Illinois Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis will receive the Northwest Suburban Bar Association’s 2012 Public Service Award at the association’s Judges’ Night April 26. Reservations are requested by April 19.

The event will be at Rosewood Banquets, 9421 W. Higgins Road, Rosemont. Cocktails (open bar) and hors d’oeuvres will be available beginning at 6 p.m., with dinner (with a choice of beef, chicken, salmon or a vegetarian entree) served at 7:30 p.m.

The association also will recognize the recipient of the 2012 Honorable Timothy C. Evans Scholarship.

Cost is $150 for members and $200 for non-members until April 19, after which the price increases to $165 and $215, respectively. Judges are guests of the NWSBA.

Justice Theis has served at every level of the Judiciary in the state of Illinois. She was appointed an associate judge in Cook County in 1983. She served there for five years, before being elected in 1988 to the Circuit Court, where she was assigned to the Criminal and Chancery divisions. She presided over hundreds of trials involving murder, robbery, sexual assault and other serious felonies, and also handled civil cases ranging from mortgage foreclosures, to class action cases and other multimillion-dollar lawsuits.

She served for 17 years on the Appellate Court, including several terms as presiding judge. When Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald retired from the Illinois Supreme Court in 2010, the Court appointed Justice Theis to serve the remainder of his term. In March 2012, she won the Democratic primary election for the seat and will run in the general election in November.

From 1974, following graduation from law school, to when she was appointed to the bench in 1983, she was an assistant public defender in Cook County.

Co-chairs of this year’s Judges’ Night are Thomas Glasgow and Martin Glink. For information on Judges’ Night contact NWSBA Executive Director Julie Barth at 847-221-2601 or at jbarth@nwsba.org. Event details are at http://www.nwsba.org/associations/10957/files/2012JudgesNightFlyer.pdf.