Looking at filings (so far) for the Appellate Court

The Illinois Appellate Court is divided into five districts. The First District of the Illinois Appellate Court is composed entirely of Cook County. Five justices will be elected to the First District in 2012. Herewith a look at the men and women vying for these seats.

Coleman Vacancy

Circuit Court Judge Nathaniel Roosevelt Howse, Jr. was assigned to the Appellate Court by the Supreme Court in 2009. (At any given time, a quarter of the First District's Appellate Court's 24 justices are Circuit Court judges assigned in this manner.) Justice Howse is now seeking his own 10 year term; he was slated for this vacancy by the Cook County Democratic Party. That's a link to Justice Howse's campaign web site in the preceding sentence; a link has been added to the sidebar. (Note: There are separate lists for Circuit Court and Appellate Court candidates on the side of this page; scroll down to find the list of Appellate Court candidates.)

Opposing Howse are two Circuit Court Judges, Kathleen G. Kennedy and Patrick J. Sherlock. Judge Kennedy was first elected to the bench in 1996; she was retained in 2002 and 2008. Judge Kennedy currently serves in the Domestic Relations Division. This is her second bid for election to the Appellate Court; she also ran in 2010. I have so far been unable to locate a campaign website for Judge Kennedy.

Judge Patrick J. Sherlock was appointed to the Circuit Court by the Illinois Supreme Court; he was thereafter elected in 2008. That's a link to Judge Sherlock's campaign website in the preceding sentence; a link has been added to the sidebar.

Gallagher Vacancy

Judge Sherlock also filed for this vacancy. As noted previously here on FWIW, the law changed this year for Circuit Court candidates. Pursuant to current §7-12(9) of the Election Code, 10 ILCS 5/7-12(9), Circuit Court candidates are no longer able to file for more than one countywide and/or one subcircuit vacancy. Appellate Court candidates can still file for multiple vacancies and then decide which races to abandon at a later date.

The slated candidate for the Gallagher vacancy is Justice P. Scott Neville, Jr. Like Howse, Neville was elected to the Circuit bench and subsequently assigned by the Illinois Supreme Court to serve on the Appellate Court. Justice Neville joined the Appellate Court in 2004; he'd been appointed to the Circuit Court in 1999, winning election in 2000. I've not been able to find a campaign website for Justice Neville.

Also filing for this vacancy were attorney Tom Courtney and Associate Judge Marguerite Anne Quinn. That's a link to Judge Quinn's website in the preceding sentence; a link has also been added to the sidebar. Quinn became an Associate Judge in 2007. According to her campaign website, Judge Quinn is "[d]ually assigned to the Domestic Violence Division and the Second Municipal District" in Skokie.

Courtney, an Illinois attorney since 2000, is a Chicago resident who practices with the Palos Heights firm of Thomas F. Courtney & Associates. Courtney is making his first bid for judicial office; he was a candidate for 27th Ward Alderman earlier this year.

O'Brien Vacancy

Seven candidates filed for this vacancy including (again) Judges Sherlock and Quinn. Associate Judge William Stewart Boyd, pictured at left, has also filed for this vacancy. That's a link to Boyd's campaign website in the preceding sentence; a link has also been added to the sidebar. Judge Boyd is currently assigned to the Domestic Relations Division; he became an Associate Judge in 1998.

Also filing for this vacancy was Judge Ellen L. Flannigan. First elected to the bench from the 12th Subcircuit in 2006, Judge Flannigan sought elevation to the appellate bench in 2010. She is currently assigned to the Domestic Violence Division.

The only non-judge in the race for the O'Brien vacancy is Clausen Miller partner Don R. Sampen. An Illinois attorney since 1975, Sampen sought election to the Circuit Court (from the 12th Subcircuit) in 2006 and several times in the 1990s. He ran for the Appellate Court in 2010.

The other two candidates in this race are Circuit Court Judge Jesse G. Reyes, who sits in the Mortgage Foreclosure/ Mechanics Lien Section of the Chancery Division, and Justice Rodolfo (Rudy) Garcia, a Circuit Court judge assigned to the Appellate Court since 2003. Garcia was elected to the Circuit Court in 1996; Reyes became an Associate Judge in 1997, winning election as a full circuit judge in 2008. Garcia was passed over for slating in this race in favor of Reyes. The resulting controversy caught the attention of the Chicago Sun-Times (see, for example, "Judge: Berrios shunned me for ruling against his daughter," by Abdon Pallasch, Nov. 22, 2011, 2011 WLNR 24456132).

Theis Vacancy

Justice Maureen Elizabeth Connors was assigned to the Appellate Court by the Supreme Court in October 2010. She was slated for this office by the Democratic Party. She is presently unopposed.

Tully Vacancy

Justice Terrence J. Lavin was appointed to the Appellate Court in early 2010. A former president of the Illinois State Bar Association and a well-known and successful plaintiff's personal injury and medical malpractice attorney at the time of his appointment, Lavin was slated for this office by the Cook County Democratic Party.

Also filing for this vacancy are Judge Ellen L. Flannigan and attorney Eileen M. O'Connor (pictured at right). O'Connor is employed by the O'Connor Law Group. She has been an Illinois attorney since 2006. This is her first bid for judicial office.