Case: American Alliance For Equal Rights v. American Bar Association

COMPLAINT filed by American Alliance For Equal Rights; Filing fee $ 405, receipt number AILNDC-23341094. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Corporate Disclosures)(Pociask, Matthew) (Entered: 04/12/2025)

1 Civil Cover Sheet

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2 Corporate Disclosures

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ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiff American Alliance For Equal Rights by Matthew Pociask (Pociask, Matthew) (Entered: 04/12/2025)

MOTION for Leave to Appear Pro Hac Vice Filing fee $ 150, receipt number AILNDC-23342598. (Norris, Cameron) (Entered: 04/14/2025)

CASE ASSIGNED to the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall. Designated as Magistrate Judge the Honorable M. David Weisman. Case assignment: Random assignment. (Civil Category 2). (qrtr, )

CLERK'S NOTICE: Pursuant to Local Rule 73.1(b), a United States Magistrate Judge of this court is available to conduct all proceedings in this civil action. If all parties consent to have the currently assigned United States Magistrate Judge conduct all proceedings in this case, including trial, the entry of final judgment, and all post-trial proceedings, all parties must sign their names on the attached Consent To form. This consent form is eligible for filing only if executed by all parties. The parties can also express their consent to jurisdiction by a magistrate judge in any joint filing, including the Joint Initial Status Report or proposed Case Management Order. (qrtr, )

clerk's notice

case assigned

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: Attorney Cameron T. Norris's motion to appear pro hac vice 3 on behalf of the plaintiff American Alliance for Equal Rights is granted. Mailed notice (mjc, ) (Entered: 04/15/2025)

ORDER: An initial status report is due on or before June 16, 2025. Counsel and parties are directed to familiarize themselves with the pretrial procedures in Judge Gottschall's case management packet, which is available from the court's website at https://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov. Please pay particular attention to the requirement to exchange initial disclosures within fourteen days of the parties' initial discovery planning conference and the court's requirement that the parties are to explore settlement opportunities and identify areas of agreement prior to the filing of the first status report.If, by the due date of the scheduled status report, defendants have not been served, plaintiff should email chambers_gottschall@ilnd.uscourts.gov to reset the status date. Counsel in cases removed from another court should follow these procedures to the extent applicable. See the order and Judge Gottschall's case management packet for further details. Signed by the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall on 4/15/2025. Mailed notice(mjc, ) (Entered: 04/15/2025)

ATTORNEY Appearance for Defendant American Bar Association by Joseph James Torres (Torres, Joseph) (Entered: 04/15/2025)

ATTORNEY Appearance for Defendant American Bar Association by Katherine Funderburg (Funderburg, Katherine) (Entered: 04/15/2025)

WAIVER OF SERVICE returned executed by American Alliance For Equal Rights. American Bar Association waiver sent on 4/15/2025, answer due 6/16/2025. (Norris, Cameron) (Entered: 04/15/2025)

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: Defendant is instructed to file its Local Rule 3.2 notice of affiliates on or before May 2, 2025.Mailed notice (mjc, ) (Entered: 04/21/2025)

NOTIFICATION of Affiliates pursuant to Local Rule 3.2 by American Bar Association (Torres, Joseph) (Entered: 04/28/2025)

ATTORNEY Appearance for Plaintiff American Alliance For Equal Rights by Adam K Mortara (Mortara, Adam) (Entered: 05/09/2025)

MOTION for Leave to Appear Pro Hac Vice on behalf of American Alliance For Equal Rights by R. Gabriel Anderson; Filing fee $ 150, receipt number AILNDC-23551997. (Anderson, R. Gabriel) (Entered: 05/29/2025)

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: Attorney R. Gabriel Anderson's motion to appear pro hac vice on behalf of Plaintiff 12 is granted. Mailed notice. (kp, ) (Entered: 05/29/2025)

MOTION for Leave to Appear Pro Hac Vice on behalf of American Alliance For Equal Rights by Thomas McCarthy; Filing fee $ 150, receipt number AILNDC-23553524. (McCarthy, Thomas) (Entered: 05/29/2025)

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: Attorney Thomas R. McCarthy for American Alliance For Equal Rights' motion to appear pro hac vice on behalf of the plaintiff 14 is granted. Mailed notice (mjc, ) (Entered: 05/30/2025)

STATUS Report by American Alliance For Equal Rights (Pociask, Matthew) (Entered: 06/13/2025)

MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM by Defendant American Bar Association (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant's Motion to Dismiss)(Torres, Joseph) (Entered: 06/16/2025)

1 Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant's Motion to Dismiss

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MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: By agreement of the parties reflected in ¶ 9 of the joint initial status report 16, discovery is stayed pending resolution of defendant's motion 17 to dismiss the complaint. Plaintiff reserves the right to file non-discovery-related motions during this stay. Id. The court sets the following briefing schedule on defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted: plaintiff's response is due by and including July 15, 2025; and defendant's reply, if any, is due by and including August 5, 2025. Mailed notice (mjc, ) (Entered: 06/17/2025)

AMENDED complaint by American Alliance For Equal Rights against American Bar Association (Norris, Cameron) (Entered: 06/25/2025)

MOTION by Defendant American Bar Association for extension of time and to Set Briefing Schedule on Motion to Dismiss (Unopposed) (Torres, Joseph) (Entered: 07/07/2025)

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: Defendant's unopposed motion 20, filed July 7, 2025, for extension of time and to set briefing schedule is granted. By request of defendant, its motion 17 to dismiss the original complaint is denied as moot in light of the filing of the amended complaint 19 on June 25, 2025. Defendant's deadline to answer or otherwise respond to the amended complaint 19 is extended to and including July 30, 2025. By agreement, briefing on defendant's anticipated motion to dismiss the amended complaint will proceed as follows. Plaintiff's response is due by and including August 27, 2025. Defendant's reply, if any, is due by and including September 17, 2025. Mailed notice (mjc, ) (Entered: 07/08/2025)

MOTION for Leave to Appear Pro Hac Vice on behalf of American Alliance For Equal Rights by Julius Isaac Kairey; Filing fee $ 150, receipt number AILNDC-23731181. (Kairey, Julius) (Entered: 07/10/2025)

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: Attorney, Julius Isaac Kairey's Motion to appear pro hac vice on behalf of plaintiff 22 is granted. (rbf, ) (Entered: 07/11/2025)

MOTION by Defendant American Bar Association to dismiss (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant's Motion to Dismiss)(Torres, Joseph) (Entered: 07/30/2025)

1 Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant's Motion to Dismiss

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MOTION by Plaintiff American Alliance For Equal Rights for leave to file excess pages in its brief in opposition to Defendant's motion to dismiss (Norris, Cameron) (Entered: 08/21/2025)

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: Plaintiff's unopposed motion 25 for leave to file a brief in excess of fifteen pages, filed August 21, 2025, is granted. Plaintiff is instructed to file its twenty page response brief as a separate docket entry by and including August 25, 2025. Mailed notice. (mma, ) (Entered: 08/22/2025)

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: Orders entered on Friday, August 22, 2025, were entered erroneously. All orders dated August 22, 2025, are withdrawn. Corrected orders will follow later today. Mailed notice. (mma, ) (Entered: 08/25/2025)

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: Plaintiff's unopposed motion 25 for leave to file a brief in excess of fifteen pages, filed August 21, 2025, is granted. Plaintiff is instructed to file its twenty page response brief as a separate docket entry by and including August 26, 2025. Mailed notice. (kp, ) (Entered: 08/25/2025)

RESPONSE by American Alliance For Equal Rightsin Opposition to MOTION by Defendant American Bar Association to dismiss 24 (Norris, Cameron) (Entered: 08/25/2025)

REPLY by American Bar Association to MOTION by Defendant American Bar Association to dismiss 24 / Reply in Support of Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (Torres, Joseph) (Entered: 09/17/2025)

NOTICE by American Bar Association re MOTION by Defendant American Bar Association to dismiss 24 re: Supplemental Authority (Torres, Joseph) (Entered: 10/15/2025)

NOTICE by American Alliance For Equal Rights regarding Defendant's changes to the challenged scholarship (Norris, Cameron) (Entered: 10/31/2025)

MOTION by Defendant American Bar Association for leave to file Response to Plaintiff's Notice Regarding Changes to the Challenged Scholarship (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A - Response to Notice)(Torres, Joseph) (Entered: 11/05/2025)

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: Plaintiff filed a Notice 32 informing the court of a change in defendant's scholarship program. Why plaintiff did so is a mystery since no relief was requested. Plaintiff appeared to be anticipating that defendant would at some point argue that the case is moot. However, defendant has not done so, and if it ever does so, the court will of course hear from plaintiff on that issue. Now, defendant desires to file a Response to the Notice 33 . As far as the court can tell, the only relevance of the Response is to correct alleged misstatements in the Notice. Until some relevance to the issues before the court is made clear, the court is unwilling to follow the parties down this rabbit hole. The Notice 32 is therefore stricken, and the Motion for Leave to File Response 33 is denied. Mailed notice (mjc, ) (Entered: 11/06/2025)

ANNUAL REMINDER: Pursuant to Local Rule 3.2 (Notification of Affiliates), any nongovernmental party, other than an individual or sole proprietorship, must file a statement identifying all its affiliates known to the party after diligent review or, if the party has identified no affiliates, then a statement reflecting that fact must be filed. An affiliate is defined as follows: any entity or individual owning, directly or indirectly (through ownership of one or more other entities), 5% or more of a party. The statement is to be electronically filed as a PDF in conjunction with entering the affiliates in CM/ECF as prompted. As a reminder to counsel, parties must supplement their statements of affiliates within thirty (30) days of any change in the information previously reported. This minute order is being issued to all counsel of record to remind counsel of their obligation to provide updated information as to additional affiliates if such updating is necessary. If counsel has any questions regarding this process, this LINK will provide additional information. Signed by the Honorable Virginia M. Kendall on 12/31/2025: Mailed notice. (tg, ) (Entered: 01/01/2026)

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: For the reasons stated, the ABA's motion to dismiss the amended complaint, Dkt. No. 24, is granted in part and denied in part. The amended complaint is dismissed for lack of Article III standing insofar as The Alliance's standing derives from Member B. The motion to dismiss the amended complaint's 42 U.S.C. § 1981 claim for failure to state a claim is denied. The court does not reach the ABA's First Amendment affirmative defense and implies no view on it or any related issues. If plaintiff wishes to amend, it must file a second amended complaint within 14 days, by and including February 4, 2026. If no second amended complaint is filed, defendant's answer is due on or before February 18, 2026. The parties are instructed to file a joint status report within fourteen days, by and including February 4, 2026, proposing a plan for giving notice in compliance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.1. Mailed notice (mjc, ) (Entered: 01/21/2026)

MEMORANDUM Opinion and Order Signed by the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall on 1/21/2026. Mailed notice(mjc, )

MOTION by Plaintiff American Alliance For Equal Rights for extension of time (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Norris, Cameron) (Entered: 01/26/2026)

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: The Consent Motion for Extensions of Time 38 is granted. Plaintiff's second amended complaint is due by and including March 4, 2026, and defendant's response is due by and including March 25, 2026. Mailed notice (mjc, ) (Entered: 01/28/2026)