Appellate moves lead to election of chief judges

Donald C. Hudson, chief judge of the 16th Judicial Circuit since 2004, has been assigned to the Illinois Appellate Court, 2nd District, to succeed Justice R. Peter Grometer when he retires on Jan. 7 after 23 years on the bench.

A 1975 graduate of The John Marshall Law School, Judge Hudson was an assistant Kane County state’s attorney for four years before opening a practice in Geneva.

Appointed an associate judge in 1994, he was appointed in 2000 to the circuit court vacancy of retired judge Barry Puklin and elected later that year.

Hudson has been presiding judge of the Juvenile Division and the Felony Division. He serves on the Supreme Court’s Committee on Criminal Law and the Judicial Inquiry Board.

Judge Grometer, also a former 16th Circuit chief judge, has been on the Appellate Court since 2001. He became an associate judge in 1985 and was appointed to the circuit court in 1992.

Grometer has served on the Supreme Court’s Special Committee on Child Custody Issues and the Special Committee to Study Rule 23. He is a 1973 graduate of the University of the University of Illinois College of Law.

Judge F. Keith Brown will succeed Hudson as chief judge of the 16th Circuit on Dec. 8. He joined the bench in 1991 as an associate judge and was appointed to the circuit court in 1996 and elected later that year.

A Civil Division jury trial judge, Brown has been presiding judge of the Family Court twice and a Felony Division judge. He is a 1981 graduate of the Drake University Law School and a former Elgin attorney.

New chief in DuPage

Judge Stephen J. Culliton of the 18th Circuit Law Division will begin a three-year term as chief judge on Dec. 1. He succeeds Ann B. Jorgensen, who was appointed to the Appellate Court on July 7.

After his election on Sept. 17, Culliton took over as acting chief judge, a position held by Judge George J. Bakalis since Jorgensen’s elevation.

A 1970 graduate of The John Marshall Law School, Culliton became an associate judge in 1998 and was elected to the circuit court in 2000. He was chief of staff to former Illinois attorney general James Ryan.

Mortgage Foreclosure Section is expanded

Reflecting the rapid increase in mortgage foreclosure filing in the Cook County Circuit Court, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans has expanded the Mortgage Foreclosure/Mechanics Lien Section of the Chancery Division from 10 to 14 judges.

Evans appointed Judge Lewis M. Nixon, second vice president of the Illinois Judges Association, as supervising judge of the section on Sept. 22. He replaced Associate Judge Clifford L. Meacham, who will retire on Nov. 14.

Nixon was principal legal counsel for the Midwest Region of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development before his 2001 appointment to the court and subsequent election. He is a 1974 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law.

Added to handle the section’s four new calendars are Circuit Judges Margaret A. Brennan, John C. Griffin and Thomas R. Mulroy Jr., and Associate Judge Sheila King Devane.

Foreclosure filings in Cook County increased from 15,632 in 2004 to 32,651 in 2007, and are expected to reach 42,000 in 2008.

Circuit appointments

Raymond W. Mitchell, a partner in Winston & Strawn since 2003, was appointed to the Cook County Circuit Court on Oct. 14 and will serve until Dec. 6, 2010. He succeeded Marsha D. Hayes, who retired.

A 1993 cum laude graduate of the Loyola University School of law, Mitchell practiced in New York for a year before becoming an associate with Gardner, Carton & Douglas in 1995. He was a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice James D. Heiple from 1996 until he joined Winston & Strawn in 1998.

Mitchell is an adjunct professor of advanced appellate practice at the Northwestern University School of Law.

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Clinton attorney Gary W. Bryan was appointed Oct. 1 to the 6th Judicial Circuit vacancy of Stephen H. Peters, who retired on July 31. He will serve until Dec. 6, 2010.

A 1980 graduate of The John Marshall Law School, Bryan was a partner in Moss, Bryan & Moss. A board member of the DeWitt County Human Resource Center, he has provided pro bono representation of indigent clients for 20 years.

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Associate Judge Lisa Holder White of the 6th Circuit was appointed resident Macon County judge on Aug. 29, replacing retired judge John K. Greanias. She will serve until Dec. 6, 2010.

An associate judge for seven years, Judge White was an assistant state’s attorney before becoming a partner in the Decatur firm of Brinkoetter & White. She is a 1993 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law.

Retired 19th Circuit associate judge Gary G. Neddenriep has been recalled to the bench where he served from 1985 to 2005. Before that he was an assistant Lake County state’s attorney for 13 years.

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Cook County Judge John A. Ward has been appointed to the Illinois Courts Commission. He will succeed Judge Michael P. Toomin, who was appointed to the Appellate Court on Aug. 28. Toomin’s term on the commission will expire Dec. 31.

Associates appointed

ISBA Assembly member Patrice Munzel Ball-Reed, first vice president of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, is one of six lawyers who were installed Sept. 26 as associate judges of the Cook County Circuit Court.

Others are Laura Bertucci Smith, Margarita T. Kulys Hoffman, Thomas R. Mulroy, James Edward Snyder, John Leonard Huff, Michael Richard Panter, Gregory Paul Vazquez and Ellen Beth Mandeltort.

Ball-Reed also serves on the Illinois Bar Journal Editorial Board and the ISBA Committees on Legislation, Public Relations, and Women and the Law.

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DuPage County assistant state’s attorney Liam C. Brennan has been named an associate judge of the 18th Circuit. He fills a vacancy caused by the appointment of Thomas H. Riggs to the circuit court.

Brennan will be installed at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, in the County Judicial Center. A 1993 graduate of the Loyola University School of Law, he has been supervisor of the county’s Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Unit since 1998.

Capital roles clarified

Although several attorneys in the Office of State Appellate Defender are certified as members of the capital litigation bar, the Supreme Court has ruled that they may not be appointed as trial counsel in capital cases.

In its revision of Rule 416, the court cited People v. Urdiales, a 2007 case in which a trial court judge denied the appearance by appellate defenders as attorneys for a defendant.

The opinion written by Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier points out that the State Appellate Defender Act limits appellate defenders to providing legal advice to trial counsel in capital cases but not serving as trial counsel.

Law students intern

Thanks to an internship program sponsored by the Illinois Judges Association, four law students received $1,500 each to work for six weeks this summer with 20th Circuit Judge Milton S. Wharton.

The participating students were Lauren Boaz and Christina Williams of the St. Louis University School of Law, Adraea Brown of the Franklin Pierce Law Center, and Stephanie Strickland of the Southern University Law Center. All are residents of the area.

They conducted research, wrote briefs, observed trials, and met with Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier, Appellate Justice James Wexstten and Magistrate Judge Donald Wilkerson.

The Judicial Intern Opportunity Program for minority and financially disadvantaged students originated with the American Bar Association Section of Litigation.

Support for the initiative also was provided by the Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Bar Foundation, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel.

Fee funds family visits

The McLean County Board last month approved adding an $8 fee to civil cases filed in the county court, including home foreclosures and marriage dissolutions. It is expected to produce about $80,000 annually.

The surcharge will keep the Family Visitation Center open for visits and exchanges among custodial and non-custodial parents. It can be rescinded if federal Safe Havens funding is obtained.

Trained staff members of the Children’s Foundation provide counseling at the neutral site, observe visitations and report to the court. It is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.

Self-help center opens

An Internet-based Legal Self-Help Center for unrepresented individuals opened last month in the two southernmost courts of the 1st Judicial Circuit: Alexander and Pulaski Counties.

Provided through funding from the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation and technical support from Illinois Legal Aid Online, the centers provide legal information and necessary documents to assist low-income family members.