|98 Stat. 333	Northwestern U., B.B.A., 1964	John Marshall Law School, J.D., 1969
Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer	1954	Tokyo, Japan	Clinton	10/22/1998 - Present		William Hart	U. of Valparaiso, B.A., 1976	U. of Chicago Law School, J.D., 1979
Judge Amy St. Eve	1965	Belleville, IL	W. Bush	8/2/2002 - Present		George Lindberg	Cornell U., B.A., 1987	Cornell Law School, J.D., 1990
Judge James Zagel	1941	Chicago, IL	Reagan	4/22/1987 - Present		Frank McGarr	U. of Chicago, B.A., 1962	Harvard Law School, J.D., 1965
Judge Sharon Coleman	1960	Chicago, IL	Obama	7/13/2010 - Present		Mark Filip	Northern Illinois U., B.A., 1981	Washington U. School of Law, J.D., 1984
Judge Gary Feinerman	1965	Skokie, IL	Obama	6/29/2010 - Present		Robert Gettleman	Yale College, B.A., 1987	Stanford Law School, J.D., 1991
Judge Edmond E. Chang	1970	New York, NY	Obama	12/20/2010 - Present		Elaine Bucklo	U. of Michigan, B.S.E., 1991	Northwestern U. School of Law, J.D., 1994
Judge John Z. Lee			Obama	5/7/2012 - Present		David Coar	Harvard, B.A., 1989	Harvard Law, J.D., 1992
Judge John Tharp, Jr.	1960	Camp Lejeune, NC	Obama	5/14/2012 - Present		Blanche Manning	Duke U., A.B., 1982	Northwestern U. Law, J.D., 1990
Judge Thomas M. Durkin			Obama	12/17/2012 - Present		Wayne Andersen	U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, B.S., 1975	DePaul U. Law, J.D., 1978

Pending appointments

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has 2 appointees pending and 3 vacancies. This is a list of the current pending appointees to the court:

Judge	Confirmation	Bachelors	Law
Sara Lee Ellis		Indiana U., B.A., 1991	Loyola U. Law, Chicago, J.D., 1994
Andrea R. Wood		U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, B.A., 1986	U. of Illinois Law, J.D., 1989

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has 17 judges on senior status currently. This is a list of the current senior judges on the court:

Judge	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Senior	Bachelors	Law
Senior Judge Marvin Aspen	Carter	7/24/1979 - 7/1/2002	1995 - 2002	7/1/2002 - Present	Northwestern U., B.S., 1956	Northwestern U. School of Law, J.D., 1958
Senior Judge Elaine Bucklo	Clinton	10/11/1994 - 10/31/2009		10/31/2009 - Present	Saint Louis U., A.B., 1966	Northwestern U. School of Law, J.D., 1972
Senior Judge Suzanne Conlon	Reagan	2/22/1988 - 4/17/2004		4/17/2004 - Present	Mundelein College, B.A., 1963	Loyola U. Chicago School of Law, J.D., 1968
Senior Judge Robert Gettleman	Clinton	10/11/1994 - 5/5/2009		5/5/2009 - Present	Boston U., B.S./B.A., 1965	Northwestern U. School of Law, J.D., 1968
Senior Judge Joan Gottschall	Clinton	8/1/1996 - 4/23/2012		4/23/2012 - Present	Smith College, B.A., 1969	Stanford Law School, J.D., 1973
Senior Judge John F. Grady	Ford	11/21/1975 - 5/23/1994	1986 - 1990	5/23/1994 - Present	Northwestern U., B.S., 1952	Northwestern U. School of Law, J.D., 1954
Senior Judge William Hart	Reagan	4/21/1982 - 6/1/1996		6/1/1996 - Present		Loyola U. Chicago School of Law, J.D., 1951
Senior Judge Charles Kocoras	Carter	9/30/1980 - 6/30/2006	2002 - 2006	6/30/2006 - Present	De Paul U., B.S., 1961	De Paul U. College of Law, J.D., 1969
Senior Judge Joan Lefkow	Clinton	7/11/2000 - 9/1/2012		9/1/2012 - Present	Wheaton College, A.B., 1965	Northwestern U. Law School, J.D., 1971
Senior Judge Harry Leinenweber	Reagan	12/17/1985 - 6/3/2002		6/3/2002 - Present	U. of Notre Dame, B.A., 1959	U. of Chicago Law School, J.D., 1962
Senior Judge George Lindberg	H.W. Bush	11/6/1989 - 6/21/2001		6/21/2001 - Present	Northwestern U., B.S., 1954	Northwestern U. School of Law, J.D., 1957
Senior Judge Blanche Manning	Clinton	8/10/1994 - 2/1/2010		2/1/2010 - Present	Chicago Teachers College, B.Ed., 1961	John Marshall Law School, J.D., 1967 ; U. of Virginia School of Law, LL.M., 1992
Senior Judge George Marovich	Reagan	4/1/1988 - 1/2/2000		1/2/2000 - Present	U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.S., 1952	U. of Illinois College of Law, J.D., 1954
Senior Judge John Nordberg	Reagan	4/21/1982 - 6/18/1994		6/18/1994 - Present	Carleton College	U. of Michigan Law School, J.D., 1950
Senior Judge Philip Reinhard	H.W. Bush	2/10/1992 - 1/12/2007		1/12/2007 - Present	U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.A., 1962	U. of Illinois College of Law, J.D., 1964
Senior Judge Brian Duff	Reagan	10/17/1985 - 10/30/1996		10/30/1996 - Present	U. of Notre Dame, A.B., 1953	DePaul U. College of Law, J.D., 1962
Senior Judge Milton Shadur	Carter	5/23/1980 - 6/25/1992		6/25/1992 - Present	U. of Chicago, B.S., 1943	U. of Chicago Law School, J.D., 1949

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier	03/30/1998 - Present	Northwestern U., B.S., 1976	Northwestern U., J.D., 1979
Presiding Magistrate Judge Geraldine Soat Brown	2000 - Present
Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole	05/06/2005 - Present
Magistrate Judge Susan Cox	04/19/2007 - Present	Allegheny College, 1980	Boston U. Law, J.D.,1983
Magistrate Judge Morton Denlow	03/01/1996 - Present	Washington U., A.B., 1969	Northwestern U. Law, J.D., 1972
Magistrate Judge (Recalled) Arlander Keys	02/21/1995 - 10/31/2009	DePaul U., B.A., 1972	DePaul U. Law, J.D., 1975
Magistrate Judge Michael Mason	09/29/2001 - Present	U. of Arizona, 1965	John Marshall Law, J.D., 1977
Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez	05/20/2005 - Present
Magistrate Judge Sheila Finnegan	04/26/2010 - Present
Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert	05/7/2010 - Present
Magistrate Judge Young Kim	5/7/2010 - Present
Magistrate Judge Mary Rowland	10/01/2012 - Present
Magistrate Judge Daniel G. Martin	10/01/2012 - Present

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
Edwin Robson	1970 - 1975
James Parsons	1975 - 1981
Frank McGarr	1981 - 1986
William Campbell	1959 - 1970
Philip Leo Sullivan	1957 - 1959
John Peter Barnes	1948 - 1957
James Moran	1990 - 1995
Charles Kocoras	2002 - 2006
John F. Grady	1986 - 1990
Marvin Aspen	1995 - 2002

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge in one of the federal courts, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45.

These rules for Chief Judges in the federal judiciary have been in effect since October 1, 1982. The office of Chief Judge was created in 1948. Until August 6, 1959, the position was filled in each federal court by the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as senior status or declined to serve as Chief Judge. From then until 1982 it was filled by the senior such judge who had not turned 70.