July 6, 2006

MEDIA BRIEFING SHEET

Tape recorders and cameras are prohibited on any floor of the courthouse above the lobby. Other electronic devices, such as cell phones, pagers and laptop computers, are subject to inspection each time they are brought to the courthouse. Cell phones and pagers must be turned off or set on vibrate and may not be used to photograph or record the proceedings. Laptops computers may not be used in any courtroom.

The session's focus is to thank Chief Judge Kocoras for his four years of service as Chief Judge and welcome Judge Holderman as the new Chief Judge. The contemplated speaking order is: welcoming remarks by Chief Judge Charles P. Kocoras; remarks on the court's history by Judge William T. Hart; motion for administration of oath by Chief Judge Joel M. Flaum of the Seventh Circuit; supporting comments by Justice Anne M. Burke, who on July 6, 2006 became a Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court; supporting comments by Matthew C. Crowl, a partner at Schiff Harden LLP; administering of the oath by Judge William J. Bauer of the Seventh Circuit; and concluding remarks by Chief Judge Holderman.

Chief Judge Holderman is a native of Morris, Illinois, in Grundy, County, the smallest county by population and geographic size in the Northern District of Illinois. Chief Judge Holderman received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After clerking for the Chief Judge of the Northern District of Iowa, Chief Judge Holderman worked in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago from 1972 through 1978. Chief Judges Kocoras and Holderman were trial partners on several cases while they both served in the U.S. Attorney's Office. While at the U.S. Attorney's office, Chief Judge Holderman was awarded the U.S. Department of Justice Special Commendation for Outstanding Service in 1974 and 1976, and in 1978 he was awarded the Department of Justice's Director's Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney.

In 1978, he joined the law firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal as a partner, where he specialized in criminal and civil litigation in federal court. While in private practice, Chief Judge Holderman represented the American Bar Association before Congress on ways to improve the rules and procedures applied by the United States Courts. When Chief Judge Holderman was inducted as a United States District Judge in May 1985, Judge Bauer was one of the speakers, as he has been a friend and mentor of Chief Judge Holderman for many years. In addition to his regular judicial duties, Chief Judge Holderman has served for the past several years as the district court's judicial coordinator for the conversion to electronic filing. He also co-chairs the Seventh Circuit American Jury Project Commission, which is testing procedures to improve the jury system. In 2004, the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago honored Chief Judge Holderman with its Distinguished Judicial Service Award.

Chief Judge Holderman has published several legal articles and most recently he co-authored, with his senior law clerk, Charles Redfern, Preindictment Prosecutorial Conduct in the Federal System Revisited, published in the Winter 2006 edition of the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. This article is an update to Chief Judge Holderman's 1980 article Preindictment Prosecutorial Conduct in the Federal System, which was also published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology when Chief Judge Holderman was in private practice. The original 1980 article was recognized as one of the leading law review articles of that year and was reprinted in the National Law Review Reporter. The 1980 article was cited as authority by various federal and state courts throughout the country. Additionally, Chief Judge Holderman published an article in November 2005 entitled Section 1927 Sanctions and the Split Among the Circuits in Litigation, the Journal of the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association. He wrote an article discussing the results of the Seventh Circuit American Jury Project Commission also scheduled for forthcoming publication in Litigation.

Chief Judge Holderman has been an adjunct professor at various law schools, including the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, IIT-Chicago Kent and John Marshall Law School. He has been an instructor at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy ("NITA"). For the past 15 years, Chief Judge Holderman has taught Intellectual Property Trial Advocacy with his wife, Paula Hudson Holderman, at both the University of Illinois College of Law and the John Marshall Law School. He is also a frequent speaker at continuing legal education programs both nationally and internationally.

Justice Anne Burke, who will be speaking at the July 7th ceremony, was a student of Chief Judge Holderman's at IIT- Chicago Kent College of Law before Chief Judge Holderman was appointed to the bench. Justice Burke will be speaking on behalf of the numerous law students Chief Judge Holderman has taught over the years.

Justice Burke was sworn-in on July 6, 2006 as the most recent Justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois, replacing Justice Mary Ann G. McMorrow. Justice McMorrow is also planning to attend the July 7th ceremony. Justice Burke has previously served on the Appellate Court of Illinois and the Illinois Court of Claims. She founded the Chicago Special Olympics in 1968 and was the Interim Chair of the Lay National Review Board of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. She has served as special counsel to Governor Jim Edgar on child welfare.

Matt Crowl, who is also a speaker at the July 7th ceremony, recently joined the law firm of Schiff Harden LLP as a partner. Mr. Crowl is speaking on behalf of Chief Judge Holderman's former law clerks. Chief Judge Holderman has 23 current and former law clerks. His former clerks are working in a variety of positions throughout government service, private industry and private practice. Mr. Crowl was a law clerk to Chief Judge Holderman from September 1989 to March 1992. Mr. Crowl thereafter served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1992 through 2003 before becoming a Deputy Chief of Staff for Public Safety to Mayor Richard M. Daley in 2003. Mr. Crowl was promoted to First Deputy Chief of Staff by Mayor Daley and held that position until May 26, 2006. While at the Mayor’s Office, Mr. Crowl worked in coordination with the Chicago Police Department in reducing the number of homicides in Chicago.