Last month, the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin interviewed Aaron Maduff about his fight against Illinois’s current pension-reform law, and the continued progress he is making towards getting this yearlong issue resolved on behalf of the many university employees that he is representing.
November 21st, 2014 marks a huge victory for Aaron Maduff and his clients. It was on this day that John William Belz, the Sangamon Circuit County Judge, ruled that the state’s pension-reform law is unconstitutional, which now potentially sets the stage for a bigger fight with the Illinois Supreme Court.
In his interview, Aaron Maduff was asked several questions in regards to his pension fight and his experience as an appellate litigator. Here are just a few of the several questions he was asked, and his responses:
Maduff was first asked about his about his satisfaction with Judge Belz’s decision and whether or not he felt it was an unequivocal victory.
“We focused it to this point only on the pension-protection clause of the constitution, so it is an unequivocal victory,” states Maduff, “But there are other claims that are essentially mooted by the fact that statue itself is unconstitutional. But in terms of where we’ve gone, the entire statue has been struck. I think it’s the correct ruling.”
Maduff was also asked about the appeals process and how long he thinks it will take to get an end result after the Illinois Supreme Court files its appeal.
He shares that, “In my experience, appeals take approximately a year, give or take from the time that you’ve got your final order.”
He went on to say that if the court chooses to work fast, it could take 10 to 16 months.
When he was asked if there was a chance that the high court won’t take up the case, Maduff stated that although, “It is a possibility that the Supreme Court will not take the case, they anticipate that they will because it is a constitutional challenge, and I think that in the end they will conclude that Judge Belz got it right.”
Maduff also says, “I think that Judge Belz got it right, but I would anticipate that on something of this magnitude, the Supreme Court is going to want to release an opinion.”
To read more about Aaron Maduff’s featured interview and about his pension fight, click here.
For more than 20 years, Aaron Maduff has been practicing employment law, specializing in civil rights, discrimination, and overtime and wage theft. Visit Maduff & Maduff for more information about our attorneys and how we can help you.