Mark V. Ferrante to join field in 6th Subcircuit

Loop personal injury attorney Mark V. Ferrante has announced that he plans to file for the Delgado vacancy in Cook County's 6th Judicial Subcircuit.

In an email to this blog, Ferrante advises that he is busy gathering signatures on his nomination petitions and has no campaign website yet (his office website can be accessed by clicking here). Ferrante writes that he has "significantly more legal experience" than either of the other two declared 6th Subcircuit candidates, Assistant Public Defender Beatriz Santiago or Assistant State's Attorney Gregory Emmett Ahern, Jr.

A lawyer since 1983, Ferrante has been a sole practitioner since 1991. Before that, Ferrante worked for the City of Chicago as an Assistant Corporation Counsel (1983-1987) and for a number of firms, including Corboy & Demetrio (1987-1988, as a contract attorney). Ferrante received an Award for Public Service in Pro Bono and and Public Interest Service in 2005 from the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

Ferrante advises that he has been rated qualified or recommended by every bar association as part of the ongoing screening process for Associate Judge (he's an applicant). He provided a copy of a summary of his ratings from the Alliance Bar Associations showing a "Well Qualified" rating from the Chicago Council of Lawyers, a "Highly Recommended" rating from the Decalogue Society, and "Highly Qualified" ratings from both the Puerto Rican Bar Association and the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois.