The results are in this afternoon in the Seventh Circuit’s vote to rehear en banc Rowe v. Gibson, No. 14-3316 (Aug. 19, 2015), and it was a close one, a 4-4 tie, which means that the majority’s opinion stands, though not...more
All the briefs are filed, and the next step in the saga of Rowe v. Gibson, No. 14-3316 (Aug. 19, 2015), is for the nine judges in regular active service on the Seventh Circuit to cast their votes in favor of or against...more
For the purposes of the Erie doctrine, which directs federal courts sitting in diversity to apply state substantive law and federal procedural rules, “damages law is substantive law,” and that includes the law that governs...more
Regular readers of our blog likely are familiar with the Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in Rowe v. Gibson, No. 14-3316 (Aug. 19, 2015), and the considerable controversy that Judge Richard Posner created regarding the...more
Those who follow the work of the Wisconsin appellate courts might recognize this question as one that District II of the Court of Appeals certified to the Supreme Court nearly five years ago in Wilkinson v. Arbuckle, 2011 WI...more
Last month, we wrote about the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Rowe v. Gibson, No. 14-3316 (Aug. 19, 2015), a decision written by Judge Richard Posner that created considerable controversy regarding the propriety of internet...more
Nate Carter probably wasn’t expecting this. Mr. Carter had lost his home to a mortgage foreclosure. So seemingly out of blind rage—or at least the sort of anger that when coupled with ignorance leads one to do illogical...more
A note to the drafters of Wisconsin’s single-party listing contract: It’s time to redefine what triggers the payment of a commission under the contract after a recent decision of Wisconsin’s supreme court in Ash Park, LLC v....more
Not much went right for the plaintiffs’ lawyer in the Seventh Circuit’s decision yesterday in Pierce v. Visteon Corp., No. 14-2542 (7th Cir. July 1, 2015), but the opinion provides a few good lessons for appellate...more
By no means do we think that we might reliably predict the outcome of such a politically charged case as King v. Burwell, No. 14-114, the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act.
But for those who like to read tea...more
Most bankruptcy lawyers might think that the dismissal of a bankruptcy proceeding and the revesting of the bankruptcy estate’s assets in the debtor bring an end to the bankruptcy court’s jurisdiction....more
Judge Easterbrook and his colleagues on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit aren’t about to exercise jurisdiction over a civil action of interpleader merely on credit or promises to pay. The plaintiff has to...more
The Seventh Circuit’s docket appears to be rife with cases involving little errors that turn out to have not-so-little effects. Last month we wrote about the perils of typos in security agreements; this month the Seventh...more
For years United Airlines has asked its customers to “Fly the Friendly Skies,” but a dispute with one of its frequent flyers turned decidedly unfriendly and became the subject of a recent case before the Seventh Circuit in...more
The Seventh Circuit has been on quite a tear recently with cases involving the False Claims Act; we wrote about three of them, involving the federal assignment law, the worthless-services doctrine, and the public-disclosure...more
International arbitration can be tricky, and it’s not often that the Seventh Circuit has an opportunity to analyze the grounds for its jurisdiction in this area. That makes the court’s recent decision in Pine Top Receivables...more
When Wisconsin’s legislature enacted the state’s so-called “mediation privilege” in Wis. Stat. § 904.085, it expressly sought, in subsection (1) of that provision, “to encourage the candor and cooperation of disputing...more
It’s an ancient principle of equity, drawn from Roman law: Equity relieves the vigilant, not those who sleep upon their rights. And it sums up quite well the Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in SEC v. First Choice Management...more
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(5) allows a party to move for relief from a final judgment on the ground that “it prospectively is no longer equitable.” Motions under Rule 60(b)(5) must be made “within a reasonable...more
What do cases involving challenges to same-sex-marriage and voter ID laws have in common?
The answer, according to a per curiam opinion issued today by a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh...more
It can’t have happened often (if at all) that a retired Justice would decide a new case based on his reading of an opinion in which he dissented.
Yet that is precisely what happened in Thayer v. Worcester, 755 F.3d 60...more
Judge Easterbrook provided a fundamental and valuable lesson on appellate review during today’s oral argument in O’Keefe v. Chisholm, a series of consolidated appeals that concern the John Doe investigation brought by...more
That’s the upshot from U.S. ex rel. Absher v. Momence Meadows Nursing Center, Nos. 13-1886 & 13-1936 (Aug. 20, 2014), a recent decision from the Seventh Circuit (authored by Judge Manion) that addressed the worthless-services...more
It’s rare that a party to a contract can breach it but not be liable for a remedy. Yet that’s precisely what happened last week in Southern Financial Group, LLC v. McFarland State Bank, No. 13-3378 (7th Cir. Aug. 15, 2014), a...more
In United States ex rel. Heath v. Wisconsin Bell, Inc., No. 12-3383 (7th Cir. July 28, 2014), the Seventh Circuit grappled with this bar on the use of publicly disclosed information, refusing to apply it in a case involving...more