District Court · Seventh Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
The federal trial court. Juries sit here, evidence is heard here, and almost every federal case begins here.
The bench
Who sits on this court?
Judges in active service, when they were confirmed, and who nominated each.
| Judge | Since | Nominated by | Seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marvin E. Aspen Senior | 1979 | Jimmy Carter | ILND1601 |
| Charles Petros Kocoras Senior | 1980 | Jimmy Carter | ILND0307 |
| Charles Ronald Norgle Sr. Senior | 1984 | Ronald Reagan | ILND1801 |
| Suzanne B. Conlon Senior | 1988 | Ronald Reagan | ILND0703 |
| George Michael Marovich Senior | 1988 | Ronald Reagan | ILND1702 |
| Philip Godfrey Reinhard Senior | 1992 | George H.W. Bush | ILND2301 |
| Elaine E. Bucklo Senior | 1994 | William J. Clinton | ILND1103 |
| Robert William Gettleman Senior | 1994 | William J. Clinton | ILND0904 |
| Joan B. Gottschall Senior | 1996 | William J. Clinton | ILND1502 |
| Rebecca R. Pallmeyer Senior | 1998 | William J. Clinton | ILND0112 |
| Matthew F. Kennelly Senior | 1999 | William J. Clinton | ILND0505 |
| Ronald A. Guzman Senior | 1999 | William J. Clinton | ILND2102 |
| Joan Humphrey Lefkow Senior | 2000 | William J. Clinton | ILND2002 |
| Virginia Mary Kendall | 2005 | George W. Bush | ILND0704 |
| Frederick J. Kapala Senior | 2007 | George W. Bush | ILND2302 |
| Robert Michael Dow Jr. | 2007 | George W. Bush | ILND0308 |
| Sharon Johnson Coleman | 2010 | Barack Obama | ILND2203 |
| Edmond E-Min Chang | 2010 | Barack Obama | ILND1104 |
| John Joseph Tharp Jr. | 2012 | Barack Obama | ILND1004 |
| Thomas Michael Durkin Senior | 2012 | Barack Obama | ILND0805 |
| Sara Lee Ellis | 2013 | Barack Obama | ILND1503 |
| Andrea Robin Wood | 2013 | Barack Obama | ILND0407 |
| Manish Suresh Shah | 2014 | Barack Obama | ILND2003 |
| Jorge Luis Alonso | 2014 | Barack Obama | ILND2103 |
| John Robert Blakey | 2014 | Barack Obama | ILND1902 |
| Martha Maria Pacold | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | ILND1704 |
| Mary Margaret Rowland | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | ILND1205 |
| Steven Charles Seeger | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | ILND1303 |
| John Fitzgerald Kness | 2020 | Donald J. Trump | ILND1603 |
| Iain David Johnston | 2020 | Donald J. Trump | ILND2303 |
| Franklin Ulyses Valderrama | 2020 | Donald J. Trump | ILND0605 |
| Lindsay Clayton Jenkins | 2023 | Joseph R. Biden | ILND1406 |
| LaShonda Annette Hunt | 2023 | Joseph R. Biden | ILND1802 |
| Jeremy Christen Daniel | 2023 | Joseph R. Biden | ILND0906 |
| Jeffrey Irvine Cummings | 2023 | Joseph R. Biden | ILND2401 |
| Sunil Ramesh Harjani | 2024 | Joseph R. Biden | ILND0806 |
| Georgia Nick Alexakis | 2024 | Joseph R. Biden | ILND0113 |
| April Michelle Perry | 2024 | Joseph R. Biden | ILND0507 |
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)
What seats does this court have?
Each seat on this court, who holds it, and how many judges have held it before.
- Judges seated now
- 38
- Seat numbers on record
- 107
| Seat | Held by | Since | Holders to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ILND0112 | Rebecca R. Pallmeyer | 1998 | 1 |
| ILND0113 | Georgia Nick Alexakis | 2024 | 1 |
| ILND0307 | Charles Petros Kocoras | 1980 | 1 |
| ILND0308 | Robert Michael Dow Jr. | 2007 | 1 |
| ILND0407 | Andrea Robin Wood | 2013 | 1 |
| ILND0505 | Matthew F. Kennelly | 1999 | 1 |
| ILND0507 | April Michelle Perry | 2024 | 1 |
| ILND0605 | Franklin Ulyses Valderrama | 2020 | 1 |
| ILND0703 | Suzanne B. Conlon | 1988 | 1 |
| ILND0704 | Virginia Mary Kendall | 2006 | 1 |
| ILND0805 | Thomas Michael Durkin | 2012 | 1 |
| ILND0806 | Sunil Ramesh Harjani | 2024 | 1 |
| ILND0904 | Robert William Gettleman | 1994 | 1 |
| ILND0906 | Jeremy Christen Daniel | 2023 | 1 |
| ILND1004 | John Joseph Tharp Jr. | 2012 | 1 |
| ILND1103 | Elaine E. Bucklo | 1994 | 1 |
| ILND1104 | Edmond E-Min Chang | 2010 | 1 |
| ILND1205 | Mary Margaret Rowland | 2019 | 1 |
| ILND1303 | Steven Charles Seeger | 2019 | 1 |
| ILND1406 | Lindsay Clayton Jenkins | 2023 | 1 |
| ILND1502 | Joan B. Gottschall | 1996 | 1 |
| ILND1503 | Sara Lee Ellis | 2013 | 1 |
| ILND1601 | Marvin E. Aspen | 1979 | 1 |
| ILND1603 | John Fitzgerald Kness | 2020 | 1 |
| ILND1702 | George Michael Marovich | 1988 | 1 |
| ILND1704 | Martha Maria Pacold | 2019 | 1 |
| ILND1801 | Charles Ronald Norgle Sr. | 1984 | 1 |
| ILND1802 | LaShonda Annette Hunt | 2023 | 1 |
| ILND1902 | John Robert Blakey | 2014 | 1 |
| ILND2002 | Joan Humphrey Lefkow | 2000 | 1 |
| ILND2003 | Manish Suresh Shah | 2014 | 1 |
| ILND2102 | Ronald A. Guzman | 1999 | 1 |
| ILND2103 | Jorge Luis Alonso | 2014 | 1 |
| ILND2203 | Sharon Johnson Coleman | 2010 | 1 |
| ILND2301 | Philip Godfrey Reinhard | 1992 | 1 |
| ILND2302 | Frederick J. Kapala | 2007 | 1 |
| ILND2303 | Iain David Johnston | 2020 | 1 |
| ILND2401 | Jeffrey Irvine Cummings | 2023 | 1 |
69 seat numbers with no sitting judge
These are seat numbers in the historical record with nobody currently in them. That usually means the seat was abolished or renumbered, not that it is open today — Congress has changed the size of federal courts many times. Do not read this as a vacancy list.
| Seat | Last held by | Until | Holders |
|---|---|---|---|
| ILND0101 | Thomas Drummond | 1869 | 1 |
| ILND0102 | Henry Williams Blodgett | 1892 | 1 |
| ILND0103 | Peter Stenger Grosscup | 1899 | 1 |
| ILND0104 | Christian Cecil Kohlsaat | 1905 | 1 |
| ILND0105 | Solomon Hicks Bethea | 1909 | 1 |
| ILND0106 | George Albert Carpenter | 1933 | 1 |
| ILND0107 | William Harrison Holly | 1958 | 1 |
| ILND0108 | Walter J. LaBuy | 1967 | 1 |
| ILND0109 | Richard Bevan Austin | 1977 | 1 |
| ILND0110 | John Powers Crowley | 1981 | 1 |
| ILND0111 | William Thomas Hart | 2023 | 1 |
| ILND0201 | Kenesaw Mountain Landis | 1922 | 1 |
| ILND0202 | James Herbert Wilkerson | 1948 | 1 |
| ILND0301 | Adam C. Cliffe | 1928 | 1 |
| ILND0302 | Charles Edgar Woodward | 1942 | 1 |
| ILND0303 | Elwyn Riley Shaw | 1950 | 1 |
| ILND0304 | Joseph Samuel Perry | 1984 | 1 |
| ILND0305 | William Joseph Bauer | 1975 | 1 |
| ILND0306 | Alfred Younges Kirkland Sr. | 2004 | 1 |
| ILND0401 | John Peter Barnes | 1958 | 1 |
| ILND0402 | Julius Howard Miner | 1963 | 1 |
| ILND0403 | Abraham Lincoln Marovitz | 2001 | 1 |
| ILND0404 | George Neves Leighton | 1987 | 1 |
| ILND0405 | James Henry Alesia | 2003 | 1 |
| ILND0406 | William J. Hibbler | 2012 | 1 |
| ILND0501 | George E. Q. Johnson | 1933 | 1 |
| ILND0502 | Philip Leo Sullivan | 1960 | 1 |
| ILND0503 | James Benton Parsons | 1993 | 1 |
| ILND0504 | Paul Edward Plunkett | 2018 | 1 |
| ILND0506 | Nancy Lee Maldonado | 2024 | 1 |
| ILND0601 | Michael Lambert Igoe | 1967 | 1 |
| ILND0602 | William Joseph Lynch | 1976 | 1 |
| ILND0603 | Nicholas John Bua | 1991 | 1 |
| ILND0604 | Rubén Castillo | 2019 | 1 |
| ILND0701 | William Joseph Campbell | 1988 | 1 |
| ILND0702 | Thomas Roberts McMillen | 1985 | 1 |
| ILND0801 | Julius Jennings Hoffman | 1983 | 1 |
| ILND0802 | Richard Wellington McLaren | 1976 | 1 |
| ILND0803 | Stanley Julian Roszkowski | 1998 | 1 |
| ILND0804 | Wayne R. Andersen | 2010 | 1 |
| ILND0901 | Winfred George Knoch | 1958 | 1 |
| ILND0902 | Edwin Albert Robson | 1986 | 1 |
| ILND0903 | John Francis Grady | 2019 | 1 |
| ILND0905 | Gary Feinerman | 2022 | 1 |
| ILND1001 | Hubert Louis Will | 1995 | 1 |
| ILND1002 | Milton Irving Shadur | 2018 | 1 |
| ILND1003 | Blanche M. Manning | 2020 | 1 |
| ILND1101 | Bernard Martin Decker | 1993 | 1 |
| ILND1102 | John Albert Nordberg | 2021 | 1 |
| ILND1201 | Alexander J. Napoli | 1972 | 1 |
| ILND1202 | Prentice Henry Marshall | 1996 | 1 |
| ILND1203 | George Wakem Lindberg | 2019 | 1 |
| ILND1204 | Amy Joan St. Eve | 2018 | 1 |
| ILND1301 | Frank James McGarr | 1988 | 1 |
| ILND1302 | James Block Zagel | 2023 | 1 |
| ILND1401 | Philip Willis Tone | 1974 | 1 |
| ILND1402 | Joel Martin Flaum | 1983 | 1 |
| ILND1403 | Ilana Kara Diamond Rovner | 1992 | 1 |
| ILND1404 | David H. Coar | 2010 | 1 |
| ILND1405 | John Zihun Lee | 2022 | 1 |
| ILND1501 | James Byron Moran | 2009 | 1 |
| ILND1602 | Samuel Der-Yeghiayan | 2018 | 1 |
| ILND1701 | Susan Christine O'Meara Getzendanner | 1987 | 1 |
| ILND1703 | John W. Darrah | 2017 | 1 |
| ILND1901 | James F. Holderman | 2015 | 1 |
| ILND2001 | Ann Claire Williams | 1999 | 1 |
| ILND2101 | Brian Barnett Duff | 2016 | 1 |
| ILND2201 | Harry Daniel Leinenweber | 2024 | 1 |
| ILND2202 | Mark R. Filip | 2008 | 1 |
This site does not publish a vacancy count. Seat identifiers are not stable across court renamings and reorganisations, so a seat that was vacated and refilled can appear empty when it is not. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts publishes the authoritative list of current judicial vacancies: uscourts.gov.
Seats are created by Congress and filled by the President with the Senate's consent. For current vacancies, use the Administrative Office's published list rather than inferring them from this table.
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)
How this bench was built
Who appointed them?
The tally of presidents who placed the sitting judges on this court.
- Democratic
- 25
- Republican
- 13
| President | Judges |
|---|---|
| Barack Obama | 9 |
| Joseph R. Biden | 7 |
| William J. Clinton | 7 |
| Donald J. Trump | 6 |
| Ronald Reagan | 3 |
| George W. Bush | 3 |
| Jimmy Carter | 2 |
| George H.W. Bush | 1 |
The party of the president who appointed a judge is a matter of record. How that judge will rule is not, and this site draws no inference from one to the other.
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)