Looking more closely at the Short List finalists -- Part I

In this first of a four-part series, FWIW begins its look at each individual Associate Judge finalist. Updates may be posted as new information becomes available.

David Charles Adams is a partner with the firm of Grund & Leavitt. His firm biography notes that Adams practices "appellate law with an emphasis in civil litigation and matrimonial matters." According to that firm bio, Adams is also an adjunct professor at IIT/Chicago–Kent College of Law, teaching Advanced Pleadings and Motion Practice in Family Law in the LLM program. Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1991, according to ARDC, Adams was a candidate for a 9th Subcircuit vacancy in the 2012 election cycle.

Maryam Ahmad currently oversees the operations of the Juvenile Justice and Child Protection Divisions, as Juvenile Justice Bureau Chief for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. A finalist on the 2016 Short List, Ahmad served as a Circuit Court judge, pursuant to a Supreme Court appointment, from 2014 to 2016.

Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 2000, according to ARDC, Ahmad has also served as an Assistant Public Defender and as Sexual Harassment Officer for the City of Chicago. Earlier in her career, while still in law school, Ahmad worked as Special Assistant to the President on Diversity at DePaul University. Before attending law school, Ahmad was Dean of Multicultural Affairs at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Perhaps the only finalist with a master's degree in Shakespearean Studies (from Bucknell University), Ahmad is the Immediate Past President of the Chicago Bar Association. She has also been appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to serve on several committees addressing the court’s response to COVID-19 and in juvenile justice.

Sunil Shashikant Bhave has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 2005, according to ARDC, but he actually began his legal career in 2004 in Missouri as an Assistant Public Defender. He served as a law clerk to a Missouri appellate judge and, later, to a United States District Judge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Bhave joined the Illinois Attorney General's Office in 2007, practicing in the Civil Appeals Division. He subsequently moved to the City of Chicago, working as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Federal Civil Rights Litigation Division, before returning to the Attorney General's Office in 2012 in the General Law Bureau. Bhave is currently the Unit Supervisor of the Civil Prosecutions/Administrative Law Unit of the Attorney General's Office. Bhave was elected to a term on the School Board of the Community Consolidated School District No. 59 in Elk Grove Township from 2015-2019.

Patrick Malone Blanchard currently serves as the first Independent Inspector General for Cook County. His Cook County bio notes that he has served in this capacity since 2008, following "a selection and screening process administered by the Chicago and Cook County Bar Associations and bipartisan committee of the Board of Commissioners of Cook County."

Appointed to a second term in 2014, Blanchard was initially slated to complete his term as Inspector General last year but was, according to a September 18, 2020 Sun-Times article by Rachel Hinton, brought back for a special two-year term while county officials look for his replacement.

Prior to becoming Independent Inspector General for Cook County, Blanchard was an Assistant States Attorney from 1993 to 2008, including service as Division Chief of the Special Litigation Division and held several other supervisory positions within the Civil Actions Bureau. Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1990, Blanchard began his legal career with the firm now known as Clausen Miller PC.

Lloyd James Brooks was appointed to a Circuit Court vacancy by the Illinois Supreme Court and served as a judge from 2018-2020. FWIW pulled the accompanying photo from Brooks' 2020 campaign materials; he did not submit this photo and can not be accused of being presumptive.

Before his judicial appointment, Brooks was a founding partner of the Matteson-based Consumer Legal Group. He currently is listed as the principal of The Brooks Law Firm has been licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 2000, according to ARDC. Brooks is also a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter. He was a Short List finalist in 2018 and 2019.

Richard George Cenar was a long-time Cook County Assistant State's Attorney. Licensed in Illinois since 1986, Cenar is now employed by the Illinois Attorney General's Office, according to ARDC.

Cenar was a candidate for a 10th Subcircuit vacancy in 2016 (the accompanying photo dates to that campaign). He explored another run in 2018 but bowed out when he was not slated.

Scott Richard Clewis practices with the personal injury firm of Clewis & Associates, P.C. and has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 2000, according to ARDC.

His firm bio states that Clewis was formerly a partner and shareholder of Clewis & Finn, P.C. Before that, he a partner at Levin & Perconti, and a long-time associate at Salvi Schostok & Pritchard, P.C. Early in his legal career he served as a law clerk for the late U.S. Dist. Judge William J. Hibbler.

Barbara Lynette Dawkins is a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney based in Markham, currently serving in the Felony Trial Division. She has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1998, according to ARDC.

Dawkins has been a Village Trustee in Homewood for the past 12 years. She also serves as President of the Rookie A League of Homewood Baseball and coaches the mock trial team for Rich Township High School. Dawkins is Vice-President of Foundation 153, which provides supplemental educational funding for Homewood Schools.

Gabriel Joseph DeMatteo practices with the Law Offices of Gabriel J. DeMatteo in Lincolnwood and has been licensed in Illinois since 1986.

According to his LinkedIn profile, DeMatteo has operated his own practice since 2003. Before that, DeMatteo served as a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney.

James Thomas Derico, Jr. served as a Circuit Court judge from 2019-2020. This photograph dates to the 2020 campaign.

Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1985, Derico began his career as an associate with Gardner, Carton & Douglas (now Drinker, Biddle & Reath). He subsequently worked in-house for Borg-Warner Corporation and as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago specializing in contracts and commercial law. Derico practiced with Derico & Associates, P.C. from 1992 until his appointment to the bench.

Derico has served on the Illinois Supreme Court Committee for Civil Jury Instructions. He was the recipient of the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS) Distinguished Service Award in 2009 and 2014.

Sabra Lynne Ebersole operates the Law Office of Sabra Ebersole, practicing, according to the firm website "at the intersection of family law and the criminal justice system."

Licensed in Illinois since 1986, Ebersole began her career in a small general practice, according to her firm bio. She worked for the Cook County Public Guardian's from 1995-1999, before moving to the State's Attorney's Office. From 1999 to 2005, Ebersole handled juvenile cases. She thereafter served in the Criminal Bureau and, in 2009, was assigned to what is now known as the Sex Crimes/Domestic Violence Division. Ebersole set up her own practice in 2015.

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Blanchard photo credit: Tom Cruze/Chicago Sun-Times file

For Part II of this four-part series (Evans, Jr. to Jimenez), click here. For Part III (Lopez to Porter), click here. For Part IV (Roe-Taylor to Wright), click here.