Sheila M. Finnegan
How Judge Finnegan rules, drawn from 9 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Finnegan no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Finnegan
Sheila M. Finnegan served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois from April 2010 until January 2025 and was Chief Magistrate Judge from 2021 to 2022. She earned degrees from Georgetown University and the University of Chicago Law School. Before joining the bench, she prosecuted federal cases and practiced litigation at Mayer Brown.
How Judge Finnegan decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Larry F. v. Kijakazi, Finnegan remanded the Social Security appeal because the ALJ had not resolved an apparent conflict between vocational testimony and the Dictionary of Occupational Titles concerning the claimant’s prior work.
“the ALJ's decision is reversed, and this case is remanded”
Procedural preferences
In BookXchange v. Book Runners, she granted limited relief over gaps in the plaintiff's document search but denied the rest of the defendants' discovery requests.
“The motion is denied at this time in all other respects.”
In Full Circle Villagebrook v. Protech, she granted the plaintiff's renewed motion to compel the requested diligence and underwriting documents.
“Plaintiff's Renewed Motion to Compel [76] is granted.”
Cautions
In Low and Tkach v. Omni Life Science, she denied nonparty Andrew McLeod's motion for subpoena-related sanctions.
“For the reasons set forth above, Non-Party Andrew McLeod's Motion for Sanctions [13] is denied.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Trost Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 16] is granted with prejudice.”
“the Brown and Draus Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 17] is also granted, and the dismissal as to the malicious prosecution claims is with prejudice.”
“Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Expert Opinion Basis Materials (Doc. 107) is granted in part and denied in part.”
“The motion is denied at this time in all other respects.”
“Plaintiff's Renewed Motion to Compel [76] is granted.”
“both motions are granted.”
“For the reasons set forth above, Non-Party Andrew McLeod's Motion for Sanctions [13] is denied.”
“the ALJ's decision is reversed, and this case is remanded”
“Plaintiff's request to reverse or remand the ALJ's decision is denied, and the Commissioner's motion for summary judgment [19] is granted.”
“the Court grants judgment in favor of the Commissioner.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Judge Finnegan's reviewed docket had two principal components: duty-magistrate matters involving warrants, package seizures, and cell-site applications, and a substantial civil consent docket.
- Her consent work under 28 U.S.C. 636(c) was led by Social Security disability appeals in which she entered final judgment.
- She also handled referred civil discovery, including motions to compel, sanctions requests, and deposition-limit disputes.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Finnegan was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of March 31, 2025.
| Motions pending more than six months | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2023 | 2 | 1 |
| Mar 2023 | 2 | 1 |
| Sep 2022 | 2 | 2 |
| Mar 2022 | 2 | 2 |
| Sep 2021 | 3 | 2 |
| Mar 2021 | 2 | 1 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 1 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
A historical record
Judge Finnegan no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.