Justice Elizabeth M. Rochford and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the appointment of Andrea Zenker as a Circuit Judge in the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, Fourth Judicial Subcircuit, in Kane County.
Ms. Zenker is being appointed to fill the vacancy created by the impending retirement of Judge Susan Clancy Boles on July 31, 2026. The appointment is effective August 7, 2026, and will conclude on December 4, 2028.
Time Standards are among the most common complaints from practitioners in the Cook County Circuit Court's Law Division, writes retired Judge Patrick J. Sherlock in his July Illinois Bar Journal article, "Making Time Standards Work for You." Noting that as of July 1, 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court imposed Time Standards for case closures for lawsuits filed on or after Jan. 1, 2022, Judge Sherlock suspects most lawyers do not realize that the Time Standards were created based upon historic benchmarks consistently experienced by attorneys.
Candidates for an associate judge vacancy in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit have been rated in an advisory poll of lawyers conducted by the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) along with the Boone and Winnebago County Bars. Ballots were sent to all ISBA/Boone/Winnebago members who practice or reside in the 17th Judicial Circuit. Licensed Illinois attorneys who are not members of the ISBA or are outside the circuit could request a ballot. The results of this poll are being released to the public at the request of Chief Judge Brendan A. Maher.
ALTON, Ill. — Simmons Hanly Conroy and partner Jayne Conroy are nationally ranked in “Product Liability: Plaintiffs” in the 2026 Chambers USA guide. This is the 11th consecutive year that Jayne Conroy has been nationally ranked, including being selected in Nationwide Band 1 for every year since 2020. This is the sixth straight year that Simmons Hanly Conroy has received a Nationwide Band 2 ranking.
Three Illinois court leaders will present at the 2026 National Association for Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers (NAPCO) Annual Conference and Trial Court Leadership Academy, a national gathering focused on judicial leadership, innovation, and the future of court administration. The conference will take place August 16–19, 2026, in Wilmington, Delaware.
Illinois presenters include:
ALTON, Ill. — Simmons Hanly Conroy LLP has been ranked among the 2026 NLJ 500, the National Law Journal’s annual survey of the 500 largest law firms by attorney headcount in the United States.
Founded in 1999 in Alton, Illinois, Simmons Hanly Conroy has built a national reputation for handling high-stakes, complex litigation and serving in leadership roles in some of the most consequential multidistrict litigation in the country.
The Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee will hear comments on six proposals on Wednesday, September 3, 2026, at a public hearing beginning at 10 a.m. at the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, 222 N. LaSalle Street, 13th Floor, in Chicago. All proposals must be approved by the Illinois Supreme Court before they can take effect.
The hearing will be livestreamed here.
The Illinois Supreme Court announced in December 2025 that Illinois will accept transferred scores from the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination (NextGen UBE), a new version of the bar examination, beginning in July 2026. In an order issued today, the Court announces that the passing score recognized by Illinois for the NextGen UBE shall be 620.
June 30, 2026 – ST. CHARLES, IL — The 16th Judicial Circuit has issued two general orders that set forth expectations for conduct on courthouse premises and procedures for apprehensions at or near court facilities. General Order 25.06 (entered May 2, 2025) addresses procedures in the apprehension of individuals in Kane County courthouses; General Order 26.09 (entered June 25, 2026) establishes guidelines for court facility access, public demonstrations, and safety related to protest activities.
As the 150th president of the Illinois State Bar Association, Perry Browder, senior partner at Alton-based Simmons Hanly Conroy, envisions a robust agenda that will draw upon his impressive career as an attorney and bar leader. He’s previously served as president of the Illinois Bar Foundation (IBF) and the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, and he’s spent more than three decades representing victims in asbestos-related mesothelioma cases, once obtaining a $250 million verdict for a retired steelworker.