Six lawyers currently working for Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx will be among the 22 new associate judges appointed to hear cases in Cook County Circuit Court.
Others selected to serve on the court include five former Cook County judges, and others serving in the Illinois Attorney General’s office and in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago.
On Sept. 9, the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts announced the results of balloting conducted in August and early September, when the county’s elected circuit judges tallied their choices to fill vacancies in local courtrooms for the next two years.
Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans
According to the AOIC release, the new judges’ terms will expire June 30, 2023. To continue to serve after that date, the new judges must either be elected to the court, or be reappointed by July 1, 2023.
Cook County seats a total of 146 appointed associate judges, in addition to 249 circuit judges.
While circuit judges are elected by voters, associate judges are appointed either by the Illinois Supreme Court or by selection in a balloting process involving the circuit judges.
After the 22 vacancies were announced, the Circuit Court collected applications from 225 attorneys seeking appointment, according to the release. That list of applicants was whittled down to 44 finalists, selected by a nominating committee, including Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans and 10 other circuit judges.
The nominees were then vetted by the Alliance of Bar Associations and the Chicago Bar Association, according to the AOIC release.
The list of the 22 new associate judges includes five former Cook County judges. These include:
Lloyd Brooks, of Homewood, was appointed to the Cook County bench in 2018, and served until 2020, when he lost in the Democratic primary election;
James Derico, of Chicago, who also was appointed in 2018, and lost in the 2020 Democratic primary;
Maryam Ahmad, of Chicago, who now serves as chief of the Juvenile Justice Bureau in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Ahmad also now serves as president of the Chicago Bar Association. She had served on the Cook County bench from 2014 to 2016, when she failed in a write-in election bid against Democratic nominee Rhonda Crawford, a law clerk who was declared ineligible to serve after she posed as a judge, at the invitation of a former judge;
Anthony Swanagan, of Flossmoor, who now serves as an Assistant Illinois Attorney General. Swanagan served on the Cook County bench from 2017 to 2018, when he lost in the Democratic primary; and
Kerrie Maloney Laytin, of Chicago, who currently serves as an administrative law judge for the Illinois Human Rights Commission. Laytin, also a former senior counsel for the City of Chicago Department of Law, was appointed a judge in 2019 and served until 2020, when she lost in the Democratic primary.
In addition, the list of 22 new associate judges include six attorneys currently working for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. These include:
Ahmad; Andreana Turano, of Northfield; Eric Sauceda, of Bartlett; Martha Victoria Jimenez, of Chicago; Matthew Jannusch, of Chicago; and Barbara L. Dawkins, of Homewood.
The full list of new Cook County associate judges includes:
Sara L. Ebersole, of River Forest, affiliated with Law Office of Sara Ebersole, in Chicago;
Carl L. Evans Jr., of Tinley Park, affiliated with Law Offices of Carl Evans Jr., in Tinley Park;
William N. Fahy, of Chicago, affiliated with Law Office of William N. Fahy, in Chicago;
Barbara N. Flores, of Chicago, currently serving at the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, in Chicago;
Mitchell B. Goldberg, of Chicago, affiliated with Lawrence Kamin, of Chicago;
Jasmine V. Hernandez, of Chicago, currently serving at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, in Hines;
Diana E. Lopez, of Chicago, affiliated with Lopez Law Group, of Chicago;
Thomas A. Morrissey, of Riverside, affiliated with Law Offices of Thomas A. Morrissey, of LaGrange;
James B. Novy, of Chicago, affiliated with Rock Fusco & Connelly, of Chicago;
Theresa M. Smith Conyers, of Chicago, currently serving in the Chicago Department of Law;
Ankur Srivastava, of Glenview, currently serving in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in Chicago; and
Pamela J. Stratigakis, of Chicago, affiliated with Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard and Smith, in Chicago.