Chicago Area

The names of 16 new associate judges, selected in a vote of Cook County Circuit Court judges, were announced today by Marcia M. Meis, director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts. With respect to the 17th vacancy, a tie prevents a winner from being declared. As such, a runoff is necessary.

Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 39, "[where] a tie prevents a winner from being declared, reballoting shall proceed in the manner provided above for the first balloting except that ballots shall include only the names of those candidates whose tied voted prevented a winner from being declared." Consistent with the rule, the following candidates will be placed on the runoff ballot:

• Levander Smith Jr. 
• James Adolph Wright

Ballots listing the names of 34 finalists, chosen from 272 candidates, were distributed to 252 circuit judges. Ballots were due May 16, 2018.

Ruthe Ann Howes-Palacios, 55, of Des Plaines, died Wednesday, May 2, 2018, at her home after a long illness. She was born March 21, 1963, in Peoria. 

She graduated from Bradford High School, Illinois Central College, University of Illinois, and then earned her law degree from Northern Illinois University Law School. She was a member of Sigma Kappa Sorority.

She married Juvenal Palacios on October 3, 1998. She worked for five years at Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission and 19 years at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

New attorneys were admitted to practice in Illinois on May 10, with Illinois Supreme Court and Illinois Appellate Court justices presiding and administering the attorney's oath to 401 new attorneys at five separate locations across the state. 

All of the candidates passed the Illinois State Bar Examination and a required ethics examination and were certified by the Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness. They bring the total number of licensed attorneys in Illinois to approximately 96,500.

The largest group, 275, was admitted in the First Judicial District during three ceremonies at the James R. Thompson Center Assembly Hall, located at 100 W. Randolph St., in Chicago. Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne M. Burke presided over the first ceremony, Illinois Appellate Justice Cynthia Y. Cobbs presided over the second ceremony, and Illinois Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis presided over the last ceremony.  

Law Day provides members of the legal and educational communities with a special opportunity to work together in promoting a greater understanding and appreciation of law and the legal system among school students. This year an event was held on May 2 at John Marshall Law School.