Monday, July 17, 2017

John Fotopolous appointed to countywide vacancy

The Illinois Supreme Court has today appointed Orland Park attorney John S. Fotopoulos to the countywide vacancy created by the recent retirement of Judge Evelyn B. Clay. The appointment is effective August 7 and terminates December 3, 2018.

Fotopoulos has been licensed as an attorney since 2000, according to ARDC. He was a candidate for a 15th Subcircuit vacancy in the 2014 Primary. Currently, Fotopoulos operates a law office in Orland Park, focusing on personal injury and criminal defense matters.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

A great guy. Congratulations.

Anonymous said...

Which supreme court judge picked Mr. Fotopolous?

Anonymous said...

Freeman.

Anonymous said...

Didn't Mr. Fototpoulos have negative bar ratings in his most recent race? ISBA, CCL, DL, etc.... I guess those bar associations don't matter to Justice Freeman.

Jack Leyhane said...

Anon 7/23 @ 4:16 p.m. -- I held your comment for awhile because I wanted to provide a considered response.

Yes, it is a fact that, as a candidate for a 15th Subcircuit vacancy in the 2014 primary, Mr. Fotopoulos received negative ratings from the Chicago Council of Lawyers, the ISBA, the Decalogue Society, the CCBA, and LAGBAC. For 2014, the Council said it was a "close call" on whether to recommend Fotopoulos. Though the evaluation was generally positive, the CCL ultimately concluded that Fotopoulos at that time was not sufficiently experienced to qualify for a recommended rating. The Chicago Bar Association and the other Alliance groups gave favorable ratings. This is all a matter of public record.

However, bar ratings, whether negative or positive, don't necessarily last forever. Negative ratings may be reversed in a future evaluation; positive evaluations (as I can personally attest) may be downgraded when one's ratings are up for review.

Ratings are not supposed to be reopened each time a judicial hopeful wishes. Negative Alliance ratings, as I understand it, are not supposed to be opened up for three years after they are issued. But, as many readers may not know, ratings, though released all at once, are issued on a rolling basis. The redemption clock starts running when the individual's rating is made, not when it is released to the public.

Sufficient time has passed, therefore, for Fotopoulos to be reevaluated by the Alliance. I don't know what his current ratings are; again, we are unlikely to find this out until shortly before next March's primary. Although both inferences are (I suppose) possible, I submit that it is much better to infer, from the fact of his appointment alone, that Fotopulos fared better in this latest evaluation than it is to infer that particular bar groups do not matter Justice Freeman.

The bottom line is that negative ratings are not a mark of Cain that must follow a candidate through life. Thus, I think your observation, though true, was not entirely fair. IMO.

Anonymous said...

Luck of the Irish!