Tom Wilson and Silas McCormick represented Southern Illinois University and 10 of its administrators and faculty in the case of Eric Hlavacek v. Ann Boyle, D.D.S. et al. In the lawsuit a former dental student sued the University, faculty and administrators challenging his academic dismissal, claiming that the Defendants violated his Constitutional rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. All Defendants filed a motion to dismiss based on the Plaintiff's failure to state a claim for relief which was granted without leave to amend his complaint. Plaintiff appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit which unanimously affirmed the judgment in favor of all of the Defendants. The Seventh Circuit held that even assuming Plaintiff had a constitutionally protected property interest in his continuing graduate education, the University and individual Defendants had provided Plaintiff adequate due process to challenge his dismissal.

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