CBA Record July-August 2025

Pictured from left: Judge Jasmine V. Hernandez, Judge Loveleen Ahuja, Justice David Navarro, Justice Rena Van Tine, Justice Sanjay Tailor, and Judge Thomas Morrissey. Appeals, Advocacy, and Engagement: A Conversation with Illinois Appellate Justices By Chris Fuller, Judicial Law Clerk to Presiding Judge E. Kenneth Wright, Jr., First Municipal District, Circuit Court of Cook County

T he CBA Municipal and the Law Committee recently gath ered to hear Justices David Navarro, Rena Van Tine, and Sanjay Tailor of the First District Appellate Court of Illinois speak about appeal issues for attorneys and judges. Cook County Associate Judge and Committee Vice-Chair Jasmine V. Hernandez moderated the discussion. Topics discussed included the organiza tion and procedures of the First District Appellate Court, the dif ferences between being a trial judge and an appellate justice, factors to consider when deciding whether to file an appeal, standards of review, and best practices for arguing before the Appellate Court. In keeping with the fact that all panelists have served as presiding judges at the trial court level, the discussion began by focusing on what they considered some of the less obvious differences between the Appellate Court and trial courts. “You’re the decider in the trial court,” Justice Tailor said. “In the Appellate Court, there’s an art to the process of deciding a case among three people.” Justices Van Tine and Navarro discussed the solitary nature of being a trial court judge—hearing witnesses and judging their credibility, weighing evidence, and researching the issues all on their own—versus the appellate court’s collaborative, consensus based process of deciding a case. Differences Between Being a Trial Judge and an Appellate Justice

Factors to Consider before Filing an Appeal Asked when an attorney should consider filing an appeal, Jus tice Tailor stated that an attorney’s first consideration should be whether they should file an appeal because, depending on the issue, an appellate court may not have much latitude to disturb a trial court’s finding or decision. This point led Justices Tailor and Van Tine to describe the different standards of review they apply and to highlight how attorneys should consider the stan dards of review when evaluating the issues in cases they want to appeal. “The more issues you can identify that are subject to de novo review, the better the chances are that you might prevail on your appeal,” Justice Tailor said. Since the justices evaluate legal questions parties raise on appeal without having to defer to the trial court’s analysis of those issues, the litigants and their attorneys have their fullest oppor tunity to convince the justices of their argument. On the other hand, Justice Van Tine noted that raising issues where an appel late court has to review the findings and decisions for an abuse of discretion, for being against the manifest weight of the evidence, or for being clearly erroneous, can be much more difficult. With these types of issues, even if the justices find the appellant’s argu ments persuasive, they still must defer to the trial court’s find ings or judgment, significantly lessening the probability that the appeal can be successful.

18 July/August 2025