Sara L. Ellis

Obama and Durbin wanted to appoint a black to the district court. That they chose Ellis and tried to pass her off as black is offensive to both black people and practicing lawyers generally, because she is an intellectual lightweight and not the hardest worker in the northern district of illinois. Her knowledge of the law is incredibly limited. But at least she is marginally smarter than Virginia Kendall -- the court jester of the NDIL.

I must admit, I almost fell out of my chair and died laughing when I heard that Sara Ellis had been appointed an Article 3. She is very ambitious, but her reach exceeds her grasp. She can handle the most mundane and simple stuff that Article 3's are expected to handle: bank robberies, single plaintiff employment discrimination and Section 1983. But lord help you if you have a case that requires real thought or real work. She is a lightweight.

Should a former city attorney be ruling on cases involving her former colleagues and clients? Its one thing to have a bias for police but to add bias toward their lawyers is quite another. How is Chicago able to address police issues when the federal judiciary, in this case, is not willing to allow civilian matters to be heard.

She is in over her head. She cannot handle complicated legal arguments. She derides and belittles attorneys. Her temperament is awful. She does not like making decisions, so she keeps ordering the attorneys to meet and confer, even when they have already done that again and again and again. Her procedure for motions for summary judgment and for discovery motions is horrible. She wants both sides to file a "joint statement of facts" and "joint motions," which is impossible.

Unqualified for job. Funny to watch her on the bench when she gets stumped on even basic procedural or substantive issues. Unfortunately, off the bench her clerks don't seem good enough to salvage her lack of qualifications.

A fair, steady hand in civil litigation. She encourages settlement at all stages, but isn't afraid to dig in on the issues when necessary.

A former corp. counsel who still acts like one. She is completely biased towards the government in civil cases.