Robert Phillip Cahill, a Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, died peacefully surrounded by family and friends Dec. 4, 2011 at age 75.
Justice Cahill was born in 1936. He was educated at St. Louis University, Loyola University of Chicago and Loyola University of Law, earning his J.D. degree in 1966. He began his legal career as a statutory draftsman with the Legislative Reference Bureau in Springfield, then moved to the Illinois Senate where he served as legal counsel to the Education Committee and then Chief of Staff for the Illinois Senate. From 1973 to 1980, he was an Assistant State's Attorney in Cook County and chief of special litigation in that office. From 1974 to 1978 he served as an elected member of the Board of Education of District 65 in Evanston.