Joel Martin Flaum

How Judge Flaum rules, drawn from 21 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Judge Flaum no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

Court
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Position
district
Status
Elevated to a higher court
Served
1974–1983
Appointed by
Gerald Ford (Republican)
Commissioned
1974-12-20
Education
Union College, B.A., 1958; Northwestern University School of Law, J.D., 1963; Northwestern University School of Law, LL.M., 1964
Signed orders read
21

How Judge Flaum decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

Flaum denied patent-invalidity summary judgment where secondary considerations and the anticipation record presented genuine factual disputes.

“The record in that regard contains genuine issues of material fact.”

He granted summary judgment for prison officials when affidavits established that the challenged good-time calculation followed procedures already upheld by the state courts.

“Franzen also has established that Barksdale’s good-time credit was computed by the same procedure which was upheld by the Hernandez and Williams courts as appropriate under the amended Illinois code and the Illinois Supreme Court’s directive in Johnson.”

Procedural preferences

In preliminary-injunction review, Flaum required the movant to establish every element and emphasized the availability of an adequate damages remedy.

“the court concludes that Fairplain has failed to carry its burden of persuasion as to all of the elements necessary for a preliminary injunction.”

He dismissed an antitrust action with prejudice after a mid-trial disruption deprived the opposing party of a decision from the selected jury, while declining to preserve an attorney-fee award absent bad faith in filing the case.

“This kind of behavior, in this factual setting, cannot be tolerated.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Acoustiflex Corp. v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp.
· 1983-05-24
Summary judgment (defendant Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation) Denied

“Accordingly, Owens-Corning’s motion for summary judgment is denied.”

Jakubs v. Fruehauf Corp.
· 1977-08-22
Motions to dismiss (defendant Herder Brothers, Inc.) Denied

“Defendant’s motion to dismiss is therefore denied.”

Shepard v. Fox River Foods Co.
· 1978-03-31
Motions to dismiss (defendant Fox River Foods Co.) Denied

“Accordingly, defendant’s motion to dismiss is denied.”

Miller v. Motorola, Inc.
· 1977-11-10
Motion to strike class allegations (defendant Motorola, Inc.) Granted

“Therefore, defendant having established by undisputed facts that plaintiff cannot maintain this action on a class basis, defendant’s motion to strike the class allegations of the complaint is granted.”

Motion for protective order (defendant Motorola, Inc.) Granted in part

“This result, of course, disposes of plaintiff’s discovery requests presently pending and defendant’s motion for a protective order is granted to the extent plaintiff seeks discovery on class issues.”

MGD Graphic Systems Americas Co. v. ACME Fast Freight, Inc.
· 1977-04-06
Summary judgment (defendant ACME Fast Freight, Inc.) Denied

“the defendant’s motion for summary judgment must be DENIED.”

Vin-Tex Sealers, Inc. v. Plastic Workers Union Local No. 18
· 1976-09-24
Motions to remand (plaintiff Vin-Tex Sealers, Inc.) Granted

“The plaintiff’s motion to remand is hereby GRANTED and the case is remanded to the Circuit Court of DuPage County.”

Cheng v. State of Illinois
· 1977-10-25
Summary judgment (plaintiff Regina Wai-Ling Cheng) Granted

“Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, there being no genuine issue of material fact, is granted.”

Motion to amend (former plaintiff Syed Iqbal Jafree) Granted

“Accordingly, Mr. Jafree’s motion to amend is granted and his claim for compensatory damages is dismissed.”

Reddy v. United States
· 1977-08-31
Summary judgment (defendant United States) Granted

“Therefore, summary judgment is entered on defendant’s behalf pursuant to Fed.R. Civ.P. 56, and this cause is dismissed.”

Fairplain Development Co. v. Freeman
· 1981-04-10
Preliminary injunction (plaintiff Fairplain Development Company) Denied

“Accordingly, the motion for a preliminary injunction is denied.”

Keesey v. Leahy
· 1977-09-27
Summary judgment (defendants) Granted

“Accordingly, defendants’ motions for summary judgment are granted and this case is dismissed.”

Masel v. Industrial Commission of Illinois
· 1982-05-28
Motions to dismiss (defendants) Granted

“Accordingly, the motion to dismiss the complaint is granted.”

William Tell II, Inc. v. Illinois Liquor Control Commission (In re William Tell II, Inc.)
· 1983-05-26
Bankruptcy appeal (appellant Illinois Liquor Control Commission) Denied

“Accordingly, the Bankruptcy Court’s orders are affirmed.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

No assigned-case timeline was available for this closed district tenure. The located writings span civil rights, employment, patent, tax, financial regulation, injunctions, criminal procedure, and bankruptcy review, but they do not establish the distribution of Flaum's full district caseload.

A historical record

Judge Flaum no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.