Federal Civil Practice

Plaintiff borrowed money from the defendant at a high interest rate and later sued the defendants under state and federal law. Defendants sought to enforce an arbitration provision in their loan contracts. The district court denied the motion to compel arbitration and defendants appealed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that there was no mutual assent where the arbitration agreement directed the arbitrator to apply a body of law that did not exist and which the defendants maintained a unilateral ability to invent and that there was no indication that the plaintiffs intended to agree to those terms. (PRYOR and MALDONADO, concurring)

Plaintiff filed multiple lawsuits against online vendors for allegedly infringing on her registered trademark. The defendants failed to appear in district court and the court entered default judgment against them. Defendants eventually appeared and moved to vacate the default judgment, arguing that the district court lacked personal jurisdiction. The district court denied the motion and defendants appealed. The Seventh Circuit found that the district court erred in finding that the defendants sold products to state residents and that the remaining facts were insufficient to support a finding of personal jurisdiction. (ROVNER and MALDONADO, concurring)

Plaintiff, who was present in the country unlawfully for more than one year, sought a waiver of inadmissibility in an attempt to be eligible to obtain a family-based visa. The agency denied her application of waiver and she challenged the agency’s decision in federal court. The district court dismissed the claim for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and plaintiff appealed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, explaining that the applicable federal statute unequivocally precludes judicial review of all agency decisions as to waivers, including eligibility determinations. (EASTERBROOK and TAIBLESON, concurring)

A group of protesters and journalists filed a lawsuit against multiple federal defendants alleging violations of their First and Fourth Amendment rights by using tear gas and other chemical agents to break up protests without justification. The district court entered an injunction regulating all federal immigration enforcement efforts district wide. The government appealed the injunction order. The plaintiffs then asked the district court to voluntarily dismiss the case by asserting that the immigration activities giving rise to the proceedings had ended. The defendants also filed a motion to dismiss the appeal and vacate the preliminary injunction. The Seventh Circuit vacated the district court’s preliminary injunction and dismissed the appeal. (EASTERBROOK, dissenting)

Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit alleging that defendant’s virtual try-on feature violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act through its capture and use of their facial data. The district court certified a class of users in the state of Illinois and defendant filed an interlocutory appeal. The Seventh Circuit found no abuse of discretion and affirmed, explaining that common questions relating to the defendant’s liability predominate and that class certification will streamline the litigation and that the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that users of the product lacked sufficient incentive to bring individual lawsuits. (HAMLTON and ROVNER, concurring)