Illinois First District Appellate Court

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The Illinois First District Appellate Court (also called the Cook County Judicial Circuit) comprises all of Cook County, Illinois and meets in the city of Chicago. An executive committee serves as the general administrative authority for this district.

There are five Appellate Court districts in Illinois. Each judge has a support staff of two law clerks and a secretary.

The clerk of the First District Appellate Court is Steven Ravid.

• Court
• Elections

Illinois First District Appellate Court
Court information
Judges:	23
Judicial selection
Method:	Partisan election of judges
Term:	10 years
Active judges
Margaret Stanton McBride  •  Joseph Gordon  •  Rodolfo Garcia  •  Robert E. Gordon  •  Shelvin Louise Marie Hall  •  Thomas Hoffman  •  Themis Karnezis  •  Joy Cunningham  •  Patrick Quinn  •  P. Scott Neville  •  James Fitzgerald Smith  •  Maureen Connors  •  Sheldon Harris  •  Stuart Palmer  •  James Epstein  •  Aurelia Marie Pucinski  •  Mary Katherine Rochford  •  Daniel James Pierce  •  Bertina E. Lampkin  •  Terrence J. Lavin  •  Nathaniel R. Howse  •  Jesse G. Reyes  •  Mathias W. Delort  •  William H. Taylor II  •  John B. Simon  •

Judges

Like every appellate district, the judges elected to the First District serve 10-year terms "commencing on the first Monday in December following his election." The First District comprises only Cook County, Illinois.

There are six divisions within the First District. Each division has four judges.

Illinois First District Appellate Court

Caseload • Judges

Former Judges • Notable Cases

First Division

Illinois Appellate Court Districts

First name	Last name	Appointed/Elected	Term ends
Joy	Cunningham	2006	2016
Thomas	Hoffman	1993/1994	2014
Themis	Karnezis	2002	2014
Mary	Rochford	2010	2020

Second Division

First name	Last name	Appointed/Elected	Term ends
Maureen	Connors	2010	2020
Robert	Gordon	2012	2014
Patrick	Quinn	1996	2016
John B.	Simon	2012	2014

Third Division

First name	Last name	Appointed/Elected	Term ends
P. Scott	Neville	2004	2012
Marcus	Salone	2011	2012
Sheldon	Harris	2012	2014
David P.	Sterba	2011	2012

Fourth Division

First name	Last name	Appointed/Elected	Term ends
James	Epstein	2010	2020
Terrence	Lavin	2010	2012
Aurelia	Pucinski	2010	2020
James	Smith	2002	2012

Fifth Division

First name	Last name	Appointed/Elected	Term ends
Joseph	Gordon	1989/1990	2020
Nathaniel	Howse	2009	2016
Margaret	McBride	1998	2018
Stuart	Palmer	2011	2012
William	Taylor	2012

Sixth Division

First name	Last name	Appointed/Elected	Term ends
Rodolfo	Garcia	2003	2014
Daniel James	Pierce	2012	2014
Shelvin Louise Marie	Hall	1999	2020
Bertina E.	Lampkin	2009	2020

Source: First District Appellate Judges

Former Judges

First name	Last name	Appointed/Elected	Term ended
Alan	Greiman	1987	1991
Anne M.	Burke	1995	2006
Blanche	Manning	1986	1994
Charles	Freeman	1976	1986
Denise	O'Malley	1992	2002
Jill	McNulty	1982	1990
John	Tully	1984	2009
Leslie Elaine	South	1992	2006
Mary Jane	Theis	1983	2010
Michael	Toomin	1984	2010
Roger	Kiley	1940	1961
Sharon	Coleman	1996	2010
Sheila	O'Brien	1994	2011
Warren	Wolfson	1975	2009

Notable Cases

For all recent Court opinions see: Illinois Courts, Recent Appellate Court Opinions

• Oak Park School District 97 was sued by Chicago-based Taxpayers United of America in regards to misleading information presented on the school ballot for the April 5, 2011 election. The group claims that the school worded the ballot in a way that did not disclose the full impact of the school property tax increase. The school noted though that they had consulted a law firm in regards to the ballot language before they submitted it.

• Tower Automotive v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, was a case that dealt with the issue of worker's compensation benefits and if it was applicable for time that was spent after the 40 hours of a traditional work week, overtime. The Court ruled that if an employee was injured during overtime hours, it was still included in their benefit plan at their job.

• Wirtz v. Quinn, was a case which allowed for the tax increase on certain retail items, notably certain hygienic products, soft drinks, candy, beer and wine. A tax group though appealed the decision and it was later ruled on by the Illinois Supreme Court and was given a stay of enforcement until a later decision.

Caseload

The following charts display caseload statistics from the First District Court.

Civil and Criminal Caseload Breakdown
Civil & Criminal Caseloads	Civil Filed	Civil Disposed	Criminal Filed	Criminal Disposed
2009	2013	2088	1606	1663
2008	2020	1987	1582	1697
2007	1820	1998	1715	1808
2006	1965	1989	1768	1956
2005	2153	2227	1927	1577

Total Cases Pending by Year
Year	Total Pending
2009	5835
2008	5738
2007	5589
2006	5551
2005	5358

See also

• Illinois Second District Appellate Court
• Illinois Third District Appellate Court
• Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court
• Illinois Fifth District Appellate Court

External links

• Cook County Judicial Circuit Page
• Circuit Court of Cook County

References

2012

To organize the columns, click on the arrows in the column heading.

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Predecessor	Primary Vote	Election Vote
SmithJames Fitzgerald Smith   A	Yes				A
Jesse G. Reyes   A	No	Democratic	Vacancy of Sheila O'Brien	33%A	100%   A
DelortMathias W. Delort   A	No	Democratic	Vacancy of Robert Cahill	25%A	100%   A
ConnorsMaureen Connors   A	Yes	Democratic	Vacancy of Mary Jane Theis	A	100%   A
HowseNathaniel R. Howse   A	No	Democratic	Vacancy of Sharon Coleman	A	100%   A
NevilleP. Scott Neville   A	Yes	Democratic	Vacancy of Michael Gallagher	44%A	100%   A
LavinTerrence J. Lavin   A	Yes	Democratic	Vacancy of John Tully	A	100%   A