The Illinois Supreme Court has announced the assignment of Cook County Circuit Judge Rena Van Tine to the First District Appellate Court.

Judge Van Tine is being assigned to fill the vacancy created by the reassignment of Justice Carl A. Walker to the vacancy created by the resignation of Justice Eileen O'Neill Burke. Judge Van Tine will be assigned all matters previously assigned to Justice Burke. The assignment is effective July 18, 2023, and will continue until further order of the Court. Justice Walker will retain the cases currently assigned to him and his reassignment is effective until Dec. 2, 2024.

“Judge Rena Van Tine enjoys a stellar and well-deserved reputation for being an exemplary trial judge. Her knowledge of the law, excellent temperament, and the ability to get things done are legendary,” Justice Cunningham said. “She has earned the respect of her colleagues, as well as the lawyers and litigants who appear before her. She will serve the people of the state of Illinois well as a justice of the Appellate Court.” 

Judge Van Tine, a lawyer with 35 years of legal experience, was the first female Indian American judge in the nation to serve on a state court and the first to win a county-wide election. She was appointed as an associate judge in June 2001 and has been a circuit court judge since February 2021. In October 2022, she was named Acting Presiding Judge of the County Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County.

“I am incredibly honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve on the First District Appellate Court,” Judge Van Tine said. “I pledge to work hard in administering the rule of law in a fair and impartial manner through upholding the principle of equal justice for all. I am tremendously grateful to all the members of the Illinois Supreme Court for the trust and confidence placed in me.” 

Judge Van Tine has served on Illinois Supreme Court Committees including the Oversight of Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee, the Committee for Jury Instructions in Civil Cases, and the Court Operations During COVID-19 Task Force. 

Before joining the bench, she previously served as Special Counsel to the Illinois State Comptroller and was a Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney for 12 years, serving both in the Criminal and Civil Divisions. She has additionally worked in private practice. 

Judge Van Tine earned her Bachelor of Arts from Oakland University and earned her juris doctor from the New York Law School. She has served as an adjunct professor for Trial Advocacy at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. 

Judge Van Tine has served as president for both the Asian American Judges Association of Illinois and the Asian American Bar Association of Illinois. She is a co-founding Executive Committee member for the Alliance of Bar Associations and has served on the board of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois, where she received the Mary Heftel Hooten Award in March 2021. Judge Van Tine is set to receive the Justice Charles E. Freeman Judicial Merit award from the Decalogue Society of Lawyers on July 11, 2023. 

Her professional affiliations also include the American Bar Association, the Illinois Judges Association, the Illinois Judicial Council, the Alliance of Illinois Judges, the Women's Bar Association of Illinois, the Black Women Lawyers Association, and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.