Having helped create and having served fifty years with the Federal Defender Program, Terence F. MacCarthy is officially retired on June 30, 2016.
The Chicago Defender Office, the first Federal Defender office, is considered a model office. Since 2009, it has been ably run by Carol A. Brook. Since its inception no staff attorney has ever been held in contempt nor has the office been found to have rendered ineffective of incompetent representation. The office proudly has two district court judges and has had five federal magistrate judges, and many state court judges.