Introducing the 26 Associate Judge finalists - Part II

Updated and expanded once more 3/29/16
Updated and expanded yet again 3/24/16
Updated and expanded 3/22/16

In Part I, FWIW looked at those 2016 Cook County Associate Judge finalists who were either candidates in the recent primary or had been finalists in the 2014 associate judge selection process. This post looks at the remaining finalists.

Sophia Jane Atcherson has been licensed as an attorney in Illinois, and working as an Assistant Public Defender in Cook County, since 1997. She currently serves as Chief of the Legal Resources Division at the Public Defender's office, handling appeals and post-conviction cases. Most of her time in that office, however, was spent in the Felony Trial Division, becoming an attorney supervisor there in 2012. Atcherson is a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases, and a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness. She has also served as an adjunct professor at John Marshall Law School, according to her LinkedIn page.

Jeffry S. Blumenthal is a partner in the Loop law firm of Slutzky & Blumenthal, a firm which, according to its website, has a "practice almost exclusively devoted to Cook County real estate tax collection and enforcement litigation." Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1979, Blumenthal has also taught legal writing and legal research at John Marshall Law School. According to his firm website, Blumenthal is a co-author, with David R. Gray, Jr., of Chapters 10 and 11 of the IICLE Real Estate Taxation handbook, published in 2008.

George Louis Canellis, Jr. is an Assistant Cook County State's Attorney and has been licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1996. According to his LinkedIn page, Canellis serves as Supervisor of Felony Review.

Vincenzo Chimera is an Illinois Assistant Attorney General and has been licensed in Illinois since 1984. According to his LinkedIn page, Chimera currently serves as Deputy Chief of Criminal Enforcement at Illinois Attorney General's Office. Chimera also serves as a board member of The Port Ministries, according to his LinkedIn page.

Joel Louis Chupack is a partner in the Loop firm of Heinrich & Kramer, P.C., focusing his practice in the area of real estate litigation. Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1982, Chupack is a former President of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers. He has also served as Chair of the Illinois State Bar Association Real Estate Law Section Council and as an ISBA Assembly member.

Mark Vincent Ferrante is a solo practitioner with offices in the Loop. According to a biography appended to his firm website, Ferrante has operated his own firm since 1991. He began his legal career in 1983 as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago. Ferrante was a candidate for a 6th Subcircuit vacancy in the 2012 primary. In 2005, according to his firm website, Ferrante received an "Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service Award" from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for his work as trial bar appointed counsel for the plaintiff in a lawsuit involving a stabbing incident at Cook County Jail.

Mohammed Mujahid Ghouse owns and operates the Ghouse Law Office in Bridgeview, focusing in criminal law, real estate law, and corporate transactional law. He has been licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1998. Ghouse served as an Assistant State's Attorney from 1998 to 2004, ultimately working in the Felony Trial Division in Bridgeview. He has been an adjunct professor at Moraine Valley Community College, teaching criminal procedure and substantive criminal law.

Robert Wade Johnson is, according to ARDC, the principal of Robert Johnson, P.C., with an office in Chicago's Loop. He has been licensed in Illinois since 1994.

Mary Catherine Marubio is an Administrative Law Judge for Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Since May 2014, Marubio has also served as the agency's Ethics Officer. She joined the agency as Chief of Business Prosecutions - Statewide Enforcement in early 2012, serving as Acting Chief of Health Related Prosecutions - Statewide Enforcement, prior to assuming her present duties as an ALJ in early 2014. She has been licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1997. Before joining IDFPR, Marubio had her own law practice, serving, among other things, as General Counsel for the Columbian Consulate in 12 Midwestern states. Marubio is active in a number of bar associations, including current service as the Co-Chair of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois Administrative Law Committee. Marubio has also been active as a board member or advisory board member of the ACLU of Illinois.

Lisette C. Mojica is a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney assigned, according to ARDC, to the Juvenile Justice Bureau. She has been licensed in Illinois since 1997.

David Ricardo Navarro is currently Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau in the Illinois Attorney General's Office, handling allegations of statewide corruption. He worked as an Assistant Cook County States Attorney from 1994 to 2009, serving at one point as supervisor of the Professional Standards Unit, investigating police corruption and excessive force allegations. He was appointed as a Special Assistant United States Attorney to work on a corruption investigation involving the Chicago Police Department Special Operations Section. Navarro has been licensed in Illinois since 1993, according to ARDC.

Marian Emily Perkins operates the Law Office of Marian E. Perkins, P.C., in Chicago's Loop. She has been licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1987. A past president of the Cook County Bar Association, Perkins is also a longtime member of the Criminal Justice faculty at Chicago State University, currently serving as Chairperson of the department. According to her LinkedIn page, Perkins began her legal career in the office of the Illinois State Appellate Defender; she also worked for several years as an Assistant Cook County State's Attorney.

Gregory Gerard Plesha has maintains a law office on South Western Avenue in the Beverly neighborhood since 2002. Since 2004, Plesha has also served as a hearing officer for the Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings and, since 1996, as a hearing officer for the Village of Merrionette Park. From 2003-2011, Plesha was also a hearing officer for the Illinois Toll Highway Authority. He was an Assistant State's Attorney from 1986 to 1993. Plesha worked for Johnson & Bell, Ltd. in 1993-94. A member of the adjunct faculty at South Suburban Community College since 1993, Plesha has been licensed as an attorney since 1986.

Marita Clare Sullivan has served as litigation counsel for the ARDC since 2000. Before that, Sullivan was Assistant to the Director of the Helen Brach Foundation, assisting with the administration of the charitable foundation's grant program. She began her career as an Assistant Attorney General, serving for 12 years in the General Division, before moving to Civil Appeals shortly before the end of her tenure there. Sullivan has been licensed in Illinois since 1984.

Jeanne Marie Wrenn is a Senior Director, General Counsel and Ethics Counsel for the National Safety Council. According to her LinkedIn page, Wrenn (now officially listed as Jeanne Wrenn Ritchie, per ARDC) previously served as Ethics and EEO Officer for PACE. She has been licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 2003, beginning her career in the office of the Cook County State's Attorney. After service there in the Traffic and Narcotics Divisions, Wrenn was assigned to the Legislative Unit, acting as a legislative liaison to the Illinois General Assembly, rising to Supervisor from December 2008 until she joined PACE.