Stephen A. Swedlow is planning to run for judge in the 8th Subcircuit, and he's already kicked in a half million dollars into his campaign warchest in a bid to overwhelm potential competition. (His Notification of Self-Funding was filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections on December 22. That disclosed that he had put $400,000 into his campaign. Another hundred thousand went in the following day, according to the ISBE website.)
The Co-Managing Partner of the Chicago office of Quinn Emmanuel Trial Lawyers, Swedlow made national news in August 2020 when, on behalf of his firm, he asked for an attorney fee award of $185 million "for representing a group of health insurers who will be paid about $3.7 billion from the U.S. government, reimbursing them for never-made payments promised under Obamacare." (While the fee request was almost entirely approved by Judge Kathryn C. Davis of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on September 16, 2021, it is being challenged on appeal.)
Swedlow's campaign chair and treasurer is fellow Quinn Emmanuel partner Andrew H. Schapiro, the former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic.
Licensed in Illinois since 1996, according to ARDC, Swedlow has not previously run for judge. He did, however, apply for associate judge in 2021.
Swedlow's campaign website, linked in the first sentence of this post, is still under construction as this is published. However, his firm biography notes that Swedlow "currently serves as court appointed lead counsel in multidistrict class action litigation against Facebook on behalf of all Facebook users for antitrust and privacy misrepresentations. He also serves as lead counsel in class actions against Amazon for privacy violations on behalf of children unlawfully recorded by Alexa." According to the firm biography Swedlow has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in over 100 class action cases in state and federal court across the country in technology, privacy, environmental and consumer protection cases. He has also served as a lecturer at Northwestern School of Law.
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7 comments:
Everyone knows that the 8th Subcircuit, per capita, has the fewest lawyers and the most "low-information" voters in the entire county when it comes to judicial races. Also, bar ratings and the Tribune endorsement won't matter! Not. Given the relatively weak roster of candidates in the last cycle, this guy has a good shot of winning.
Yeah, sure. But has he ever tried a fender bender on the 11th floor of the Daley Center? Or a DUI on the 4th Floor?
You have everything exactly backwards. 8th has most attorneys of any subcircuit. It may be the only subcircuit where Tribune endorsement has any impact.
good points
Anon 1/4/2022 @ 6:00 -- you missed the "not."
Any practicing lawyer can figure out how to handle a fender-bender or DUI. It ain't rocket science. True, some lawyers have turned them into an artform, but those over-achievers and perfectionists don't necessarily make good judges.
I love how people on this blog like to talk about what makes a good judge, when all I want is the winning formula to grab my judicial lottery ticket and retire from my career as a "public servant." ha.
Burnt Out ASA
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