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Thaddeus L. Wilson

Judge Thaddeus L. Wilson was appointed to the bench and sworn in as a judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois on August 31, 2007. He is currently assigned to the Criminal Division.

Judge Wilson is a native of Kingstree, South Carolina. During his senior year of high school, he served as a youth advisor to then South Carolina governor Richard W. Riley. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from the University of Notre Dame in Management of Information Systems with a double major in Philosophy. Upon graduating from Notre Dame, he moved to Chicago, Illinois to work as a computer programmer/systems analyst for Joseph T. Ryerson & Son. Judge Wilson received his law degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Wilson was the managing attorney of the Law Office of Brookins & Wilson (A Partnership of Professional Corporations). He practiced in the areas of personal injury, criminal defense, civil rights/police brutality, bankruptcy, and election law. As part of his multifaceted litigation practice, he represented corporations, insurance companies and individuals in connection with personal injury, wrongful death, police misconduct, election law and commercial litigation. He represented citizens in federal civil rights litigation. He represented debtors and creditors in Chapter 7, Chapter 13 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. He represented banks and other financial institutions in bankruptcy and foreclosure proceedings and in turnaround management and asset recovery. He also served as an arbitrator with the Circuit Court of Cook County Mandatory Arbitration Program and as a hearing officer for the Chicago Board of Elections. As an attorney, he also argued cases before the Illinois Appellate Court and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge Wilson is admitted to practice law in the State of Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a past chairman of the board of KIPP Ascend Charter School. He sits on the Cook County Bar Association ARDC Liaison Committee and is also a member of the Chicago Inn of Court.

In addition to his judicial duties, Judge Wilson is a member of the Criminal Division’s Technology Committee which is in the process of completely overhauling the division’s computer docketing systems and equipment. Judge Wilson also serves as an adjunct professor at The John Marshall Law School and lectures at continuing legal education seminars in the areas of constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, ethics and federal courts. Recently, he was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to the Advanced Science & Technology Adjudication Resource (ASTAR) Judge program. The ASTAR judicial scholarship program is an effort to enhance the capacities of the courts to resolve complex cases involving intricate or novel scientific and technical evidence. It operates by training judges to a retained understanding of the terms of the scientific methodology underlying evidentiary proffers.

Judge Wilson and his wife Tiffany have two daughters.