Jeffrey Cole

"It's not uncommon for tempers to grow short when a case drags on and discovery drags on, and that goes for judges and magistrate judges as well, although neither Judge Seeger nor I can file motions for leave to withdraw when we've had enough." United States ex rel. Gill v. CVS Health Corp., No. 18 C 6494, 2024 WL 3028958, at *2 (N.D. Ill. June 17, 2024) (Cole, J.) And so, on his way out the door, a long time magistrate best known for his ad hominem attacks on counsel states it succinctly: When your talent for case management fails and nothing else is available to you, "git huffy with 'em." Maybe if you make the process miserable enough, the litigants and their lawyers will go away. Thus, a lighter case load. And this alone is his legacy. Good riddance and may those coming after may be less backward with greater abilities.

Cole has all of the pettiness and personal vindictiveness of Judge Posner, with none of his intellect.

The first comment here, submitted on 9/5/2006, says all that needs to be known while others tie it up nicely. In sum, Mr. Cole is a sadly distempered man Incredibly thin skinned, Mr. Cole assumes that all civil litigants who dare challenge his off the cuff rulings are truly up to no good and just trying to multiply the proceedings. The response to any questioning is likely to be an ad hominem attack on counsel. He has what amounts to a handful of quips that he cuts and pastes into his orders whether they fit the facts or not. His rulings are as filled with misstatements of fact and the positions of the parties as anyone would expect from a judge in the Northern District of Illinois where such "judicial mischief," as Justice Scalia referred to it, is commonplace. Word from the lawyers of his generation is that he has always been self important and always angry that no president ever saw fit to place his name in nomination for appointment to the federal bench. Not a great magistrate by any means. Just [redacted by Ed.] unfit for the bench at an level, who goes out of his way to try to APPEAR to be smart. Mr. Cole would do well to actually focus on the work, entering orders that contain accurate factual statements, perhaps even with record citation, [redacted by Ed.]. The bench and bar will be much benefitted by Mr. Cole's departure from it.