Acting as a Special State's Attorney for Cook County, CCL President Robert S. Peck argued that the Seventh Circuit should return the county's case against Bank of America to the district court, correcting a number of errors that resulted in dismissal of the action.
Peck asserted that the dismissal of the county's experts as utilizing unproven methodologies failed to appreciate the validity of the analysis both experts had undertaken and their widespread use, instead of rendering an opinion on how believable the experts' conclusions were. For example, one expert used a government-approved methodology that even the bank's experts recognized. However, the district court focused erroneously on the expert's unique terminology rather than his valid form of analysis.
In response to questions from the judges on why the count failed the proximate cause test, Peck explained that proximate cause was not a one-size-fits-all test, but a statute-specific requirement that must reflect the values that Congress intended, as repeated decisions of the Supreme Court, including a case he argued there (Bank of America Corp. v. City of Miami) have held. He argued that the Ninth Circuit in a case brought by Oakland, misunderstood those holdings and suggested the the Seventh Circuit follow the Eleventh Circuit's persuasive analysis in the Miami case instead.
The case, County of Cook v. Bank of America, seeks compensation and injunctive relief over the bank's discriminatory mortgage lending practices that resulted in loss of tax revenues and administrative costs to the county. The Court took the case under advisement.
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