Illinois, like some other states, allows parties to request a single change of judge as of right. That statute is questionable enough public policy as it is, but Madison County judges had interpreted the rule to permit class action plaintiffs to obtain automatic changes for each plaintiff in the case—thus effectively permitting a class action attorney to pick his judge. Madison County Chief Judge Ann Callis has changed the rule so that it limits substitution of judge to only one time as a right, and the Korein Tillery law firm is now challenging that rule’s constitutionality, which could delay its implementation for a couple of years if they get the right judges to hear the case. (Steve Gonzalez, “‘Judge shopping’ rule challenged by Tillery firm”, Madison County Record, Aug. 31; Brian Brueggeman, “Law firm set to challenge court ban on automatic judge change”, Belleville News-Democrat, Sep. 1). (Cross-posted at Point of Law.)
Chutzpah files: Madison County judge-shopping
Illinois, like some other states, allows parties to request a single change of judge as of right. That statute is questionable enough public policy as it is, but Madison County judges had interpreted the rule to permit class action plaintiffs to obtain automatic changes for each plaintiff in the case—thus effectively permitting a class action […]
Comments are closed.