Rodolfo Garcia

Appellate Judge
Rodolfo Garcia
First District, 6th Division

Rodolfo Garcia attended the University of Illinois at Urbana as an undergraduate, receiving his A.B. degree in Economics in January 1976. He was admitted to the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business evenings program in 1977 while working as a computer systems analyst. He was admitted to the Law School at the University of Chicago in 1978, from where he received his law degree in 1981.

He began his legal career as an assistant Illinois Attorney General in the Criminal Appeals Division where he argued before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and represented the State in habeas corpus matters at the federal district court level. He also handled numerous state criminal appeals outside of Cook County. He began his private practice in 1982 as an associate with Fredrick F. Cohn and Associates in Chicago, concentrating in criminal appeals, state and federal. He began his own general practice in 1983, eventually opening a neighborhood law office in the Little Village community of Chicago.

He was elected a Circuit Court Judge from the 14^th Judicial Subcircuit in November 1996. He began his judicial career in the 4^th Municipal District, before moving to the Criminal Division in April 1997. He served as a felony trial judge until receiving his current assignment to the Illinois Appellate Court in March 2003.