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Circuit shorts Appellate justice appointed
Cook County Judge Michael J. Murphy, who has been presiding judge of the County Division since 1999, was appointed Sept. 16 to an interim term on the Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District, that will end Dec. 6, 2006. Murphy fills the vacancy of Neil F. Hartigan, who retired in 2004 and was replaced by Ellis E. Reid, who also has retired. Succeeding Murphy as presiding judge of the County Division is Chancery Division Judge Patrick E. McGann, a past president of the Illinois Judges Association. Recent appointments Cook County Associate Judge Walter Williams was appointed a full circuit judge Sept. 9, and on Oct. 3 was named Supervising Judge of the 1st Municipal District Traffic Section, replacing retired judge Robert P. Bastone. His term on the bench, which fills the vacancy of retired judge Llwellyn L. Green-Thapedi in the 5th Subcircuit, expires Dec. 4, 2006. • • • Chicago attorney Michael J. Howlett was sworn in Sept. 6 as a Cook County Circuit Court judge. He was an associate judge from 1983 to 1986. • • • Former Effingham County state's attorney Kevin S. Parker was appointed resident judge of Jasper County in the 4th Circuit on Sept. 19 for a term that expires Dec. 4, 2006. He succeeds Michael R. Weber, who retired. • • • Richard P. Klaus of Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Urbana, was named an associate judge in the 6th Circuit on Oct. 3 and sits in traffic court. • • • Former assistant Lake County state's attorney Christopher R. Stride of Waukegan was sworn in Aug. 25 as an associate judge in the 19th Circuit. He fills the vacancy of Gary R. Neddenriep, who retired. • • • Judge Claudia Smith Anderson of the 5th Circuit became presiding judge in Vermilion County on Oct. 1, succeeding Judge Thomas J. Fahey. • • • Retired associate judge Donald J. Hennessy, who served in the 18th Circuit from 1985 to 1997, has been recalled to the 17th Circuit bench. He will serve in Rockford from Nov. 1 until Oct. 31, 2006. • • • Melvin M. Wright Jr. of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal will serve on the Committee on Character and Fitness for the 1st District until Dec. 31 or until the Supreme Court appoints a successor. He replaces Patricia M. Sudendorf.
Retirement announced Judge Phillip J. Kardis of the 3rd Circuit in Granite City retired Sept. 2 after 16 years.
Associate seats open Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans of the Cook County Circuit Court accepted applications during September for seven associate judgeships. They will replace five who have retired – Sandi G. Johnson-Speh, Patricia Brown Holmes, Nicholas T. Pomaro, LaBrenda Earl White and Michael J. Pope – and two who were appointed to the circuit court – James M. Schreier and Walter Williams.
Ann Jorgensen is elected 18th Circuit chief judge Judge Ann Brackley Jorgensen of Wheaton, a past president of the Illinois Judges Association, was elected unanimously on Sept. 14 to a three-year term as chief judge of the 18th Judicial Circuit. She will succeed Chief Judge Robert K. Kilander on Dec. 5. A 1980 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, Jorgensen was appointed as an associate judge in 1989 and elected to the circuit court in 1994. She is presiding judge of the Criminal Felony Division and the Drug Court she established. After four years as an assistant DuPage County state's attorney, Jorgensen joined the law practice of criminal defense attorney John F. Donahue in 1984 and soon became a partner in Donahue, Jorgensen, Sowa & Bugos. In addition to assignments in traffic court and small claims, Jorgensen was supervising judge of the DuPage County Mandatory Arbitration Program from 1990 to 1994. She became presiding judge in criminal felony in 1997. She was appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Conduct in 2000, the year she took over the new rehabilitative drug court. Jorgensen is a past chair of both the ISBA Alternative Dispute Resolution Section Council and the Criminal Justice Section Council, and she has served on the Special Committee on Ethics 2000. The DuPage County Bar Association honored her in 1999 as Lawyer of the Year, and she received a Glass Ceiling Busters Award in 2003 from the DuPage Association of Women Lawyers. |