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8 O’CLOCK CALL WITH JUDGES LARSEN, ALLEN, AND VALDERRAMA
Thoughts on Running a Courtroom
By Shannon Burke
Editorial Board Member
On October 17, 2014, the Chicago Bar
Association hosted an 8 O’clock Call with
three judges from the Circuit Court of Cook
County, Chancery Division: Judge Diane
Larsen, Judge Thomas Allen and Judge
Franklin Valderrama. Judge Thomas Hogan
from the Circuit Court of Cook County,
Law Division, moderated the panel. The
distinguished panelists answered questions
from the audience, including the following:
What are the courts doing to increase access
to justice for low-income people?
Judge Larsen is very appreciative of legal
aid organizations that offer services to low-
income people. The court has developed
an order form that orders parties to seek
representation from those organizations,
formalizes the process, and sets a timeline
that the litigants must follow. Addition-
ally, the court has started a help desk at
the Daley Center where litigants can seek
assistance.
What are your thoughts about settlement
conferences?
Judges Larsen and Allen believe settle-
ment conferences can be beneficial and
are willing to conduct them. Judge Allen
noted that settlement conferences typically
result either in settlement or narrowing the
gap between the parties’ positions. Judge
Valderrama does not volunteer to interject
himself in the proceeding, but he has a
standard order form in which parties can
jointly ask him to engage in a settlement
conference. He believes that settlement
conferences are generally most beneficial
after some discovery has begun because the
parties are then aware of potential defenses
and other issues. He asks that the parties
exchange settlement positions in advance
of the conference.
How do you like to run your trials?
All of the judges conduct pretrial confer-
ences to address as many issues as possible
prior to the start of trial. On the day of
trial, they generally allow parties to give
brief opening statements and then dive
straight into presenting the evidence. Judge
Allen noted that many attorneys decline
the opportunity to give closing arguments
and instead prefer to prepare proposed
findings of fact and conclusions of law.
Judge Hogan questioned why litigants
would forgo the opportunity to present
their argument to the court.
What are your thoughts on trials that are not
conducted on consecutive days?
All of the judges agreed that it is not ideal
to start and stop trials and that they would
prefer to have consecutive trial dates. Judge
Larsen recommended that litigants be as
accurate as possible when providing to the
court an estimate of the number of days
the trial will take.
Do you find oral argument helpful?
Each judge has changed his or her mind on
a case after hearing oral argument, which
Judge Hogan said lent credence to his
belief that attorneys should not forgo the
opportunity to present their arguments to
the court. All of the judges emphasized that
they personally read each brief, so it is not
necessary to repeat what has already been
stated in the briefs. Judge Larsen believes
the best use of oral argument is offering the
respondent the opportunity to respond to
the movant’s reply brief. Judge Allen wel-
comes oral argument and finds that some
attorneys are better able to communicate
orally than in writing. He can recall times
when dispositive issues were raised for the
first time at oral argument. Judge Valder-
rama often sets oral arguments and uses
the time to ask questions about the case,
flush out issues, and discuss applicable case
law. He actively questions the attorneys,
especially when they present a novel issue.
What do you findmost helpful to knowwhen
presiding over a case arising fromthe Illinois
Administrative Procedure Act?
Judge Valderrama noted that the parties
have already completed the evidentiary
hearing by the time they reach the appeal.
Therefore, he finds it most effective when
litigants frame their arguments in terms of
the standard of review and how it applies
to their case.
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14 JANUARY 2015