THE ROBING ROOM

The Seventh Circuit has collectively weighed in on Judge Norgle better than any lawyer ever could. His handling of the trial of former Chicago City Treasurer Miriam Santos caused the Seventh Circuit to coin the phrase 'veritable avalanche of errors.' United States v. Santos, 201 F.3d 953 (7th Cir. 2000). A Lexis search of 'norgle' and 'circuit rule 36' (meaning the Seventh Circuit re-assigned the case to another judge on remand) turns up 14 cases, including cases not involving new trials (see, e.g., Holmes v. Vill. of Hoffman Estates, 511 F.3d 673 (7th Cir. 2007)). Other decisions in Judge Norgle's wall of reversed legal rulings include: Williams v. City of Chicago, 733 F.3d 749 (7th Cir. 2013); Redmond v. Redmond, 724 F.3d 779 (7th Cir. 2013); Ty Inc. v. Softbelly's, 353 F.3d 528 (7th Cir. 2003); United States v. Robinson, 724 F.3d 878 (7th Cir. 2013); Schmude v. Sheahan, 420 F.3d 645 (7th Cir. 2005); and Grun v. Pneumo Adex Corp., 163 F.3d 411 (7th Cir. 1999). This is but a small sample of rulings where the appeals court has confirmed Judge Norgle's repeated legal errors. The repeated nature of these rulings indicates what can plainly be noticed in Judge Norgle's courtroom -- that he fails to learn from, or to correct, his mistakes. Even more shocking is that a judge with such an extensive record of legal errors teaches law at John Marshall Law School. Any student who wishes to pass the Illinois bar, or function effectively in a courtroom with even a minimally competent trier of fact, is advised to avoid his class -- or, failing that, to disregard nearly everything that he teaches them.