Joan Lefkow

Joan Lefkow

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Nonpartisan

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (senior status)

Tenure

2012 - Present

Years in position

12

Prior offices

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

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Education

Bachelor's

Wheaton College, 1965

Law

Northwestern University Law School, 1971

Personal

Birthplace

Kansas

Contact

Official website

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Joan Humphrey Lefkow is an Article III federal judge serving on senior status in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She joined the court in 2000 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton. She assumed senior status on September 1, 2012.

Education

Lefkow graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois with her bachelor's degree in 1965 and obtained her law degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1971.

Professional career

• 1981-1982: Executive Director, Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation, Inc.
• 1980-1981: Instructor, University of Miami Law School
• 1975-1979: Administrative Law Judge, Illinois Fair Employment Practices Commission
• 1972-1975: Staff Attorney, Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, Inc.
• 1971-1972: Law clerk, Hon. Thomas Fairchild, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Judicial career

Northern District of Illinois

Lefkow was a federal magistrate judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois until 1997. Lefkow served as U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois until 2000.

In 2000, on recommendation of Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, Lefkow was nominated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois by President Bill Clinton on May 11, 2000, to a seat vacated by Juge Ann Williams. Lefkow was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 30, 2000, and received her commission on July 11, 2000. She assumed senior status on September 1, 2012.

Family tragedy

Lefkow's ruling in a medical malpractice suit in 2005 angered a man who shot her husband and mother in retribution.

See also

• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
• News: Governor signs Illinois Judicial Privacy Act, July 27, 2012

External links

• Judge Lefkow Biography from the Federal Judicial Center

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by: Ann Williams	Northern District of Illinois 2000–2012 Seat #18	Succeeded by: Manish Shah