Judge Moran passed away yesterday.  Click here for the Northern District’s official statement.*  This is a difficult post for me to write.  It is hard, maybe impossible, to capture Judge Moran’s impact on the Northern District of Illinois in a relatively short blog post.  Judge Moran served as a federal district judge for almost thirty years, including as Chief Judge in the early 1990s.  Judge Moran also served Illinois as a state representative and spent several years in the Army after getting his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and before attending Harvard Law School. 

As a district judge, Judge Moran was respectful, thoughtful, and thorough.  Judge Moran’s most lasting contributions to the Northern District were likely as a mentor and a writer.  Judge Moran’s opinions were detailed and well reasoned, but most of all his opinions were written in straight forward language that opened the federal courts to people without legal training.  Judge Moran’s passing is a significant loss.

[UPDATE:]  The Chicago Tribune posted a detailed obituary here with more comments from Judge Moran’s peers and a more detailed account of his impressive legal career.

*  I will post more information regarding any memorials, as the information becomes available.  On a procedural note, Judge St. Eve is hearing any motions pending on Judge Moran’s docket until further notice.