Looking more closely at the 2023 Short List candidates - Part 4

In this final part of a four part series, FWIW continues its look at each individual Associate Judge finalist. Updates to this post may be published as new information becomes available. For Part 1 of this series, click here; for Part 2, click here. Part 3 is available at this link.

Federico Martin Rodriguez practices with the Rodriguez Legal Group in the West Loop. His firm bio notes that Rodriguez, while in undergrad, worked full-time as a Spanish-language interpreter for the Circuit Court of Cook County. He has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1998, according to ARDC.

A former president of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois (2012-2013), Rodriguez has served on the Illinois Supreme Court’s Character and Fitness Committee since 2015.

Parle M. Roe-Taylor is a Deputy Public Defender on the Executive Team to the Public Defender. She worked her way up from a courtroom attorney trying cases from misdemeanors to murder and then joined management. She now focuses on policy, protocols and represents the Office on various committees at the County and State levels. She has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1990, according to ARDC.

Roe-Taylor serves on the Oversight Board of Adult Redeploy Illinois. She was recently the recipient of the Rosa Parks Award 2023 from Pilsen Neighbors Community Council.

Roe-Taylor was a Short List finalist in 2021.

Anthony Ruffin is an Assistant Public Defender based in Bridgeview. He has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1994, according to ARDC.

Pamela Saindon has been a Principal Attorney for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago since 2012. Since 2018 she has been assigned to the User Change and Ordinance Enforcement Division.

Licensed to practice in Illinois since 1995, according to ARDC, Saindon began her legal career as a law clerk for Appellate Court Justice William Cousins, Jr. and, later, for Supreme Court Justice Charles Freeman. She has taught legal writing at what is now UIC School of Law for several years.

Saindon was a Short List finalist in 2021. She was also the fifth alternate 'pre-slated' for a countywide vacancy by the Cook County Democratic Party for the 2022 election cycle.

David Lawrence Studenroth practices criminal and civil law with StudenrothLaw in Park Ridge.

Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1987, according to ARDC, Studenroth spent the first 11 years of his legal career as a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney, serving in the Gang Prosecution Unit and the Felony Trial Division during his tenure there. His firm bio notes that he has coached football in the Glenview Jr. Titans program and boys and girls basketball with the Glenview Park District.

Studenroth was a candidate for a 12th Subcircuit vacancy in the 2018 election cycle.

Natosha Cuyler Toller was appointed Deputy Director of the Judicial Inquiry Board in March 2022.

Before that, Toller served as a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney, rising to the position of Chief of the Criminal Prosecutions Bureau. She has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 2005, according to ARDC.

Toller has been an international instructor and subject matter expert with emphasis in Caribbean countries with the National Center for State Courts. Toller has serves as a Board Member of Bright Star Community Outreach and Friends of Recovery United. A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Toller has also served as President of the John Marshall Law School Alumni Association.

John J. Tully practices with the Chicago firm of Tully & Associates. He has been licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1994, according to ARDC.

Tully joined his present firm after 16 years at Winston & Strawn LLP, where he rose to a partnership, according to his LinkedIn profile. His firm bio notes that his practice is focused in commercial and appellate matters. He has provided serviceas general counsel for Landmarks Illinois and served as a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Scott William Tzinberg practices with the Law Offices of Scott Tzinberg, the family law firm he founded in 1996 when, according to ARDC, he was first licensed to practice law in Illinois.

Tzinberg volunteers with SHALVA, representing victims of domestic violence. He also volunteers in the mentoring program at his alma mater, the law school now known as UIC Law School and serves on the Board of Managers of the Decalogue Society.

Tzinberg was a Short List finalist in 2021.

Michael James Vines is a family lawyer currently practicing in Countryside as Vines Law LLC. He has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 2003, according to ARDC. He has also served as an Administrative Law Judge for the Village of Orland Park, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Torrick Alan Ward is Deputy Director of the Cook County Labor Relations Office, a title he assumed in 2019 after roughly seven years of service as Senior Labor Counsel.

Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1998, according to ARDC, Ward did spend five years in private practice, from 2010 to 2015, after beginning his legal career in various capacities with the City of Chicago, ultimately rising to Deputy Director of the Office of Compliance. His LinkedIn profile notes that he has served as a Director of the Rogers Park Business Alliance. Ward has also served as an adjunct professor at DePaul University Law School.

Ward was a candidate for a 9th Subcircuit vacancy during the 2022 election cycle.

John Wellington Wilson is the only former judge on this year's Short List.

Wilson served, pursuant to appointment by the Illinois Supreme Court, in a 1st Subcircuit vacancy between August 2021 and December 2022. He was a candidate for that vacancy in the 2022 election cycle.

Licensed as an attorney since 1996, according to ARDC, was serving as the acting Chief of the Public Defender's Office in the Sixth Municipal District – Markham Division at the time of his bench appointment. Previously Wilson the homicide and felony supervisor in the Public Defender’s Markham Division.

Before attending law school, Wilson worked as an administrator for the City Colleges of Chicago. He was also an Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at Wilbur Wright Community College. He has also served as an adjunct professor at UIC Law School’s Summer College to Assess Legal Education Skills (SCALES) program.