Looking more closely at the 2024 short list candidates

Since there are only six finalists for the three open associate judge positions, we can do this in one post. But it probably need to be updated... and I will post updates as necessary as time permits. Meanwhile, herewith the finalists:

David Charles Adams was a Short List finalist in 2021. He is a partner with the firm of Grund & Leavitt. His firm biography notes that Adams joined his present firm in 1997, practicing "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. Earlier in his career, Adams taught business law at the University of Illinois and subsequently served as a law clerk for Appellate Court Justice John P. Tully. 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.

Kenya Alicia Jenkins-Wright currently serves as General Counsel for the Illinois Guardianship Advocacy Commission. She joined that agency in 2015. Licensed to practice law in Illinois since 2003, according to ARDC, Jenkins-Wright previously worked for Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP and then, from 2005 to 2015, for Greene and Letts (now Zuber Lawler). She currently serves as president of the Chicago Bar Foundation and has held leadership positions in the BWLA and CCBA. Jenkins-Wright is a past recipient of the CBA's Earl Dickerson Award and was recognized by the National Bar Association as one of its 40 Under 40.

Gina Angela Piemonte was a Short List finalist in 2021. She is a Cook County Assistant Public Defender, currently serving (since 2020) as Chief of the Professional Development Division. Before that, Piemonte was Deputy Chief of the Felony Trial Division and, for 15 years prior to that, a member of the Homicide Task Force. She has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1986.

Piemonte worked for two small firms at the outset of her legal career, including one where she practiced family law. She was a volunteer coach for the Philip Corboy Trial Team of Loyola University School of Law from 2001-2004 and a volunteer judge in numerous trial advocacy classes and mock trial competetions. Piemonte was also a volunteer teacher for incarcerated women at the Cook County Jail (through CLAIM) from 2002-2005.

Antara Nath Rivera currently serves as an Arbitrator on the Workers' Compensation Commission, a position she was appointed to in 2021. Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 2002, according to ARDC, Rivera previously served as the Chief of General Prosecutions of the Enforcement Unit at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. She has also served as an Administrative Law Judge for the Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings, presiding over cases ranging from licensure for the Arizona medical board to Social Security and Medicaid benefits. Rivera has also served in the Maricopa County Attorney's Office as the Deputy County Attorney in the Special Victims Division, an Investigator for the Workers' Compensation Fraud Unit for the Illinois Department of Insurance, and as an Assistant State's Attorney for the Criminal Prosecutions Bureau of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.

Rivera was the 8th slated alternate of the Cook County Democratic Party for countywide judicial vacancies in the current election cycle. She is also a Director of the WBAI.

Federico Martin Rodriguez was a Short List finalist in 2023. He practices with the Rodriguez Legal Group in Cicero. 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.

Torrick Alan Ward was also a Short List finalist in 2023. He 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.