 President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Landis as a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1905.Landis received national attention in 1907 when he fined Standard Oil of Indiana more than $29 million ($800 million in 2020) for violating federal laws forbidding rebates on railroad freight tariffs.Though Landis was reversed on appeal, he was seen as a judge determined to rein in big business.