Looking more closely at the 2026 Short List candidates - Part 1

With 14 finalists, I envision two posts to give each one a brief profile. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order. I will update this post as necessary.

Matthew J. Canna is a partner with Costello Ginex & Wideikis, PC. He has been licensed in Illinois since 2003, according to ARDC. His firm biography highlights his experience in premises lability, trucking and automobile negligence, and construction negligence cases. He began his legal career with Hinshaw & Culbertson, and also worked as a plaintiff's attorney, according to the CGW bio, handling wrongful death, medical malpractice, and catastrophic personal injury claims.

A graduate of Marist High School, the University of Notre Dame (with a degree in mechanical engineering), and Chicago-Kent Law School, according to his firm bio, Canna has served on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Special Olympics.

Juanishá N. Dotson is an Assistant Public Defender, serving in the Felony Trial Division of that office; she has been licensed in Illinois since 2010, according to ARDC. Dotson notes that she has tried a hundred bench or jury cases to verdict in the course of her career. She told FWIW that she teaches trial practice and advocacy at Loyola University Chicago and coaches the Chicago Cup Competition and Constance Baker Motley Mock Trial Teams.

A native of Houston, Texas, Dotson did her undergraduate work at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans and went to law school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, before arriving in Chicago and setting up her own practice, doing a little bit of everything, including family law, personal injury, and wills and trusts. She currently serves serves on the Board of Managers for the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) and the Executive Board of Directors for Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association (LAGBAC). Dotson was recently appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court as a member of the Committee on Character and Fitness for the First District.

According to her LinkedIn page, Caroline K. Kwon has been an Assistant State's Attorney since 2019. Licensed in Illinois since 1996, according to ARDC, Kwon worked in the Cook County Public Guardian's Office from 1996 to 2019, rising to the position of Supervising Attorney.

Kwon did her undergraduate work at Loyola University Chicago. She is a graduate of the Universtiy of Illinois Chicago Law School (or, as a lot of us still call it, John Marshall Law School).

Daniel T. Madigan is a partner with Napleton & Partners. He joined that firm in 1996, when it was known as Motherway & Napleton, after a three-year stint as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago. He has been licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1993, according to ARDC.

Madigan also served as a prosecutor for the Village of Western Springs from 2012-2017 and has been a Commissioner for the Illinois Court of Claims since 2013.

Madigan attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for both his undergraduate and law degrees. He now serves on the University of Illinois College of Law’s Advisory Board and as an advisor for the Chicago Bar Association Moot Court Competition. He is a member of the ISBA Assembly.

Alexander D. Marks is a partner with the firm of Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, P.C., concentrating in complex commercial litigation, while also chairing the firm’s pro bono committee. Marks is also an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association (panelist for Commercial Litigation, Consumer Disputes, and Labor and Employment). He has been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 2004, according to ARDC.

The current president of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, Marks was appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Professional Responsibility; he also serves on the Chicago Bar Foundation Pro Se Advisory Committee.

Marks obtained his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Illinois and has served on the Northbrook Youth Baseball Board of Directors. He has written a novella, "Little League, Big Lessons. Life Wisdom From A Summer of Youth Baseball" (although, as this post was prepared, it is not currently available on Amazon).

Tene McCoy Cummings has been a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney for over 23 years, currently serving as the Deputy Chief of the Special Victims Bureau in that office. Licensed as an attorney in Illinois since 1998, according to ARDC, McCoy Cummings began her legal career as a staff attorney for the United Auto Workers Legal Services Plan.

McCoy Cummings was a recipient of the 2026 C.F. Stradford Award in recognition of her work for domestic violence awareness. Throughout her career at the CCSAO, she has prosecuted hundreds of serious crimes, including murders, domestic violence cases, and sexual assaults.

McCoy Cummings also serves as the President of the Ability Alliance Network Employee Resource Group, an ISBA Assembly Member, and as a volunteer for Lawyers in the Classroom. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. McCoy Cummings attended Howard University for both her undergraduate and law degrees.

Gregory T. Mitchell practices with the Law Office of Gregory T. Mitchell, P.C. in Homewood, concentrating, according to his firm website, in federal criminal defense and employment law. He has been licensed to practice in Illinois since 1987, according to ARDC.

A Marine Corps veteran, Mitchell served as a personnel officer and, after completing law school (at the University of Illinois, in 1987), as a Staff Judge Advocate. He founded his current firm in 2000.

Mitchell obtained his undergraduate degree in 1980, from Drake University. He also holds a Master of Public Administration Degree from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, a degree conferred in 1984.