Municipal and Law Committee (10/30/25)

This is an in-person program at Richard J. Daley Center, Courtroom 1307 (50 W Washington St., Chicago, IL 60602).

Topic: From Shlensky to National League Ball Club: The Litigious History of Lights at Wrigley Field

Speaker: Joe Steadman, Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP

Description: For decades baseball games at Wrigley Field, Chicago’s “Friendly Confines” were played exclusively during the daytime. A seminal corporate law case from 1968 and a textbook constitutional law case from 1985 sought the same relief—night games at Wrigley Field. Shlensky v. Wrigley and Chicago National League Ball Club, Inc. v. Thompson each contributed to the unique legal framework that still governs night baseball on the North Side. This presentation will provide a review of each case, including insight into the historical contexts causing the plaintiffs to seek the Court’s order for a first pitch under the lights.

Speaker Bio: Joe Steadman is a class action and commercial litigation associate at Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila and a lifelong student of Chicago’s baseball history. He is a Graduate of Villanova University, with a BA in French Studies and Political Science, and he is a graduate of the Temple University Law School. Prior to joining the firm,  Steadman clerked in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the New Jersey Superior Court.

(IL MCLE credit for live program only. No MCLE credit for on demand webcast.)  

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