Scharf Banks Marmor LLC represented the Sheriff of Cook County in a successful appeal before the Illinois Appellate Court. This is the Firm’s tenth win since 2018 in Federal or State cases serving as lead appellate counsel for the Sheriff in disciplinary appeals. The Appellate Opinion, Malacina v. Cook Cnty. Sheriff's Merit Bd., 2021 IL App (1st) 191893, is attached here. The Appellate Court held that a disciplined deputy's challenge to a State agency's authority was untimely under the de facto officer doctrine, and affirmed the agency's authority to terminate the deputy’s employment. The Appellate Court also upheld the lower court judgment in favor of the Sheriff in all respects – finding based on the evidence that the deputy could not threaten someone’s life with his gun while off-duty, or "claim an unlimited immunity for violating the same laws he was sworn to uphold."
The lead attorneys on this appeal were George Sax and Stephanie Scharf. Click here for more about the Firm’s Appellate Practice.
