Schostok to appeals bench

Judge Mary Seminara-Shostok of the 19th Circuit, third vice president of the Illinois Judges Association, began serving an appointment to the Illinois Appellate Court on Aug. 18.

She fills the 2nd District vacancy caused by the Aug. 13 retirement of Justice Barbara Gilleran Johnson, and will serve until Dec. 6, 2010.

Associate Judge Jorge L. Ortiz was appointed to the circuit court vacancy, effective Aug. 25 until Dec. 6, 2010. He is a former member of the ISBA Traffic Laws and Courts Section Council.

A 1986 graduate of the Capital University Law School in Ohio. Seminara-Schostok practiced in Pennsylvania until 1988, when she became an assistant Lake County state’s attorney.

She was chief of Special Investigations, overseeing the Lake County Children’s Advocacy Center, in 1998 when she was named an associate judge.

Appointed to the 19th Circuit bench in 2001, Seminara-Schostok was elected in 2002. Presiding judge of the Law Division this year, she had previous assignments in juvenile, domestic violence, probate and arbitration.

Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court Criminal Law and Probation Committee, Seminara-Schostok is a past president of the Lake County chapter of the Justinian Society.

She is married to Waukegan attorney Michael P. Schostok, a partner in Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard.

Ruling in ballot case

Cook County Judge Alfred J. Paul filed an order on Aug. 21 that Dominique M. Collins Ross is the winner of a Democratic primary election for a seat in the 5th Subcircuit. She is unopposed for election in November.

Paul’s order states that Ross received 27,682 votes to 27,524 for Stephen Stern, a margin of 158 votes. The Illinois State Board of Elections previously certified Ross the winner by 109 votes.

Stern, a past president of the Cook County Bar Association, subsequently filed suit, requesting a full recount. His attorney said an appeal of Paul’s ruling was unlikely.

Jurists are recalled

Retired appellate justice Robert L. Carter, a past president of the Illinois Judges Association, has been recalled to the 3rd District appeals bench for a term that ends in December 2010.

A former judge of the 13th Circuit, Carter appointed previously to the Appellate Court in 2006.

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Retired 18th Circuit judge Richard A. Lucas has been recalled for a second stint as an associate judge of the 17th Circuit through October 2009. He was first appointed in 2006.

Prosecutor promoted

Assistant Kane County state’s attorney William G. Engerman, lead prosecutor in a 16th Circuit felony courtroom, was been named first assistant state’s attorney in DeKalb County on Aug. 8.

A 1988 graduate of the American University College of Law, Engerman was a criminal defense lawyer before he joined the state’s attorney’s office in 2001. He handled several cases involving street gang homicides.

Gets national office

Presiding Judge Patricia Martin Bishop of the Cook County Child Protection Division, has been elected treasurer of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. She has served on its board since 2002.

A 1985 graduate of the Northern Illinois University College of Law who was an assistant public defender for 10 years, Martin Bishop was elected to the circuit court in 1996 and was named presiding judge of Child Protection in 2000.

She has received a Mary Heftel Hooton Award from the Women’s Bar Association, a C.F. Stratford Award from the Cook County state’s attorney, and a Meritorious Service Award from the Illinois Judicial Council.