The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that Cook County Circuit Judge Raymond W. Mitchell has been appointed as an Appellate Court Justice in the First District, Sixth Division. 

Judge Mitchell was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Sheldon A. Harris. The appointment takes effect July 6, 2022, and terminates December 5, 2022. Judge Mitchell will then become an elected Appellate Court Justice, having won the Democratic Primary in June and running unopposed in the 2022 general election. 

“Judge Mitchell has been exemplary in his time with the Cook County Circuit Court,” Chief Justice Anne M. Burke said. “He was rated highly qualified by the bar associations, and we welcome him to the First District Appellate Court.”  

Judge Mitchell has served as a Cook County Circuit Court Judge since 2008. Since 2017, he has served in the Chancery Division. He previously served in the Law Division, Commercial Section, and the First Municipal Division. 

Prior to joining the bench, Judge Mitchell worked for 10 years as a Partner and Associate at Winston & Strawn LLP. Prior to this, he served as a Judicial Clerk for Judge James L. Ryan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and for Justice James D. Heiple of the Illinois Supreme Court. 

Judge Mitchell earned his Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago and his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law.