Associate Judge Nominating Committee announces names of 24 judicial candidates

The nine-member Associate Judge Nominating Committee of the Circuit Court of Cook County today announced the names of the 24 candidates whose names will appear on the ballot from which the circuit court judges will select 12 new associate judges. The Committee is comprised of the following judges:

The 24 finalists were chosen from a total of 213 applicants. The Chicago Bar Association and the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening, comprising 10 bar associations, conducted separate screenings for this current associate judge process. Each bar association issued its own ratings for individual associate judge candidates, however, neither the Chicago Bar Association nor the Alliance re-evaluated associate judge applicants who were screened within the past two years. The evaluation process included background examinations and interviews of candidates. Bar associations included in the Alliance are the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Chicago Area, the Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, the Chicago Council of Lawyers, the Cook County Bar Association, the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Chicago, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago, and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois.

Under Supreme Court Rule 39, the nominating committee must select twice as many names of qualified candidates as there are vacancies to be filled. The Chief Judge has certified the 24 names announced today to the Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts. Each circuit court judge should expect to receive from the Director a secret ballot comprising the names of each candidate within 14 days after the names were certified. The judges will vote for one candidate for each vacancy to be filled. The judges must return the ballot along with a signed signature card to the Director within 14 days of the date the ballots were distributed. The Director then counts the ballots, tabulates the results, and certifies them to the Chief Judge.

Chief Judge Evans said, "I am gratified by the diligent efforts of the Nominating Committee throughout this interview process. Each and every applicant received full and thorough consideration by the members of this committee. The end result is a diverse pool of the most talented and qualified practitioners, any of whom could ably serve on the bench."

Chief Judge Evans continued, "The Committee as a whole is certainly grateful to the Chicago Bar Association and to the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening for their untiring and valuable contribution to the selection process."

The following is the list of the 24 candidates chosen by the Circuit Court Associate Judge Nominating Committee that was certified to Cynthia Y. Cobbs, the Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts:

To facilitate the selection process, the Circuit Court Associate Judge Nominating Committee has established receptions for the candidates to meet the circuit court judges. Information regarding dates, times, and locations will be announced as soon as it is available.

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