Georgia Alexakis

Northern District of Illinois
	Seventh Circuit
Judgeships
	Posts: 23
	Judges: 23
	Vacancies: 0
Judges
	Chief: Virginia Kendall
	Active judges: Georgia Alexakis, Jorge L. Alonso, John Robert Blakey, Edmond E. Chang, Sharon Coleman, Jeffrey Cummings, Jeremy Daniel, Robert Dow, Sara Lee Ellis, Sunil Harjani, LaShonda A. Hunt, Lindsay Jenkins, Iain David Johnston, Virginia Kendall, John Kness, Martha Pacold, April Perry, Mary Rowland, Steven Seeger, Manish Shah, John Tharp Jr., Franklin Ulyses Valderrama, Andrea R. Wood; Senior judges:; Marvin Aspen, Elaine Bucklo, Suzanne Conlon, Thomas M. Durkin, Robert Gettleman, Joan Gottschall, Ronald Guzman, Frederick Kapala, Matthew Kennelly, Charles Kocoras, Joan Lefkow, George Marovich, Charles Norgle, Rebecca Pallmeyer, Philip Reinhard, James Zagel

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Georgia Alexakis
	Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Progress
	Confirmed 64 days after nomination.
	Nominated: February 27, 2024
	ABA Rating: Well Qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: March 20, 2024
	Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: April 18, 2024
	Confirmed: May 1, 2024
	Vote: 54-44

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Georgia Alexakis is a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on February 27, 2024, and confirmed by the United States Senate on May 1, 2024, by a vote of 54-44.^[1]^[2] To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Prior to joining the court, Alexakis was Assistant United States Attorney and the Chief of Appeals for the Criminal Division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.^[3]

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2024-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On February 27, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Alexakis to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.^[1] Alexakis received commission on August 2, 2024.^[2] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Alexakis by a vote of 54-44 on May 1, 2024.^[1] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Alexakis confirmation vote (May 1, 2024)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	47	0	1
Republican	5	44	0
Independent	2	0	1
Total	54^[4]	44	2

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Alexakis' nomination on March 20, 2024. The committee voted to advance Alexakis' nomination to the full Senate on April 18, 2024.^[1] Click here for a list of other nominees awaiting a committee vote.

Nomination

On February 27, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Georgia Alexakis to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.^[1]

The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Alexakis Well Qualified.^[5] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Alexakis was nominated to replace Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, who assumed senior status on August 1, 2024.^[6]

Biography

Education

Alexakis earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 2000 and a law degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 2006.

Professional career

2024-Present: Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
2013-2021, 2022-2024: Assistant U.S. attorney, Northern District of Illinois
- 2022-2024: Chief of appeals, Criminal Division
- 2019-2021: Deputy chief of appeals, Criminal Division
- 2019-2021: Civil rights and hate crimes program coordinator
2008-2012, 2021-2022: Private practice
2007-2008:Law clerk, Milton Shadur
2006-2007: Law clerk, Marsha Berzon^[2]

About the court

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is one of 94 United States district courts. The district operates out of Chicago and Rockford, Illinois. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit located in the same courthouse as the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago. The Northern District of Illinois has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

There are two court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Eastern Division, covering Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake County, LaSalle, and Will counties

The Western Division, covering Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago counties.

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.