Michael B. Brennan
How Judge Brennan rules, drawn from 64 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Brennan
Michael Brian Brennan is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump, Judge Brennan received a commission on May 11, 2018.
Judge Brennan's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Brennan's own (checked October 11, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 11, 2026).
How Judge Brennan decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Lukaszczyk v. Cook County, he found an as-applied challenge waived because the plaintiffs had not pressed it below or in their opening appeal brief.
“Not until their final brief before us did plaintiffs first raise an as-applied challenge. ... Their decisions and actions satisfy the waiver scenarios this court described in Bradley, especially failing to pursue the as-applied challenge in the district court and failing to raise it in their opening brief in this appeal.”
In United States v. Devalois, he upheld the stop after finding the officer pursued its mission diligently rather than prolonging it.
“In the end, we agree with the district court's conclusion that, at all times during the encounter, Samuelson pursued the stop's mission with 'diligence, not delay.'”
Procedural preferences
In Choice, Brennan affirmed dismissal of an FDCPA suit for lack of Article III standing because the claimed confusion, attorney fees, and lost sleep did not establish a concrete injury on the record presented.
“Choice's decisions to hire an attorney and pay an appearance fee are insufficient to establish standing. ... 'A desire to obtain legal advice is not a reason for universal standing.' ... Choice's loss of sleep is likewise insufficient to show a concrete harm.”
In Sandoval Reynoso v. Garland, he dismissed the petition because the court lacked jurisdiction to review the discretionary denial of cancellation of removal.
“We lack jurisdiction to review the IJ's discretionary decision to deny Sandoval's application for cancellation of removal under 8 U.S.C. 1229b(b)(1). ... We therefore dismiss Sandoval's petition.”
Cautions
In Paulsen v. Abbott Laboratories, Brennan affirmed dismissal of a personal injury suit as untimely under Illinois law because Paulsen’s medical records and contemporaneous statements showed she had attributed her symptoms to the drug years before filing.
“But a variety of personal, legal, and medical documents reveal that Paulsen knew, or should have known, of the alleged injury and its cause several years earlier.”
In Bertaud v. O’Malley, Brennan affirmed denial of Social Security benefits after finding that the administrative law judge need not investigate a gap in the record when Bertaud was represented and counsel had said the exhibits were complete to the best of his knowledge.
“We presume the attorney made Bertaud's best case before the ALJ. ... Bertaud's counsel responded: 'Yes, I have and they are complete to the best of my knowledge.' The ALJ was entitled to conclude that additional development of the issues was unnecessary.”
In Perez-Castillo v. Blanche, Brennan sanctioned counsel after a brief contained fabricated quotations, misidentified precedent, and factual assertions contradicted by the record; the opinion warned lawyers to check work they outsource.
“Members of this court’s bar must be exceedingly careful about outsourcing their work product.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Therefore, we REMAND WITH INSTRUCTIONS ... Subject to those two corrections, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court in all other respects.”
“We can conceive of fact patterns and procedural histories on which a plausible ignorance defense on a status crime could conceivably allow for the withdrawal of a guilty plea. ... because Payne was convicted of three felonies before he was charged, and he was present at various hearings at which Wisconsin's statutory firearms prohibition would have been read, we conclude he has not established a plausible ignorance defense. ... AFFIRMED”
“We therefore VACATE the district court's judgment and REMAND with instructions to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.”
“For these reasons we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.”
“For all these reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Envoy, denial of Vesey’s Rule 59(e) motion, and order for costs.”
“Because the district court did not err when sentencing Esposito, we affirm.”
“Because the Illinois burglary statute is not divisible, we agree with him that the modified categorical approach does not apply. We therefore grant Parzych's petition for review, vacate the removal order, and remand the case to the Board for further proceedings.”
“Because the plaintiffs in these cases asked the consumer reporting agencies to make primarily legal determinations, they have not stated claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, so the judgment of the district court in each case is AFFIRMED.”
“We therefore REVERSE the district court’s judgment and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“For the reasons explained below, we affirm his conviction.”
“For these reasons, we DISMISS the appeal of the remand order, and we AFFIRM the fees and costs award and the district court's dismissal with prejudice of Davis's suit against CitiMortgage.”
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