A Reminder From The Seventh Circuit To Proofread The Form Of The Judgment

The Seventh Circuit's docket appears to be rife with cases involving little errors that turn out to have not-so-little effects. Last month we wrote about the perils of typos in security agreements; this month the Seventh Circuit issued an opinion that serves as a good reminder that parties must look carefully at the form of the judgment entered by the district court. Article III insulates the judicial branch from the "diminish[ment]" of judges' "compensation . . . during their continuance in office"; but, alas, it does nothing to insulate the third branch from the sort of typographical errors that plague the rest of us mere mortals—a fact to which the district judge in Dual-Temp of Illinois, Inc. v. Hench Control, Inc., Nos. 14-3393 & 14-3394 (7th Cir. Jan. 23, 2015), now can attest.

In a three-page decision (issued per curiam by Judges Ripple...