Sufficiency of Evidence – Acquisition

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Village of Barrington, Illinois v. Surface Transportation Board, et al.

Case No.: 17-3586

Officials: FLAUM and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges, and GETTLEMAN, District Judge

Focus: Sufficiency of Evidence – Acquisition

In 2007, Canadian National Railway Company (“CN”) sought approval from the Surface Transportation Board (the “Board”) of its acquisition of control of the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Railway Company (“EJ & E”) rail line near Chicago. As part of its review, the Board considered the impact of the acquisition on 112 railroad crossings throughout the Chicagoland area, including the intersection at U.S. Highway 14 (“U.S. 14”) in the Village of Barrington (the “Village”). Crossings projected to be “substantially affected” by the acquisition were eligible for mitigation measures imposed by the Board as a condition to its approval, up to and including grade separation between the roadway and rail line. The Board approved CN’s acquisition in 2008, but determined that U.S. 14 would neither be substantially affected nor warrant a grade separation. The Village unsuccessfully petitioned the Board to reopen its decision in 2011 and 2014. It failed for a third time in 2017, and now appeals the Board’s most recent denial. Because the Village does not present new evidence or substantially changed circumstances that mandate a different result, we deny the petition for review.

Petition Denied

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.