Press Release |
Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans today announced two new presiding judge appointments and a host of reassignments. Judge William D. Maddux, appointed Acting Presiding Judge of the Law Division shortly after the Chief Judge Evans's election in September 2001, has been appointed Presiding Judge of that division. Judge Dorothy Kirie Kinnaird, a judge in the Chancery Division, has been appointed Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division, succeeding former Judge Albert Green who served as Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division until his retirement on October 31, 2001. Both appointments are effective today.
Chief Judge Evans praised the two new presiding judges, saying, "Judge Kinnaird is an exceptionally productive judge who will bring invigorating energy and superior administrative skills to the Chancery Division. Judge Maddux has done a formidable job as Acting Presiding Judge, successfully focusing his efforts on maintaining the highest degree of dedication and professionalism in the Law Division."
Chief Judge Evans continued, "The efficient administration and improvement of the Circuit Court leads my agenda. The judicial careers of both Judge Kinnaird and Judge Maddux demonstrate that they share my vision for a court system that is efficiently and effectively administered without compromising the judiciary's commitment to impartial justice. Both are well respected jurists who possess intelligence, integrity and evenhanded judicial temperaments. I know they will be outstanding presiding judges."
Judge Kinnaird was first appointed a circuit judge in January 1991 and was elected a circuit judge in 1992. After serving briefly in the First Municipal District, Judge Kinnaird was assigned to the County Division in February 1991. She was assigned to the Chancery Division in March 1994 remaining there to this date.
Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Kinnaird served as an assistant state's attorney in the Office of the Cook County State's Attorney from 1975 to 1978 assigned to federal and state court litigation and appellate practice. She then became a partner with Kinnaird and Kinnaird from 1978 to 1991 specializing in local government law, civil litigation, general corporate, probate, real estate, administrative and labor law. Also during this period, she taught law at Illinois Institute of Technology/Chicago-Kent College of Law from 1978 to 1980 and served as the village attorney for the Village of Franklin Park from 1978 to 1991.
Judge Kinnaird was secretary of The Chicago Bar Association from 1985 to 1987, the second woman to serve as a CBA officer. She also was chair of the Young Lawyers Section from 1981 to 1982, receiving the Chairman's Award of the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division in 1982 for chairing the best large city/county Young Lawyers Section in the United States. In September 2000, she was named by the Illinois Supreme Court to the Judicial Mentor Committee of the New Judge Mentoring Program.
Judge Kinnaird received her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law in 1974 and her B.A from Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1971. Judge Kinnaird also performed undergraduate course work at the University of Vienna, Austria, and the University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Judge William D. Maddux was first appointed a circuit judge in 1991 and was elected a circuit judge in 1992. Immediately upon his appointment as a circuit judge, Judge Maddux was assigned to the Law Division. He remained in the Law Division until February of 1994 when he was assigned to the former Juvenile Division of the County Department and appointed supervising judge of the Abuse and Neglect Section. In January of 1995 he was reassigned back to the Law Division and was appointed supervising judge of the Pretrial Mediation Section. In September of 2001 he was appointed Acting Presiding Judge of the Law Division.
Before becoming a judge, Judge Maddux was an active trial attorney for more than 30 years, trying well over 200 jury cases to verdict. He also handled 67 appeals before the Appellate and Supreme Courts. He was a partner in Kirkland & Ellis from January 1960 to September 1975, and owned two law firms from September 1975 until his appointment as a circuit judge in 1991. He is a past president of the Society of Trial Lawyers and served as a member and past chairman of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness.
Judge Maddux received his J.D. from Georgetown Law Center, Washington, D.C. in 1959, and his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1957. He is a graduate of the Boys Town Grade School and the Boys Town High School of Boys Town, Nebraska.
Chief Judge Evans also announced the following assignments to the Chancery Division where two new calendars will be added:
- Circuit Judge Gay-Lloyd Lott from the Domestic Relations Division to the Chancery Division, effective January 22, 2002, to take over the calendar previously heard by Judge Kinnaird;
- Circuit Judge Thomas P. Quinn from the Law Division to the Chancery Division effective February 19, 2002; and
- Circuit Judge Donald J. O'Brien, Jr., from the Law Division to the Chancery Division effective April 1, 2002.
Other new assignment changes effective January 22, 2002, are as follows:
- Associate Judge Frank Castiglione from the Child Protection Division to the Sixth Municipal District;
- Circuit Judge Sharon J. Coleman from the Child Protection Division to the Law Division;
- Associate Judge Susan M. Coleman from the Domestic Relations Division to the Fourth Municipal District;
- Associate Judge David A. Erickson from the First Municipal District to the Child Protection Division;
- Circuit Judge Thomas L. Hogan from the First Municipal District to the Law Division;
- Circuit Judge Allan W. Masters from the First Municipal District to the Domestic Relations Division;
- Associate Judge Michele M. Simmons from the Sixth Municipal District to the Child Protection Division; and
- Circuit Judge James D. Wascher from the First Municipal District to the Third Municipal District.
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