Law Offices of Jeff Smith
Advising Individuals & Entrepreneurs
1603 Orrington Ave., Suite 800
Evanston, IL 60201
847.372.9324
fax 332.1171
Thank you for visiting JeffLaw.com, the web site of Jeffrey P. Smith , attorney at law. Links and information here are free for public use; please use the site often as your portal for anything and everything law-related in the Evanston, North Shore, and Chicago area.
Please e-mail comments or questions about the office's areas of practice, fees, this Web site, or services you would like to see offered here.
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Firm News:
Jeff Smith Participates in Leadership Evanston Panel on Local Elections. Nov. 18, 2006: Jeff joined a panel of local experts on campaign startup, financing, and strategy at the second of the Evanston Community Foundation's weekend seminars on running for local office. Go to Jeff's Election Law page to see the links to various state, county, and local agencies and forms that Jeff referred to in his presentation. Note that numerous links are to PDF documents for which you will need a current copy of Adobe Acrobat® or Adobe Acrobat Reader®.
Federal Judge Grants Our Motion to Dismiss Election Case. Aug. 24, 2006: Judge Gottschall of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois this week filed a memorandum opinion granting the motion of our client, Cheryl Wollin, Alderman of Evanston's First Ward, to dismiss a lawsuit stemming from the April, 2005 consolidated municipal elections. Previously, the Circuit Court of Cook County in June, 2005 granted our motion to dismiss the election case from state court. The contest moved to the Evanston City Council, which in fall, 2005 declined to hear the case, with a majority of the members recusing themselves.
It is worth noting the federal Court's observation that the Complaint's theory, with respect to its §1983 claim, was "implausible," and that Plaintiffs failed to provide "any basis" for believing that Northwestern or Wollin may be considered state actors. With respect to the other alleged federal basis, the judge ruled that the complaint failed to provide "even the slightest hint" that the alleged conspiracy between Northwestern and Wollin comes under §1985 (id. at 8).
This is strong language, and supports our expressed belief that this suit was always without merit. It is unfortunate that the individuals and institutions smeared by the lawsuit did not have a day in court to clear their name, but termination of the litigation is the fairest and most economic result for the voters and for the City.
Our office was pleased to be working with the firm of Engelman & Smith, and with Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP as pro bono co-counsel.
Click this link to download a copy of Judge Gottschall's opinion.
Click this link to download a copy of the motion to dismiss before the City of Evanston, which summarizes the case. Both are PDF documents for which you will need a current copy of Adobe Acrobat® or Adobe Acrobat Reader®.
Supported Charities: The Law Offices of Jeff Smith encourages clients, friends, and site visitors to consider a tax-deductible gift to the following organizations.
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JeffLaw.com
©2002, 2004, 2005 by Jeffrey P. Smith
Launched: July 6, 2002
Last modified: December 26, 2006