Illinois Supreme Court appointee Joy V. Cunningham on lessons learned on her journey to the state’s top court.

Justice Cunningham comes from the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court, where she had served since December 2006. Previously, she was an associate judge in Cook County; senior vice president general counsel, and corporate secretary for Northwestern Memorial Healthcare; and, prior to becoming a lawyer, pursued a career in nursing. In 2012, she ran for the Illinois Supreme Court but fell short of the votes needed to make it through the primary election. As she prepares to start her career as one of the state’s top justices next month, she agreed to reflect on her journey to the Illinois Supreme Court in an interview with the Illinois Bar Journal. Our questions and her answers follow.

IBJ: Many biographies of you found online do not mention your very early career in nursing. Please share what initially drew you to that career, and then what led to your pivot to the law?

Justice Cunningham: When I entered college my plans for my life’s work were not well formulated even though I was actively recruited into the school’s nursing program. I was also influenced by the fact that I had several nurses in my family. Like many students, the choice of my major was grounded in the misguided certainty of youthful decision making more than anything else. As we now know, it was simply a detour prior to my attending law school. I hasten to add that although I did not continue my career in nursing, my education and training as a registered nurse have in my words been “training for life.” It has helped me and my family to navigate many illnesses and healthcare decisions over the years. While I did not remain a nurse, I don’t regret having started my professional journey on that path.

IBJ: You’ve held an array of impressive positions in the private, nonprofit, and public spheres, including having joined, left, and rejoined the court. Given that any jurist aims to hear each case based on the merits and evidence, please share what your wealth of experiences brings to the bench as a listener, critical thinker, and legal expert.

Justice Cunningham: I believe that judges—like other professionals—are individuals, but each judge, as a person, is also a composite of his or her life’s experiences. I have had a variety of experiences in my professional life both as a lawyer and as a member of the judiciary. My experiences in both the private and public sectors have influenced my analytical thinking, which is critical to judicial decision making. As a member of the Illinois Appellate Court, I learned to listen carefully and to understand fully the various people, issues, and cases that came before us. I believe my life and professional experience outside of the judiciary has been a benefit to my decision making. I do a lot of mentoring of young people and one of the things I always say is: “Pay close attention to whatever you’re working on at any given time in your career, no matter how dull or inconsequential it may seem, because it’s preparing you for a later opportunity. You just don’t know what it is at the moment.”

IBJ: Some of Illinois’ most famous elected officials, from Abraham Lincoln to Barack Obama, have been shaped by elections they lost. In what ways have you grown or changed since 2012, when you ran for the Illinois Supreme Court? How might the Joy Cunningham who is taking a seat on the Illinois Supreme Court be different or the same as the Joy Cunningham of 2012?

Justice Cunningham: I am philosophical regarding my loss in the 2012 election. I felt that I ran a good race, with utmost integrity and respect for my opponents. Although the campaign was a valuable life experience, once it was over, I simply moved forward with my family and my work. The effort helped me to become more confident, thoughtful, and philosophical. In sum, I think my experience is deeper and my analytical skills are stronger than they may have been 10 years ago.

IBJ: We are living in a divisive political time during which people hold the notion of an independent judiciary with suspicion. Besides just claiming to be fair and just, what advice do you have for jurists who may feel that their good-faith efforts to do their jobs well is not enough to earn good will from citizens, some of whom may believe passionately that a decision is incorrect?

Justice Cunningham: Judges are in a very difficult position. We are the one branch of government that really cannot tout our own successes or “blow our own horn.” That being said, I think there are things that judges can do to help indirectly build public confidence in the judicial process.

For example, I think it’s important for judges to participate in activities that educate the public, such as accepting speaking engagements at schools and colleges. Participating in public educational endeavors in nonpartisan ways is also an important activity. A good example is the participation of judges in public nonpartisan legislative or executive branch commissions, such as the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission and the governor’s Commission on Poverty Elimination and Economic Security. Those are public service endeavors that benefit from having the participation of a judicial voice. It also serves to humanize judges and affords them an opportunity to work with others outside the judiciary for a common goal. I think it is important for the public to believe that judges are human beings who are caring, careful, objective, nonpartisan, fair, and engaged in their communities. The listening tour that Chief Justice Anne Burke instituted with the collaboration of the Illinois State Bar Association is a good example of bringing the Court to both the legal community and the community at large. It provided valuable information to the court and showed the Court’s human face to the community.

That being said, I believe judges must act and make rulings on the basis of the law in an impartial, objective way, and be ever mindful that they are not engaging in a popularity contest. As judges, we must be prepared to accept that some of our decisions will be unpopular in spite of our best efforts to be fair. Doing otherwise serves to weaken the rule of law. An independent judiciary is fundamental to our democracy.

IBJ: Do you intend to run to keep your seat on the Illinois Supreme Court in 2024? What are you looking forward to the most in your first few months on the Supreme Court?

Justice Cunningham: I believe that the opportunity to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court is the highest and best use of my experience, expertise, and education. I plan on standing for election in 2024 and would consider it a great honor if the people of the State of Illinois allowed me to continue to serve as a Supreme Court justice.

In my first few months on the court, as the “newbie,” I expect to learn from those who are more experienced than I in the ways of the Court. I have a great deal of respect for the Court and for the individual justices who will soon be my colleagues. As with every institution there is a culture, there are processes, there are procedures, and there are traditions that are peculiar to the Court. I plan to learn as much as I can, as quickly as I can, about the workings of the Court. Hopefully, my transition will be a smooth one for myself and my colleagues.

[Editor’s note: See page 16 of this issue for the Illinois Bar Journal’s interview with retiring Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne M. Burke.]

Pete Sherman is managing editor of the Illinois Bar Journal.
psherman@isba.org