Chicago Council of Lawyers ratings for candidates for judicial vacancies in the 7th, 8th, 9th , and 11th Subcircuits

For more about the methodology used by the Chicago Council of Lawyers in its evaluations, visit this prior post on FWIW. For the complete report of the Council on candidates seeking judicial vacancies in the June 28 primary, click here.

These are the ratings for candidates seeking judicial vacancies in the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th Subcircuits issued today by the Chicago Council of Lawyers:

7th Subcircuit, Martin Vacancy

Marcia O’Brien Conway -- Well Qualified
Marcia O’Brien Conway was admitted to practice in 1984. She was a sole practitioner between 1986 and 1991, and has been in private practice since 2019. She retired from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in 2018 after having served there since 1993. She represented Cook County and County officials in real estate tax litigation between 2008 and 2018. She drafted and negotiated purchase and sale agreements between 1994 and 2008. She was in private practice between 1994 and 1988, including the law firm of Winston & Strawn.

Ms. Conway is praised for her legal ability and knowledge. She was often cited as an expert in real estate and taxation law. She is reported to always be well prepared and she is praised for her litigation skills. She is considered to have a very good temperament with a patient but effective demeanor. She is said to be exceptionally hard working. The Council finds her Well Qualified for the Circuit Court.

Owens J. Shelby -- Qualified
Owens J. Shelby was admitted to practice in 2007. He has been a career Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney working as a second chair prosecutor in a felony trial courtroom. He served for less than a year as the Assistant Counsel to the Speaker of the Illinois House, and as a contract attorney with Loevy & Loevy in 2007 to 2008. Mr. Shelby is considered to have good legal ability with a very good temperament. He is praised for his diligence. Most lawyers praise his abilities although a few say he lacks adequate experience. The Council finds him Qualified for the Circuit Court.

8th Subcircuit, Gordon Vacancy

Patrick Casey -- Not Qualified
Patrick Casey was admitted to the Illinois bar in 2001. He has been in private practice since January 2020. For the previous 10 years Mr. Casey served as an administrative law judge involving a long-term care. Prior to that he did some criminal work and of some personal injury cases. Respondents indicated that Mr. Casey is knowledgeable about his current position and fulfilled his duties. However, the Council is concerned that Mr. Casey lacks sufficient litigation experience, and his current position as an administrative law judge is not sufficiently complex to demonstrate his ability to be a judge. The Council finds him Not Qualified for the Circuit Court.

Bradley R. Trowbridge -- Qualified
Bradley R. Trowbridge was admitted to practice in Illinois in 2000. Prior to law school he served as a social worker. Since 2004 he has served as a solo practitioner focusing on domestic relations issues. He has worked as a staff attorney at the Chicago Department of Law; a staff attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago; and as an associate with Audrey Gaynor & Associates. He has done domestic violence order of protection pro bono work.

Mr. Trowbridge is considered to have good legal ability. He has had substantial litigation experience in a variety of areas. Judges and practitioners praise his litigation skills. A few respondents questioned his temperament, but on balance, the Council finds him Qualified for the Circuit Court.

John Fritchey -- Qualified
John Fritchey was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1989. For about two years he practiced before administrative tribunals as an attorney with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. He then practiced with a small firm for another 4 to 5 years. He then became a politician, first as a State Representative and then as a Cook County Board Commissioner. He was defeated in 2018. He has been president of his own consulting firm for the last 15 years. In 1998, he created the John Fritchey Youth Foundation, designed to create educational and recreational opportunities for local children through the sponsorship of academic and sports programs.

Mr. Fritchey has little litigation experience and that was within the first 7 years of his career. But he is well respected as a politician, and is considered to have good ability. The Council recognizes his lack of actual trial experience, but Mr. Fritchey has had a career of public service, and as a politician, he has made impressive contributions to the public interest in a wide variety of legislative areas. The Council believes that his work as a respected public servant compensates for his paucity of litigation experience. On balance, the Council finds him Qualified for the Circuit Court.

8th Subcircuit, Lipscomb Vacancy

Jennifer E. Bae -- Qualified
Jennifer E. Bae was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1997. She is currently Director of Employee Discipline at the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. Before taking this position, she worked as a solo practitioner focusing in criminal defense cases. She also workedpart-time as a board member on the Cook County Sheriff’s Merit Board, a position she has held since 2013. Previously she worked as a partner at Bae Law Offices (2000-2012); and as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Cook County State’s Attorney Office (1996-2000), where she was assigned to the Appeals Division, the Traffic Division, and the Domestic Violence Division. In January 2017, she became Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court’s Committee on Character and Fitness for the First Judicial District, where she has served since 2010.

Ms. Bae is considered to have good legal ability and temperament. She has sufficient complex litigation experience in criminal law matters, both as a prosecutor and in private practice. She has had experience in civil proceedings, as well. The Council finds her Qualified for the Circuit Court.

Stephen Andrew Swedlow -- Well Qualified
Stephen Andrew Swedlow was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1996. Since 2011, he has served as Managing Partner of Quinn Emanuel Urqhart & Sullivan, where he handles complex civil litigation matters. Previously, he was a Founding Partner at Swedlow & Associates/Korein Tillery (2001-2011), where he handled plaintiffs’ contingency cases and trials. From 1996 to 2001 he handled complex corporate litigation as an Associate at Latham & Watkins and from 1995 to 1996 he clerked for the Hon. Jerome Farris of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He provides pro bono legal services through his own firm and as a volunteer for CARPLS legal aid.

Mr. Swedlow is considered to have excellent legal ability and has substantial litigation experience in highly complex matters in both state and federal courts. He has both trial and appellate experience, including cases argued before the Illinois Supreme Court. He is praised for his litigation skills. He is reported to have a very good and professional temperament, while being a zealous advocate. The Council finds him Well Qualified for the Circuit Court.

9th Subcircuit, Bernstein Vacancy

Hon. Sanjay T. Tailor -- Well Qualified
The Hon. Sanjay T. Tailor was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1991. He was appointed to the bench by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2021, after serving as an Associate Judge between 2003 and 2021. He is currently Presiding Judge of the County Division, where he hears cases concerning mental health, election, adoption, civil asset forfeiture, property tax, name change, and other civil matters. Previously, he was assigned to the Chancery Division (2015-2020), the Law Division (2009-2015), the Domestic Relations Division (2006-2009), and the First Municipal Division (2003-2006). From 1996 to 2003, he was an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Civil Actions Bureau of the Cook County State’s Attorney Office. He was also in-house counsel in the Law Department of the First National Bank of Chicago (1994-1995) and an Associate in the Special Litigation, Bankruptcy, and Workout Group at Chapman and Cutler (1991-1994). He is a member of numerous bar associations, including the American Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago (founding member, advisory council).

Judge Tailor is a highly respected jurist who is praised for his knowledge, his preparedness, and his temperament. He has excelled in every judicial position to which he has been assigned. The Council finds him Well Qualified for the Circuit Court.

Ann Buran-Vongher -- Qualified
Ann Buran-Vongher was admitted to practice in Illinois in 1989 and has been a solo practitioner since December 2020. She does criminal defense work exclusively. She had been a Cook County Assistant Public Defender for 31 years practicing in a variety of cases and locations including felony trial work at the Criminal Courts Building, the Juvenile Court, the 2nd Municipal District in Skokie, and Preliminary Hearings.

Ann Buran-Vongher is considered to have good legal ability and is praised for her professionalism, her knowledge of the law, and for her diligence. She is reported to be a zealous advocate for her clients while being praised for her integrity. The Council finds her Qualified for the Circuit Court.

9th Subcircuit, Jacobius Vacancy

Basileios “Bill” John Foutris -- Qualified
Basileios “Bill” John Foutris was admitted to practice in 2000. His practice has been devoted to representing victims of police misconduct. As a civil rights lawyer, he has been involved in litigating wrongful death, police shootings, police brutality, illegal searches, false arrest, coerced confessions, malicious prosecution and other police misconduct. He has substantial litigation experience in both state and federal courts. He us praised for his knowledge of the law. The Council finds him Qualified for the Circuit Court.

Torrick Alan Ward -- Qualified
Torrick Alan Ward was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1998. Mr. Ward began his career at the Chicago Department of Law as an assistant corporation counsel. In 2004 he was promoted to senior counsel where he supervised attorneys, handled employment discrimination suits and helped develop city policies. In 2008, he became the deputy director of the Chicago office of Compliance. In 2012 he began a solo practice.

Mr. Ward is praised for his legal ability and temperament. He has had substantial litigation experience during the course of his career, and is reported to have good temperament – civil and professional. The Council finds him Qualified for the Circuit Court.

Barry Goldberg -- Qualified
Barry Goldberg was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1999. He is a member of several bar associations including the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, where he served as President (2009-2010). He has spent his career at the Charitable Trust Bureau of the Illinois Office of the Attorney General, where he has served as Bureau Chief (2019-present), Deputy Bureau Chief (2018-2019), Assistant Bureau Chief (2006-2017), and Assistant Attorney General (1999-2006).

Barry Goldberg is considered to have very good legal ability and is exceptionally knowledgeable involving charitable trusts. He is praised for his temperament. He has handled enforcement actions and conducted a multistate litigation action in a fraud action in federal court. While he has little trial experience, he has substantial experience in litigation matters. The Council finds him Qualified for the Circuit Court.

Don R. Sampen -- Well Qualified
Don R. Sampen was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1975. Since 2008, he has been a partner at Clausen Miller P.C., where he focuses on appellate litigation. He has also been a partner at Meckler, Bulger & Tilson, where he focused on insurance-related commercial litigation (2003-2008); chief of the Public Interest Division and chief of the Special Litigation Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office (1995-2003); a partner at Martin, Craig, Chester & Sonnenschein (1988-1995); a partner and associate at Jenner & Block (1976-1988); and a law clerk to Judge Phil Tone of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1975-1976). He serves as pro bono counsel for the Abolition Institute, an organization that fights modern day slavery.

Mr. Sampen is considered to have excellent legal ability. He is a widely respected appellate attorney who is also praised for his trial litigation experience in complex matters. He is reported to have a professional demeanor and is considered to a solid practitioner who knows the court system from a variety of points of view. The Council finds him Well Qualified for the Circuit Court.

11th Subcircuit, McGuire Vacancy

Chris Taliaferro -- Not Qualified
Christopher Taliaferro was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 2007. Currently he serves as Alderman for the 29th Ward of the City of Chicago (2015-present) and as a Solo Practitioner (2007-present) with the Taliaferro Law Group, where he practices family law.

Christopher Taliaferro is reported to have a good temperament. The Council is concerned, however, that he does not appear to have sufficient litigation experience in more complex matters and that his practice lacks sufficient depth and breadth. The Council finds him Not Qualified for the Circuit Court.

Aileen Bhandari --Qualified
Aileen Bhandarit was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 2002. She is an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Cook County State’s Attorney Office, where she prosecutes criminal cases, including Armed Robbery, Criminal Sexual Assault, Attempted Murder, and Murder cases, for the Felony Trial Division. Her pro bono activities include participation in Lawyers in the Classroom (2015).

Aileen Bhandari is considered to have good legal ability and has substantial trial experience in more complex criminal law matters. Her temperament is described as calm and affable. She is a well respected prosecutor who is described as having a commitment to understanding the needs of different communities and of crime victims from different backgrounds. The Council finds her Qualified for the Circuit Court.