Appellate Judge James Fitzgerald Smith
First District, 4th Division
James Fitzgerald Smith was born in Chicago in 1943. He received his
B.A. in English & Philosophy and B.S. in Chemistry & Biology
from Marquette University in 1966. He received his J.D. degree from John
Marshall Law School in 1975. He graduated from the United States Army
War College in 1992. He was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1975 and the
United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in 1995.
He served as the Legal Director of Rockford (1975-77), Assistant
Corporation Counsel of Chicago (1977-1979), and City Attorney and City
Prosecutor of Des Plaines (1979-89). He was appointed to the Circuit
Court of Cook County in 1989 and elected in 1994. He was elected to the
Appellate Court in 2002.
After 27 years of military service, he retired as a colonel from the
United States Army Reserves in 1996. He and his wife, Barb, have two
daughters.
Appellate Judge