Judge
Andrea
R.
Wood,
who
is
overseeing
the

two
Batton
homebuyer

commission
lawsuits
and
the

Moehrl
commission
suit,
has
recused
herself
from
the
cases,
according
to
a
legal
filing
on
Wednesday.

In
the
filing,
the

Chicago-based
U.S.
district
court
judge
said
that
it
had
recently
come
to
her
attention
that
the
spouse
of
a
person
related
to
her
within
the
third
degree
of
relationship
is
a
partner
at
a
law
firm
that
represents
a
defendant
in
the
suits.
Due
to
this,
she
was
recusing
herself.

“My
relationship
with
this
relative
has
not
affected
or
impacted
any
decision
in
this
case.
Nonetheless,
the
relationship
requires
recusal
under
the
Code
of
Conduct
for
United
States
Judges,”
Wood
wrote
in
her
filing.

The
code
of
conduct
that
Wood
cited
states
that
a
“judge
shall
disqualify
himself
or
herself
in
a
proceeding
in
which
the
judge’s
impartiality
might
reasonably
be
questioned,
including
but
not
limited
to
instances
in
which
…
the
judge
or
the
judge’s
spouse,
or
a
person
related
to
either
within
the
third
degree
of
relationship,
or
the
spouse
of
such
person
is
…
known
by
the
judge
to
have
an
interest
that
could
be
substantially
affected
by
the
outcome
of
the
proceeding.”

Additionally,
Wood
noted
that
the
committee
on
codes
of
conduct
advised
that
“an
equity
partner
in
a
law
firm
generally
has
‘an
interest
that
could
be
substantially
affected
by
the
outcome
of
the
proceeding’
in
all
cases
where
the
law
firm
represents
a
party
before
the
court.”

It
is
unclear
as
to
how
Wood’s
decision
will
impact
the
future
of
the
two
Batton
suits,
which
were
slated
to
head
to
trial
in

late
2026
or
early
2027.
A
hearing
for
the
Batton
I
suit
that
was
scheduled
for
Thursday
has
been
cancelled. 

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