Northern District of Eastern Division ()

The courthouse for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division is located in the Loop area of the city Lake of Chicago. The Eastern Division encompasses eight counties, 6,280 Kane square miles and is home to 8,376,389 Dupage

Naperville residents. Jurors in this venue are Chicago drawn from Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Aurora Cook Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle and Will Kendall Counties; however, the majority of jurors in this venue are drawn from La Salle Will

Cook County and the four collar Grundy counties that border it: DuPage, Kane, Lake, and Will counties.

The Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division draws jurors from the official voter registration lists for the counties and cities in this district as well as from driver’s license and personal identification card lists. Jurors in the Eastern Division are on call for a two-week period and are required to call in each evening to determine reporting status for the following day. Currently, jurors are paid $50 a day for their service.

This division has earned a reputation in the last two decades as a hotbed for patent law, as intellectual property case filings have increased by an estimated 60 percent in the last ten years. This growth in intellectual property law in this division is expected to continue following the TC Heartland decision. In TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods, the Supreme Court ruled that patent lawsuits had to be filed in a jurisdiction where a defendant resides or committed acts of infringement. For many large corporations, this means that patent lawsuits may be brought against them where their corporate headquarters are, which places the Northern District among the leaders in new filings. This venue features a very diverse jury pool in terms of race, education, and economic class, which makes case strategy and jury selection significantly more important for each intellectual property case.

www.thefocalpoint.com | © The Focal Point LLC 2020 With its location between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, Chicago and the surrounding area played an important role in the early transportation history of the United States. In the decade after Chicago’s incorporation in 1837, the railroad came to the city, the Illinois and Michigan Canal was completed, and Chicago became an important hub for the transportation of livestock and supplies between eastern and western states.

The Union Stock Yards were established in Chicago in the mid-19th century and led to Chicago’s development as a major center for meatpacking and livestock trade. At the turn of the 20th century, Chicago was known as the “Slaughterhouse to the World” and produced more than 80 percent of all the meat consumed in the United States.

With the manufacturing and transportation history of Chicago’s economy, this venue has strong historic labor union ties. At the turn of the 20th century, it was the birthplace of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or “Wobblies”), the American Federation of Labor’s (AFL), Amalgamated Meat Cutters, Butcher Workmen of North America (AMCBW), and it was also major site for the Congress of Industrial Organizations’ (CIO) United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA).

The city of Chicago grew from 4,400 residents in 1840 to 1.6 million by 1900. The rapid population rise brought with it significant urban and social problems, and by the late 19th century, Chicago and the surrounding communities became a center for social and labor reform and was home to such notable social reformers as Jane Addams, who founded Hull House in 1889 to address social issues related to poverty, public health, and women and children’s well-being. In May 1893, Chicago was host to the World’s Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair. More than 26 million people visited the fairgrounds and it was one of the defining events in American culture.

The history of this area is largely related to the development of distinct ethnic enclaves within the cities and in rural areas. Although the first settlers in the early 19th century were largely natives of the Eastern United States, the early European immigrants to the area included the Irish in the 1840s, and Germans, Swedes, and Dutch in the 19th century. Significant immigrant groups who arrived in later waves of immigration included the Poles, Italians, Greeks, and Chinese who settled in distinct neighborhoods throughout Chicago. Overall, Irish, German, and Polish Americans represent the largest ethnic groups in Chicago.

Cook County has a population of nearly 5.2 million and is the second largest county in the United States, although it is the only county in the top ten to have experienced a population decline since 2010. By population, Cook County accounts for over 60 percent of jurors in this venue. Of the four collar counties in the Eastern Division, DuPage County—located west of Chicago is the second largest county (population 931,826) and is considered a politically and socially conservative area in the venue.

www.thefocalpoint.com | © The Focal Point LLC 2020 The venue for the Eastern Division has a more diverse population than the state of Illinois overall. Within the individual counties, however, there is significant diversity by area. For example, the city of Waukegan—Lake County’s county seat—is much more racially and ethnically diverse than the county generally. Waukegan has a Hispanic population of 55.4 percent and an African American population of 17 percent, as compared to 21.1 percent Hispanic and 6.6 percent African American for Lake County overall. Chicago is also known as one of the largest sanctuary cities in the nation, and 20 percent of the city’s residents were born outside of the country.

Population Eastern Division Illinois Statewide

Total Population 8,376,389 12,854,526 White 51.2% 61.9% Hispanic 22.8% 16.8% Black 17.1% 14.1% Asian 6.9% 5.2%

While educational attainment in the venue closely mirrors the rates for the state of Illinois, there are significant differences among the counties of the Eastern Division. DuPage County has the highest educational attainment, with 48.1 percent of citizens having completed a bachelor’s degree or higher, and LaSalle County has the lowest educational attainment with only 17.8 percent of the residents having completed a bachelor’s degree or higher. The Eastern Division is home to a number of notable colleges and universities including: DePaul University, University of Chicago, Loyola University, Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Wheaton College.

Education Eastern Division Illinois Statewide

High School or Less 35.6% 37.8% Some College or Associate’s Degree 26.4% 28.8% Bachelor’s Degree 23.0% 20.5% Graduate or Professional Degree 15.0% 13.0%

The city of Chicago earned its nickname “The Windy City” in the 19th century because of its reputation for producing long-winded politicians. Today, the interest in politics is still an important characteristic of many jurors in this venue. The heightened awareness of politics may be related to Illinois’ complex political history that includes corruption and political dealings at the highest levels. Three of the previous eight governors of Illinois were convicted and sentenced to prison terms for involvement in bribery or “pay-to-play” schemes, and a fourth governor was convicted for his involvement in a savings and loan scandal. www.thefocalpoint.com | © The Focal Point LLC 2020 Illinois has become a consistent “Blue State” since the 1990s, but in the state’s history, voters have been nearly divided supporting 23 Democratic and 24 Republican presidential candidates. Illinois supported Barack Obama (a Chicagoan) in 2008 and 2012; however, Grundy County supported the Republican presidential candidates in 2008 and 2012, and LaSalle and Kendall Counties supported Romney in 2012. Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago, is considered one of the most Democratic counties in the United States.

The 2016 presidential election mirrored the results of the 2012 election. Five of the eight counties favored Hillary Clinton (including a resounding victory in Cook County), and unsurprisingly, the most conservative counties —Grundy, Kendall, and LaSalle— favored Donald Trump. Democrats also flipped a seat in the Senate in 2016, largely fueled by huge wins in the same five counties. The congressional districts in this venue are incredibly gerrymandered, but generally favor Democrats in the immediate vicinity of the city. In the 2018 midterms, Illinois elected Democratic governor JB Pritzker, who ousted incumbent Bruce Rauner. In the increasingly polarized American political climate, most of the Eastern Division seems to be digging into Democratic positions, but Grundy and LaSalle Counties remain slightly conservative.

2016 Presidential Clinton Trump Election Cook County 74.4% 21.4% DuPage County 53.9% 39.8% Grundy County 35.0% 58.6% Kane County 51.4% 42.4% Kendall County 46.0% 47.5% Lake County 57.3% 37.0% LaSalle County 39.8% 54.2% Will County 52.0% 44.6%

The median household income in the venue is slightly higher than the statewide median. Property values, especially those within city limits, also tend to be higher than those in the state as a whole. While the poverty rate in Chicago (20.6%) is higher than New York City’s (15.1%), it is substantially lower than midwest counterparts Detroit (37.9%) and Milwaukee (27.4%).

Household Data Eastern Division Illinois Statewide

Median Value of Home $234,205 $190,769 Median Household Income $66,968 $62,371 Home Ownership 63.4% 66.1%

www.thefocalpoint.com | © The Focal Point LLC 2020 The Chicago Metropolitan Area (including the cities of Chicago, Joliet, and Naperville) is ranked as the 3rd largest metropolitan economy in the United States, and 12th in a ranking of the most economically powerful cities in the world. The area is also home to a technology and research corridor which runs through DuPage and Kane Counties and is home to a growing number of Fortune 500 companies, research laboratories, and technology-focused industries. Lake and Kane Counties have the highest percentages of workers in manufacturing, with 16.4 percent and 17.1 percent, respectively.

The role of agricultural manufacturing in Chicago—as well as Chicago’s central location in the United States—led to the emergence of Chicago as a major player in the commodities, futures, and options markets. The (CBOT) was founded in 1848 as the world’s first , and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) was founded in 1919 from its predecessor, the Chicago Butter and Egg Board. The CBOT and the CME merged into the CME Group in 2007. Today, the CME Group is the world’s largest futures exchange market.

In the past few years, Chicago was the expansion site for many companies including McDonald’s headquarters relocation, Whole Foods’ expansion in Englewood and Pullman, the growth of Global Logistics, and GE Healthcare and Duracell’s respective international and domestic headquarters. These are in addition to the existing corporate headquarters in Chicago, which include , , Insurance, and . All told, ten Fortune 500 companies are based in the Chicago metropolitan area. The last decade has seen Chicago’s business ecosystem thrive. Unfortunately, the presence of these headquarters does not contribute great swaths of blue collar jobs, and the venue has seen many manufacturing jobs move outside of the state.

www.thefocalpoint.com | © The Focal Point LLC 2020 Major Employers in the Northern District of Ilinois Eastern Division Government and Education Insurance, Healthcare, and • Fermilab • Chicago Public Schools Pharmaceuticals • Google • City of Chicago • • Solutions • Cook County • Allstate • R. R. Donnelley & Sons • Northwestern University • • TDS • U. S. Government • Old Republic International • University of Chicago General Manufacturing, Financial Services Industrial Supply, and Energy Home Goods, Food Products, • ABN AMRO North America, • International and Retail Inc. • CF Industries Holdings, Inc. • • CME Group: CME/Chicago • Board of Trade Company • Hillshire Brands • • Services • : Corn Products • , Inc. International Airlines • • Jewel-Osco, Inc. • United Continental Holdings • W. W. Grainger, Inc. • Kraft Foods Group • , Inc. • McDonald’s, Corporation Research, Technology, and • Mondelēz, International Telecommunications • • Argonne National Laboratory • , Inc. • Boeing Co. • Walgreen Company • CDW •

The following resources were used in the construction of this document: Chicago Historical Society Chicago Tribune Almanac Chicago Tribune, Business CityLab.com CookCountyil.gov Crain’s Chicago Business DuPage County DuPage Roots: History of DuPage County Politico The Economist The Encyclopedia of Chicago: Newberry Library U.S. Census Will County Center for Economic Development www.thefocalpoint.com | © The Focal Point LLC 2020