The ISBA's full report can be accessed from this page of the ISBA website. (Note to any Downstate readers who may happen across this post, ISBA evaluations of Downstate judicial candidates can also be obtained starting at that same page.)
Downstate ISBA evaluations are done by practitioner surveys. In Cook County, the ISBA participates as a member of the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening (which also includes the Arab American Bar Association, the Asian American Bar Association, the Black Women Lawyers Association, the Chicago Council of Lawyers, the Cook County Bar Association, the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, the Hellenic Bar Association, the Hispanic Lawyers’ Association of Illinois, the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago, the Puerto Rican Bar Association, and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois) in investigating candidates.
Candidates seeking screening from the Alliance must complete a lengthy questionnaire (a questionnaire that is similar to, but sufficiently different from, the separate Chicago Bar Association questionnaire that completion of one will not suffice for the other). Investigators will be assigned by the Alliance from any of the member groups; thus, ISBA members are not necessarily involved in the vetting of any candidate's written application (calling references, reviewing written submissions, and so forth). When that phase of the investigation is completed, and after medical waivers and ARDC (or JIB) waivers are obtained, a hearing is scheduled for the applicant. All Alliance groups are asked to participate in these hearings. Each evaluator at the hearings will have the benefit of the Alliance investigators' work, even though the investigators may not be associated with the evaluator's bar group.
So all the Alliance members start with the same investigative materials, and participate in the same candidate interviews -- but, because each group has their own evaluators present for the interviews, they do not always reach the same conclusions.
Without further adieu, then, the ISBA ratings for the seven candidates for the Freeman vacancy on the Illinois Supreme Court:
Jesse G. Reyes -- Highly Qualified
Jesse G. Reyes has been licensed since 1984. He currently sits on the Appellate Court – First District. He was selected as an associate judge in 1997, elected to the circuit court in 2008 and, subsequently, elected to the Appellate Court – First District in 2012. While a circuit court judge, he sat in Mortgage Foreclosure, Traffic, Domestic Violence, and the Sixth Municipal District (Markham). Before taking the bench, he was an assistant corporation counsel and an attorney for the Chicago Board of Education. He is a former president of the Illinois Judges Association and the Latin American Bar Association; former secretary of the Chicago Bar Association; and a former assembly member with the Illinois State Bar Association in addition to other committee work. He has lectured on legal topics and has been the recipient of several awards.
Attorneys described him as a hard worker who is prepared, strict and fair. He writes well-reasoned opinions and issues them in a timely fashion. ISBA finds Justice Jess G. Reyes highly qualified to serve as a justice to the Illinois Supreme Court – First District.
P. Scott Neville, Jr. -- Highly Qualified
P. Scott Neville, Jr. was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1974. He was appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court – First District in 2018. He was appointed to the circuit court in 1999, elected in 2000, then retained in 2006. After being assigned to the Appellate Court in 2004, he was elected in 2012. Prior to his appointment to the bench, he had been in private practice as a sole practitioner and with several firms focusing on appellate civil litigation. He is a past president of the Cook County Bar Association, a co-founder of the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening, and a committee member of several other bar associations. He has lectured on legal topics, been the recipient of several awards and has served on various Supreme Court committees.
Attorneys reported that he has excellent legal knowledge and ability and that his questions reflect a thorough review of the briefs. He is considered to be honest and a straight shooter. ISBA finds Justice P. Scott Neville, Jr. highly qualified to serve as a justice to the Illinois Supreme Court – First District.
Shelly A. Harris -- Not Qualified
Sheldon A. Harris was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1966. He is currently a justice on the Appellate Court – First District; he has sat on the Appellate Court since 2010, first by appointment and then by election in 2014. He was first appointed to the circuit court in 2000 and until 2014 had been recalled and reappointed several times. Before joining the circuit court, he spent the majority of his career in private practice focusing on tort litigation. He is a member of various bar associations, on the board of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers and the recipient of the Seymour Simon Award from the Jewish Judges Association.
Attorneys consider him to be diligent and knowledgeable with well-written opinions. Concerns were raised, however, about his demeanor. ISBA finds Justice Sheldon A. Harris not qualified to serve as a justice to the Illinois Supreme Court – First District.
Cynthia Y. Cobbs -- Qualified
Cynthia Y. Cobbs was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1988. She was appointed to the circuit court in 2011, was elected in 2014 and is an appellate justice in the Appellate Court – First District; a position she has held since being appointed in 2015. Prior to her judicial service she served several years with the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts. There she served first as an attorney, chief legal counsel and from 2002 to 2011 as director.
She is considered to be fair-minded, patient and intelligent. ISBA finds Judge Cynthia Y. Cobbs qualified to serve as a justice to the Illinois Supreme Court – First District.
Margaret Stanton McBride -- Highly Qualified
Margaret Stanton McBride has been licensed since 1977. She currently sits on the Appellate Court – First District. She was selected as an associate judge in 1987, elected to the circuit court in 1990, retained in 1996; elected to the Appellate Court in 1998 and retained in 2008 and 2018. Before joining the bench, she was a career assistant state’s attorney. As a circuit judge she served in Traffic, Criminal, Law, and Chancery before becoming presiding judge of the Third Municipal District (Rolling Meadows). She has served on several committees, including the Illinois Courts Commission, teaches appellate advocacy and speaks at seminars.
Attorneys have praised her for having an excellent grasp of the law and the facts, being very principled and committed to justice. She is prepared, efficient and polite but direct. ISBA finds Justice Margaret Stanton McBride highly qualified to serve as a justice to the Illinois Supreme Court – First District.
Daniel Epstein -- Not Recommended
Pursuant to ISBA guidelines, any candidate who has less than the minimum ten years of experience required for a judicial candidate shall be given a rating of not recommended. Due to the importance of the Illinois Supreme Court position, and to fulfill the goal of fully informing the public, an investigation and interview did take place.
Daniel Epstein has been licensed since 2015. From 2015 to 2019 he was an associate at Jenner & Block handling litigation matters. He left that position to focus on his campaign. He is active on committees with the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the Lawndale Christian Legal Center. He has spoken and written on legal topics and is a founder and president of Perspective to the People.
Attorneys reported that he is an intelligent attorney clearly passionate about improving the judicial system. At this time in his career, however, Mr. Daniel Epstein does not have the requisite experience, as an attorney, litigator or in other judicial office to serve as a justice to the Illinois Supreme Court – First District.
Nathaniel Roosevelt Howse -- Highly Qualified
Nathaniel Roosevelt Howse was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1976. In 1998 he was elected to the circuit court and retained in 2004. He was elected to the Appellate Court in 2012 after being assigned there in 2009 while a circuit court judge. His other assignments in the circuit court included the County Division, First Municipal, Adoption, and Traffic. Before joining the bench, he was a solo practitioner with a general civil practice. He is a member of several bar
associations, speaks at seminars, mentored new judges, and is the recipient of many awards.
He is highly respected for his clear reasoning, his good solid writing and hard work. He is polite to all, diligent and punctual. ISBA finds Justice Nathaniel Howse highly qualified to serve as a justice to the Illinois Supreme Court – First District.
Shelly Harris Not Qualified...this is INSANE. His demeanor??? I have orally argued before him and he's terrific. You can't find a better Appellate juctice on the bench. His opinions are well written, right on point and excellent.
ReplyDeleteI am really blown away by this, it's so wrong.
All I can say is that I feel for Justice Harris. In my own small way, I've been there -- given unfavorable ratings by groups that once gave me their highest ratings.
ReplyDeleteThis is a conversation worth pursuing -- but the comments so far are just plain mean. And some of them are soooooooo predictable.
Stuff is pouring in that needs posting and that will have to take priority for now, but I will wade back through the comments, and post some of them anyway, as time permits.
Shelly Harris is an excellent jurist. And when he wins, he will appoint excellent judges. Politics be damned.
ReplyDeleteShelly Harris and Bernie Sanders will show all of you what two bad-ass Jewish men can do with some determination and Chitzpah. And the irony is he will do more to diversify the Cook County judiciary than Neville, Burke and Theis combined.
ReplyDeleteThe "switch" in your bar rating Jack, and that of other candidates, is attributable to the obvious. Someone perceived you and the other similar candidates to be a threat, so they "canned" you and them. The Peter Principle is in full effect this cycle. Translation: many bar associations are attempting to promote or elevate certain candidates simply to get them out of their current assignments so that they will be "forced" to work with other judges who will temper the havoc and mistakes that "Judge X" would otherwise be making if left alone, in a current assignment, without a law clerk or other judge to tell them what to do. It's sad, shameful and must stop. If certain people cannot cut it, they should not have been elected in the first place. But the public doesn't know and, of course, the worst of the worst seemingly always have stellar ballot names. The retention ballot this cycle and next must be used to cull the herd of the buffoons, despots, mentally deranged and just plain lazy. Oh yes, winter is coming.
ReplyDeleteMy granny and all of her friends from church and the book club and the prayer circle like Justice Harris' commercial. They especially like how he is going to keep guns out of the hands of felons . . . unlike the Diane "If He Hollers Let Him Go" Kenworthy who is up for retention this cycle and is being targeted as a "No" by FOP Lodge Number 7. Better start spending more time on Second City Cop than FWIW if you are a member of the 2022 Retention Class. But if your name is Raines, Toomin or Gordon-Cannon, you better start reading Injustice Watch daily.
ReplyDelete