The Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday appointed Associate Judge Michael N. Cook to fill the Circuit Court vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Annette A. Eckert, resident Circuit Judge of St. Clair County in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit.
The appointment, made upon the recommendation of Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier, is effective October 1, 2010.
Judge Cook has served as an associate judge since 2007. Prior to his appointment to the bench, he served as an associate with the Belleville law firm of Cook, Ysursa, Bartholomew, Brauer & Shevlin; he was also an assistant public defender for St. Clair County.
Judge Cook graduated in 1999 with a juris doctor degree from the University of Tulsa. While there, he served on the Board of Advocates and in the Elder Law Legal Clinic. He graduated in 1994 with a bachelor of science degree in anthropology from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
His is a member of the St. Clair County Bar Association and currently serves as its first vice-president. In addition, Judge Cook also serves as chairman of the paralegal scholarship program at Southwestern Illinois College.
Judge Cook is the only candidate seeking to succeed Judge Eckert, and will be unopposed on the November ballot.
Illinois Supreme Court
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August 31, 2010 |
Practice News
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August 31, 2010 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Lorna E. Propes as a Circuit Judge of Cook County, Seventh Subcircuit. This appointment is effective Sept. 10, 2010, and terminates on Dec. 3, 2012. This fills the vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Lawrence W. Terrell.
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August 27, 2010 |
Practice News
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Rita B. Garman announced Friday the formation of a judicial screening committee to help fill a vacancy in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. Justice Garman established the screening committee to assess the qualifications of those persons who have applied for appointment to the Circuit Court vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of Judge G. Michael Prall on Nov. 2, 2010. Under the Illinois Constitution, the vacancy will be filled by Supreme Court appointment. After the committee has received public input, gathered information and interviewed each of the applicants, it will report its findings to Justice Garman, who will make a recommendation to the Supreme Court from among those applicants submitting their credentials to the committee. The person appointed will serve until the position is filled by General Election in November 2012.
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August 26, 2010 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court has released its Call of the Docket for the September term. The schedule for oral arguments is slated to begin on Sept. 14 and close on Sept. 22. The court is scheduled to hear 24 cases this term. The cases are listed below. September Term 2010
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August 18, 2010 |
Practice News
Illinois Supreme Court justices and Appellate Court justices will join in helping incoming first-year students at six Illinois law schools gain early exposure to issues of professionalism as part of their law school orientations. The professionalism programs are organized and sponsored by the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism and are designed to both welcome law students to the profession and to introduce them to core concepts of professionalism inherent in the work of attorneys. Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald, Justices Robert R. Thomas, Thomas L. Kilbride, Rita B. Garman and Lloyd A. Karmeier of the Supreme Court as well as appellate justices will address incoming students at Northern Illinois University College of Law, University of Illinois College of Law, DePaul University College of Law, Loyola University School of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law, and The John Marshall Law School. Law students at Southern Illinois University receive a similar orientation to professionalism under a separate program. In addition, the students will take a “Pledge of Professionalism.”
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August 6, 2010 |
Practice News
Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald announced Friday that Gov. Pat Quinn has restored $20 million to the Supreme Court’s current budget to help fund probation services throughout the state. The governor responded to an appeal by the Chief Justice for the second year in a row to add funds for probationary services to remain a viable component of public safety. For Fiscal Year 2011, the legislature appropriated $36.4 million to the Supreme Court for grants and awards, including probation services. That is the same amount it appropriated last year, and less than half of what had been appropriated for probation services in 2002. In a letter to the governor last month asking to increase funds under the governor’s statutory budget authority, the Chief Justice noted that even with the additional funds last year 90 probation officer jobs throughout the state were eliminated because of a shortfall of funding. “I am compelled to once again write, with an even more heightened sense of urgency and concern for probation’s continued viability and capacity to promote public safety,” the Chief Justice said in a letter to the governor dated July 7, 2010. “Absent an additional allocation of funds in Fiscal Year 2011, there will be a compounded and an accelerated deterioration in probation services. This predictable sequence will begin with a loss of probation officer jobs and the attendant increase in caseload size, reductions in both frequency and quality of offender supervision, and heightened threats to public safety.”
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July 30, 2010 |
Practice News
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Rita B. Garman announced Friday the formation of a judicial screening committee to help fill a vacancy in the Seventh Judicial Circuit. Justice Garman established the screening committee to assess the qualifications of those persons who have applied for appointment to the Circuit Court vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Thomas Appleton to the Fourth District Appellate Court in June. Under the Illinois Constitution, the vacancy will be filled by Supreme Court appointment. After the committee has received public input, gathered information and interviewed each of the applicants, it will report its findings to Justice Garman, who will make a recommendation to the Supreme Court from among those applicants submitting their credentials to the committee. The person appointed will serve until the General Election to be held in November 2012.
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July 26, 2010 |
Practice News
The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts announced today that John M. Madonia, received a majority of the votes cast by the circuit judges in the Seventh Judicial Circuit and is declared to be appointed to the office of associate judge. Mr. Madonia received his undergraduate degree in 1994 from the University of Illinois in Urbana, and his Juris Doctor in 1997 from the University of Illinois in Urbana. Mr. Madonia is currently engaged in solo practice in Springfield, Illinois.
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July 26, 2010 |
Practice News
The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts announced Monday that the Fifth Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Derek J. Girton and Karen E. Wall as associate judges of the Fifth Judicial Circuit. Mr. Girton received his undergraduate degree in 1988 from Pennsylvania State University in University Park, and his Juris Doctor in 1993 from Ohio Northern University in Ada. Mr. Girton has been affiliated with Acton & Sndyer, LLP in Danville. Ms. Wall received her undergraduate degree in 1994 from Illinois State University in Normal, and her Juris Doctor in 1997 from John Marshall Law in Chicago. Ms. Wall has been affiliated with Spiros & Wall, P.C. in Danville.
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July 20, 2010 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court has recalled retired Associate Judge Charles J. Gramlich effective August 2, 2010, to hold court in the Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit through September 30, 2010.