Elizabeth M. Budzinski, well known to many within the ISBA , was appointed Associate Judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County on April 22, 2003. She also assumed the role of President of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois on June 6, 2003, having served as an officer of that organization since 1998.

Immediately prior to her appointment, Judge Budzinski was a partner at the Chicago law firm of Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP, where she had worked in federal and state court civil litigation, including several appeals, since 1989. Her diverse practice included litigation in contract disputes, employment law, medical malpractice, civil rights actions, environmental law, and insurance coverage.

Judge Budzinski is a 1988 graduate of the IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, where she received several awards and was a finalist in the Moot Court Society Competition. She received her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1985.

Judge Budzinski began her work as a judge in the Traffic Division, and presently serves in the Domestic Relations Division. Law Bulletin Publishing Company recently featured her as among "40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch." She has given numerous lectures for various and diverse audiences, including for the Women's Bar Association of Illinois, and Seminars of the ISBA Civil Practice Section Council.2