Judge Sophia Hall named "interim presiding judge" of Chancery Division

Judge Sophia H. Hall has been appointed interim acting presiding judge of the Chancery Division. Hall takes over for Judge Moshe Jacobius, whose retirement was effective January 30.

Judge Hall is not expected to hold the job for long.

FWIW readers will recognize that, in recent presiding judge appointments, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans, designates the new PJ as an "acting" presiding judge. Assuming the appointment works out as expected, the "acting" designation has been quietly dropped. Eventually. On now clearly discernable schedule. In other contexts, "acting" might be used to mean "temporary" but, given the current use of the word, another word had to be found to indicate a temporary state.

Thus... interim.

And, indeed, in a press release announcing the appointment, Judge Evans said he is interviewing candidates for the Chancery position, and that Judge Hall will serve until a permanent candidate is found. According to the Chief Judge's announcement, Judge Hall has been serving in the Chancery Division for approximately half of her more than 40 years on the bench, and has been serving as administrative presiding judge of the Resource Section of the Juvenile Justice and Child Protection Department since 1995.

In yesterday's press release, Judge Hall was quoted as stating, “I’m deeply honored and privileged to be asked by the chief judge to serve the Circuit Court of Cook County in this capacity.”

Hall was first elected judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County in 1980, serving in the Criminal Division and the Chancery Division before becoming presiding judge of the Juvenile Division in 1992. She was the first female presiding judge of any division or district in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Hall is past chair of the National Conference of State Trial Judges of the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association and past president of the National Association of Women Judges and the Illinois Judges Association.

Meanwhile, now-retired Judge Jacobius recently told FWIW that he is planning to pursue a new career as a mediator. While JAMS-Endispute hasn't put up a press release yet, Jacobius indicated that he will be joining the JAMS organization shortly. He indicated that he has already received expressions of interest from family law practitioners concerning his services. Before leading the Chancery Division, Jacobius served as presiding judge of the Circuit Court's Domestic Relations Division from 2000-2010.