Seven compete in race for 8th County Subcircuit

By Marie Balice Ward

The Democratic race for judge in the 8th Judicial Subcircuit of Cook County counts seven contenders: Gideon Baum, James Byrne, Ann Collins Dole, Daniel Thomas Gillespie, Debra Kramer Marcus, James A. Shapiro, and Aaron J. Weiss. Gillespie and Shapiro already are sitting judges.

The 8th Subcircuit covers the 2nd, 3rd, 11th, 25th, 27th, 32nd, 40th, 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 46th, and 49th Wards.

            Gideon Baum, an assistant state’s attorney since 1998, has been a lawyer for nearly 15 years. He has experience in both defense and prosecution and said he has "a thorough understanding of how statutes become law." As lead attorney in the Child Protection Division of the Juvenile Justice Division, Baum has experience supervising and training junior attorneys and in complex family law litigation.

Baum is a first-generation American whose parents fled the Nazis; his German father went to Switzerland, and his Russian mother went to Palestine. His parents met in the Middle East and moved to the U.S. in the early 1950s.

“My family’s background and my extensive experience in law make me uniquely qualified as a judge," Baum said. "I want to continue working for neglected and abused children.”

As Cook County assistant state’s attorney, Baum has worked in the Child Enforcement Division in the Public Interest Bureau, Juvenile Justice Bureau, Child Advocacy Division, and Child Protection Division.

Baum also has worked with U.S. Senator Barack Obama to rewrite the juvenile court act, worked with Mayor Richard M. Daley on the Safe Neighborhoods Bill, and helped bring increased penalties against people who commit hate crimes. 

Baum also served in the prosecutor’s office for Jackson County, IN, was a professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School, and has handled campaign strategy and management for State senators and representatives in Illinois and Indiana.

James Byrne, an attorney at Bruce Farrel Dorn since 1998, has been an attorney since 1990. He currently handles a 93-file case load, from intake to resolution, serving in a position equivalent to a senior associate.

Previously he was an attorney with the law office of Joseph V. Roddy, responsible for plaintiff personal injury lawsuits including liability cases involving premises, products, automobile negligence, and medical malpractice. Before that, he worked at Pomper & Goodman representing plaintiffs in personal injury cases and at Parrillo, Weiss & Moss trying insurance defense cases. 

Byrne has served Cook County in mandatory arbitration and has experience with the Illinois Bar Association and Chicago Bar Association. A graduate of the John Marshall Law School, he has been endorsed by a diverse group including 27th Ward Committeeman Jesse White, Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool, Alderman Danny Solis, and Alderman Robert Fioretti.

Byrne stated, “I wanted to be a judge before I became a lawyer. When I was 19 years old, I attended a case from the gallery and was intrigued by the presiding judge. This launched my law career. I also feel I am qualified because I have had 18 years experience, many jury trials, and I have had experience prosecuting and defending cases, which avails me with the ability to be impartial.”

Ann Collins Dole, chief assistant corporation counsel for the City of Chicago, Department of Law, has 17 years’ experience including diverse trial work. She graduated from Loyola University Chicago Law School after a 13-year career in art and education administration for the Art Institute of Chicago.

Dole said, “I believe that the opportunity to serve as a judge is a huge responsibility as well as a great honor. It is up to the judge to set the tone in his or her courtroom, to ensure that all litigants, witnesses, jurors, and others who come before the court are treated fairly, with courtesy and respect.”

Her legal experience includes advocacy for domestic violence victims, consumer fraud prosecution, defending firefighters and paramedics, and teaching at the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.

She has lived in Chicago since her undergraduate days at Barat and Mundelein Colleges. 

Dole is a founding member and first president of the Southport Neighbors Association (SNA), served as a director of the Lakeview Citizens Council, volunteered with the Sierra Club for trail maintenance in Wyoming and Montana, organized and served as team captain for the Y-ME Mother’s Day event for breast cancer awareness, and is a member of the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network and the Save the Dunes Council.

Daniel Thomas Gillespie said, “I have enjoyed being an associate judge for 18 years and am eminently well qualified to assume greater responsibility and challenge.”

Since 2002, Gillespie has been judge of the First Municipal Division, which covers civil bench trials and motions for contracts, and he supervises six judges in the civic bench trial section.

Gillespie’s professional experience also includes serving as assistant Illinois attorney general; in that post, he handled trials relating to the nursing home section, chancery administrative hearings and reviews, and temporary restraining orders and injunctions. He also has been assistant Cook County state’s attorney in the Narcotics Division and assistant Cook County public defender in the Felony Trial Division.

He currently teaches business-related law at DePaul University’s College of Commerce and trial practice at Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law and at the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.  He previously taught at the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Northwestern Suburban Bar Association, United States Army Reserves, and Newberry Library.

His community activities include volunteering with the Lake View Citizens Council, Counseling Center of Lake View, and St. Joseph Hospital Foundation.

Gillespie’s articles have been published widely; one of his articles, summarizes the state of the law on search and seizure and was used as a teaching document in the 2000 Illinois Judicial Conference, a mandatory judicial training conference attended by all state trial and appellate judges. Gillespie also has received numerous awards, including the 2004 President’s Service Award from the Illinois Judges Association.

Debra Kramer Marcus has 27 years of courtroom experience. “One needs a certain level of experience to be a judge," she said. "At this point in my career, I have well met the criteria of legal experience to maintain, if not to improve, the judicial system.” 

An attorney at Cogan & McNabola PC, Marcus has appeared before motion and trial judges in Cook County and in federal and state courtrooms.  Her experience includes a wide variety of civil litigation matters in which she has represented both plaintiffs and defendants.

Marcus was named an Illinois Super Lawyer in 2007 based on peer recognition and professional achievements; only five percent of Illinois lawyers receive this award.

She has spoken at seminars on discovery and warranty litigation and represented numerous injured persons as plaintiffs in cases involving motor vehicle accidents, slips and falls, and suits against transit firms, doctors, hospitals, and manufacturing entities. Marcus also has experience in law firm administration and management such as hiring, training, lease negotiation, budgets, information and communication systems, and technology.

The Women’s Bar Association of Illinois has endorsed her, as have the Greek, Hispanic, and Puerto Rican bar associations. 

James Shapiro noted that being "a good judge” means "more than being honest and ethical. It means making justice fair for all.” He vows to protect civil rights, equal rights, and human rights for everyone.

Shapiro was appointed to the 8th Subcircuit by the Illinois Supreme Court in August. Previously, he gained extensive jury and bench trial experience while practicing law for 22 years; he also served as assistant U.S. attorney.

His legal experience includes civil and criminal, plaintiff and defendant, prosecution and defense, and private and government practice. He also has been a hearing board chair with the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission and headed hundreds of arbitrations with the Cook County Mandatory Arbitration Program.

A Graduate of William and Mary Law School, Shapiro currently is an adjunct professor at John Marshall Law School and has taught law at Loyola University Chicago. He has written many articles, is president of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, and belongs to the Justinian Society of Lawyers, Cook County Bar Association, and Illinois Bar Association.  He received endorsements from Americans for Democratic Action, Northeastern Illinois Chapter; Chicago Federation of Labor; Citizen Action Illinois; Personal PAC; and University of Illinois at Chicago Political Science Professor Dick Simpson.

Aaron J. Weiss, lead attorney with the Juvenile Division of the Cook County Public Guardian Office, has represented abused and neglected children in juvenile court as an attorney, guardian, and trainer. He supervises a staff of attorneys and paraprofessionals in handling his courtroom’s caseload.

Weiss appears in court every day and has tried hundreds of cases before numerous judges.  "I have wanted to be a judge for a long time," he said. "It’s time to make a difference. I am devoted to improve the quality and dignity of my clients' lives through competent, diligent, and professional representation which I hope to continue providing public service as a judge.” 

He added that he is the only openly gay person in this race.

About his decision to make a difference by pursuing a career in law, Weiss explained that when he was 12 neo-Nazis marched in Skokie, which made a lasting impression and prompted him to go to law school when he grew up. There, he finally understood the ruling allowing the Nazis to march and admired the decision as "independent, fair, and impartial.” 

Admitted to the bar in 1993 after graduating from John Marshall Law School, Weiss spent his first year as a lawyer in Israel studying comparative legal systems at Temple and Tel Aviv Universities. An expert on first amendment law, he earned an undergraduate degree in political science and East Asian Studies at Indiana University; he also worked as an intern in the Washington, DC, office of U.S. Congressman Lee H. Hamilton and spent a semester in China studying Chinese culture and Mandarin Chinese.

Weiss is recommended by the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago.