10-1639 In re: Sherwin-Williams Co.

Listen to this article

Civil Procedure
Judicial recusal

A judge need not recuse himself from a case, although he wrote a law review article addressing an issue in the case.

"Sherwin-Williams contends that a reasonable observer could conclude from Judge Adelman's article that he believes that Thomas was correctly decided and that he therefore will not consider Sherwin-Williams's attacks on Thomas fairly. As suggested in our earlier characterization of the article, we do not think that a reasonable person, having actually read the article, would think that Judge Adelman had expressed any view as to the merits in Thomas in arguing that it and the other decisions fell within the Wisconsin high court's authority. But the bigger failing in this contention is that, as Judge Adelman noted in denying the motion for recusal, his views of Thomas, to the extent he has any, are irrelevant. Because these are diversity cases, Judge Adelman is obligated to follow state law, as interpreted by the state supreme court. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Pate, 275 F.3d 666, 669 (7th Cir. 2001) (citing Erie R.R. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 80 (1938)). He cannot revisit the holding in Thomas, not even if he were persuaded that Sherwin-Williams's objections are meritorious. See Rennert v. Great Dane Ltd. P'ship, 543 F.3d 914, 917 (7th Cir. 2008). A reasonable person would understand this and would appreciate that Judge Adelman's impartiality in these cases is in no way called into question by anything he may have said about the merits of Thomas."

Petition Denied.

10-1639 In re: Sherwin-Williams Co.

Petition for Writ of Mandamus from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Adelman, J., Per Curiam.

Full Text