Justice Fitzgerald to step down from Illinois Supreme Court; Theis appointed

It's not up on the Illinois Supreme Court website yet, but both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune are reporting that Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald will step down from the high court in October and that the court has agreed to appoint Mary Jane Theis, currently serving as a justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, to replace him.

Justice Theis's appointment would be effective through December 3, 2012. She would have to be elected to that vacancy in 2012 in order to continue to serve.

Justice Theis received her B.A. degree from Chicago's Loyola University in 1971 and her J.D. degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1973. She served as an Assistant Public Defender (1974-83), Associate Judge (1983-88) and Circuit Judge (1988-93). She was elected a Judge of the Appellate Court, First District, in 1994. Judge Theis is a member of the Illinois State and Chicago Bar Associations, the Women's Bar Association of Illinois and the Illinois Judges' Association. She was President of the Appellate Lawyers Association in 2006-07.

HT: Kulmeet Galhotra.

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Update: Supreme Court press release on Justice Fitzgerald's retirement and Justice Theis's appointment is now posted.