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

Updated August 17, 2021

In this second of a four-part series, FWIW continues its look at each individual Associate Judge finalist. For Part I of this series, scroll down or click here. Updates may be posted as new information becomes available.

Carl Lauras Evans, Jr. has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1993, according to ARDC. He currently practices from the Law Offices of Carl Evans Jr. in Tinley Park where, according to his LinkedIn profile, he handles criminal and traffic matters, real estate, and personal injury litigation.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Evans began his legal career as an Assistant Cook County Public Defender, working in that office from 1994-1998. He has taught trial advocacy and "Lawyering Skills" (which includes legal writing) at the institution formerly known as John Marshall Law School.

William Nicholas Fahy has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1990, according to ARDC. He practices from the Law Offices of William N. Fahy in the West Loop.

Some candidates have sent me photos and biographical information to use with these posts, which is a great help. My goal is for it not to be particularly obvious to the reader which candidates have provided information and which have not.

Whether a finalist has provided materials or not, I consult online sources, including my own archives, for every candidate in the preparation of these posts. However, not every finalist has the same presence online. Often this is dependent on the candidate's chosen field of practice. Mr. Fahy is an example of a finalist who has shared very limited information online. This is by no means a negative.

Barbara Nubia Flores is a Commissioner at the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, where she presides in hearings over appeals on administrative review. She previously served as Arbitrator presiding over administrative trials.

Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 2004, according to ARDC, Flores prior experience was in labor and employment law representing clients in both the public and private sectors. She has been the Scholarship Committee Co-Chair of the Diversity Scholarship Foundation and has been a long-time board member of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois.

Athena Frentzas-Bubaris practices with the Park Ridge firm of Frentzas Law LLC. Her firm bio notes that her practice is concentrated in traffic law, including DUI defense and CDL issues.

Licensed as an attorney since 1991, according to ARDC, Frentzas-Bubaris began her legal career as a prosecutor for the Secretary of State, DUI Hearings Division. She served as an Assistant Illinois Attorney General from 1992-1994, according to her firm bio.

Caroline Gale Glennon is a career Assistant Public Defender based in Rolling Meadows. She has been licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1996, according to ARDC.

Glennon was capital qualified and litigated a death penalty case in 2003. She has been a member of the Public Defender's Homicide Task Force since 2005. Though based in Rolling Meadows (since late 2014), Glennon also handles homicide cases at the Skokie Courthouse.

Glennon has volunteered as a mock trial judge for the North Suburban Bar Association. She is currently the Vice President of the GBS Parent Association Executive Board. Among other activities, she has been active in the GBS Booster Club, Northfield Township Food Pantry drives, the National MS Society, and Feed My Starving Children.

Mitchell Benjamin Goldberg is a partner with the firm of Lawrence Kamin, practicing with the firm's ADR, Litigation and Regulatory Practice Groups. He has appeared in specialized arbitration forums, including FINRA and the NFA. A frequent mediator in commercial disputes, Goldberg also represents financial services clients in regulatory matters involving the SEC, CFTC, Illinois Securities Department, and others.

Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1999, according to ARDC, Goldberg is a former President of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers. He was a Vanguard Award recipient in 2019. Goldberg has also taught securities regulation and litigation at IIT/Kent College of Law.

Dawn Marie Gonzalez is a partner in the firm of Stone & Johnson Chartered. Licensed in Illinois in 1994, according to ARDC, Gonzalez has worked for a number of private firms for most of her career, including a stint as in-house counsel for CNA Insurance from 2015-2017.

A past President of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois (2005-06), Gonzalez was an Executive Committee Member of the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Evaluations from 2004-07. She as served on the Board of Directors of the Community Chest of Oak Park from 2007-2012 and on the Board of Directors of the Madison Street Theater from 2011 to 2019. She has been a member of the Lawyers' Auxiliary Committee of the Illinois Judges Foundation since 2011.

Jasmine Villaflor Hernandez currently serves as a staff attorney in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Chief Counsel, Midwest District. She was an Assistant Cook County State's Attorney before that, from 2012-2019.

From 2009-2012 Hernandez worked in the Office of the Presiding Judge, First Municipal District, as Administrative Supervisor and Compliance Officer. Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 2008, Hernandez is a former President of the Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago (2017-18) and of the Filipino American Lawyers Association of Chicago (2015).

Matthew William Jannusch is a career Assistant Cook County State's Attorney. Licensed in Illinois since 2001, Jannusch has served stints in the Civil Actions Bureau (Child Support Enforcement Division), Special Prosecutions Bureau, and Criminal Prosecutions Bureau.

Jannusch currently serves as Treasurer of the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago and on the Junior Board of the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind. He is a founding member and the current President of the Cook County State's ATtorney's LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group.

Lakshmi Elkhanialy Jha is a Cook County Assistant Public Defender, currently serving (since 2013) on the Homicide Task Force. Licensed in Illinois since 2002, according to ARDC, Jha began her legal career as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the the City of Chicago, handling administrative appeals and municipal prosecutions.

A long-time board member of the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Jha served as President of that group in 2019-20. She has also been involved with Women Everywhere and the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund.

Martha Victoria Jimenez has been a Supervisor of Municipal Litigation in the Civil Bureau of the Cook County State's ATtorney's Office since 2019. Before that, Jimenez was Senior Counsel in the City of Chicago Department of Law, Legal Information, Investigations & Prosecutions Division.

Jimenez has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 2002, according to ARDC. She began her legal career as an Assistant Cook County State's Attorney before moving into the private sector for a six-year tour with Sanchez Daniels & Hoffman, LLP. Jimenez is also on her second tour of duty as a board member of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, having previously served from 2015-16. She was Chair of the HLAI JEC from 2015-2018 and has been involved with Women Everywhere.