Monica M. Torres-Linares
Daniel P. Duffy
William S. Wojcik
John E. Marszalek
In the days leading up to the March 15 primary election, the Daily Law Bulletin will publish responses to questionnaires sent to candidates in all contested Cook County judicial races. Campaign finance information comes from Illinois State Board of Elections reports.
Name: John E. Marszalek
Age: 64
Party: Democratic
Current residence: Chicago
Current position: Self-employed attorney at Marszalek & Marszalek
Past legal experience: Marszalek & Marszalek, 32 years; Law Office of John E. Marszalek, one year; associate at John G. Phillips & Associates, four years; associate at Goldberg, Goldberg & Fishman, three years
Campaign funds available, July 1 to Dec. 31: No report filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Campaign funds spent, July 1 to Dec. 31: No report filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections
Law school: The John Marshall Law School
Campaign website: john-marszalek.squarespace.com
Family: Married to Therese for 31 years
Hobbies/Interests: Animals
Have you ever run for office before?
No.
Why should voters support your candidacy?
Voters should support my candidacy because I have 40 years of experience. During those 40 years, I have tried more than 70 cases to verdict. Also, I have argued numerous appeals.
Why do you want to be a judge?
I believe the bench should be composed of lawyers who have practiced for a substantial time before being elected or appointed. I meet that criteria. Electing or appointing a judge who has practiced for a short period of time as a lawyer is a blueprint for problems.
What was the most interesting case you handled as a lawyer?
I tried a case on behalf of the family of a 16-year-old who died when a scaffold on which he was working collapsed. He and two other young men were working as window washers. The defendant settled the claim of one of the young workers but refused to offer any money to the family I was representing. We took the case to verdict, and the jury returned a verdict in favor of the family for $1 million.
What would you consider your greatest career accomplishment?
My greatest career accomplishment was obtaining $3.4 million for the widow and children of a steeplejack who died as a result of a fall from a scaffold while dismantling a smokestack.
What qualities do you plan to bring to the bench?
If elected, I hope to bring my years of experience to the bench.
Name: William S. Wojcik
Age: 63
Party: Democratic
Current residence: Oak Lawn
Current position: Principal at William S. Wojcik Ltd.
Past legal experience: More than 35 years as a sole practitioner, concentrated in personal-injury, medical negligence and workers’ compensation cases
Campaign funds available, July 1 to Dec. 31: No report filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Campaign funds spent, July 1 to Dec. 31: No report filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections
Law school: The John Marshall Law School, 1980
Campaign website: wojciklaw.com
Family: Married to wife Lynne for 40 years; four children and 10 grandchildren
Hobbies/Interests: Deep-sea fishing, travel and watching my grandchildren in their many sports activities
Have you ever run for office before?
No. This is my only candidacy for any elected public office. I have served on boards of directors and as chairman of the board for certain nonprofit organizations in the past.
Why should voters support your candidacy?
As a sole practitioner, I believe I have a unique perspective which would benefit the public as well as the bar. I have 35 years of litigation experience and have successfully represented clients in a wide variety of cases which were both novel and complex. I have demonstrated a passion for the law and a strong work ethic which is exemplified by the numerous seven-figure verdicts and settlements I have achieved.
Why do you want to be a judge?
I have been blessed with the opportunity to represent many seriously injured men, women and children, often in difficult, hotly contested cases. Having done this successfully in my career, I made a decision that it is time for me to give back. I want to make a contribution to the people of Cook County. I believe I have something to offer the public. I am ready to give of my time and talent to the people, just as I have done for individuals and families in my private practice.
What was the most interesting case you handled as a lawyer?
It is truly difficult to choose! In the early 2000s I represented an immigrant teenage girl in a truck-versus-car accident. She suffered a traumatic aortic tear with a slow leak creating a mediastinal hemorrhage and other injuries. The complexity of issues led me to retain eight experts. It was the first case in which we employed animated reconstruction technologies. It was settled in mediation for $3.35 million.
What would you consider your greatest career accomplishment?
In the mid-90s, I represented 110 of 122 female plaintiffs in a gynecologic-malpractice case against various doctors, their group, a major hospital and an independent pathology laboratory. I was appointed as liaison counsel for the plaintiffs. Courtroom battles were frequent and intense. Many great lawyers were involved on both sides. Managing the sheer number of clients was extremely challenging. In the end we prevailed, in part, on what a front-page Law Bulletin story termed a “novel theory” of recovery. It was a privilege to be at the forefront of advocacy for these brave women.
What qualities do you plan to bring to the bench?
I believe I would bring to the bench a strong work ethic, an empathy for the parties as well as their lawyers, a passion for the law and an intense desire to be fair to all persons who would come into any courtroom in which I am privileged to sit.
Name: Daniel P. Duffy
Age: 50
Current residence: Chicago
Current position: Cook County circuit judge (appointed effective April 3, 2014)
Past legal experience: Attorney for 20 years
Campaign funds available, July 1 to Dec. 31: $121,362.62
Campaign funds spent, July 1 to Dec. 31: $94,761.25
Law school: University of Notre Dame Law School, 1993
Campaign website: ctedpd.org
Family: Wife, two children (ages 8 and 10)
Hobbies/interests: Golf, travel
Have you ever run for office before?
No.
Why should voters support your candidacy?
I believe my experience as a sitting judge sets me apart from the other candidates in my race. I was appointed to the bench in April 2014 by the Illinois Supreme Court. Since my appointment, I have served in high-volume courtrooms in the Daley Center. Prior to my appointment, I practiced law for 20 years in both Illinois and Wisconsin. I appeared in both state and federal courts frequently and litigated cases at both the trial level and on appeal. I also served in a quasi-judicial capacity on the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission Review Board for nine years.
Why do you want to be a judge?
As an attorney, I found that a trial judge could significantly shape the outcome of litigation — for better or worse — and learned that the outcomes have a tremendous impact on people’s lives. I consider it the highest honor to serve as a judge.
What was the most interesting case you handled as a lawyer?
One of the most interesting involved “Cabo the Jungle Cat,” a notorious pet with a penchant for attacking small children. Cabo — who looked like a large house cat — was, in actuality, something closer to a small cougar. Thankfully, the injuries in the case in which I was involved were the least serious of any of Cabo’s incidents.
What would you consider your greatest career accomplishment?
While on the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission, I authored or assisted in authoring more than 80 opinions concerning the practice of law in Illinois. Several of those opinions became the subject of Illinois Supreme Court opinions, including In re Karavidas, 2013 IL 115767, which has been characterized by attorneys who practice in the professional responsibility field as one of the most significant cases decided by the Supreme Court in the 40-year history of the ARDC.
The case mandated that the charges in attorney disciplinary matters be tied to specific Supreme Court rules and ended the practice of the ARDC charging attorneys with “breach of fiduciary duty” — a disciplinary charge that had become commonplace in Illinois but was unknown outside of this state.
What qualities do you plan to bring to the bench?
In the 23 months that I have served on the bench, I have attempted to manage my call efficiently while being fair and impartial to the litigants who have appeared before me. In each of the 75 bench trials I have conducted, I have sought to apply the law to the facts as I have found them. I hope to continue to bring those qualities to the bench going forward and master the law in the areas that are most frequently presented to me.
Name: Monica M. Torres-Linares
Age: 40
Current residence: Chicago
Current position: Managing counsel at Justicia Attorneys
Past legal experience: Staff attorney, Cook County Circuit Court Child Protection Division, more than one year; Cook County assistant public defender, four years; legal aid/public interest attorney, more than five years; private practice as community attorney, three years
Campaign funds available, July 1 to Dec. 31: No report filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Campaign funds spent, July 1 to Dec. 31: No report filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Law school: The John Marshall Law School, 2002
Campaign website: N/A
Family: Husband Juan Carlos Linares, son Amaru Torres-Linares and daughter Maya Torres-Linares
Hobbies/interests: Traveling for sociological/legal learning exchanges, reading on issues of justice, spending time with friends and family.
Have you ever run for office before?
In 2010, I ran for Cook County commissioner for the 3rd District to help address the inequities in our county justice system. Though I came in second place in that election, I was endorsed by the major newspapers and many political organizations. To help out the local Chicago public school where my children attend, I ran for the local school council and won in my first LSC election in 2015, where I currently serve. Since then, I have come to believe that the greatest contribution I can make for justice and equality in our county is as a Cook County circuit judge, for which I am currently running.
Why should voters support your candidacy?
Having worked for government, nonprofit and private practice, I have experience working with clients that are low-income, disabled, elderly and survivors of domestic abuse. The people who come through the Cook County courts, particularly in the juvenile courts, are the most marginalized and underserved people in our county, and largely African-American and Latino. We need a judiciary that has a diversity of experience with these populations and that is able to communicate with the people that it serves. I have a wide breadth of that experience and I will administer justice in the fairest possible manner.
Why do you want to be a judge?
I have often seen in my practice that individuals from marginalized communities, particularly young African-Americans and Latinos, are largely put through the system without an adequate hearing of their rights or circumstances. I believe that is the judge’s duty to ensure that equal justice is afforded to all litigants who appear in court regardless of income, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age or disability. Unfortunately, I have not seen that to consistently be the case, and the best contribution I can make in my legal career is to ensure fairness in the system through my role as a Cook County judge.
What was the most interesting case you handled as a lawyer?
I have tried many interesting cases, but one that comes to mind regards a client who originally did not trust the “system” to enforce her rights. My client had suffered many years of physical and emotional abuse by her husband, and after learning that her daughter was also being sexually abused by this man, she left him. I obtained a divorce for my client, a two-year order of protection and sole custody of her child, but just as importantly, my client and her daughter found the inspired strength to testify in a public court proceeding on the gruesome details of the abuse. Their strength, as well as her later successes in employment, school and home helped them regain trust in the legal system and demonstrated that justice can be done when the right people are in the courtroom.
What would you consider your greatest career accomplishment?
As a legal aid attorney and assistant public defender, it has been an honor to represent hundreds of our most underserved residents. That said, my privileged legal career has allowed me to also bring justice to our communities by having convened dozens of “know your rights” workshops and other justice-building activities. For example, as president of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, I helped breathe new life and importance into HLAI, including conferencing with the chief judge of Cook County over unjust immigration detentions, collaborating to prevent racial profiling through the Office of the Governor, raising funds for Benito Juarez High School and outreach with the local media. This led to our highest membership levels ever and is just one of the areas in my breadth of leadership experience that I consider some of my greatest career accomplishments
What qualities do you plan to bring to the bench?
Integrity, fairness and equal justice. Like the best judges in our Cook County courts, I will hear each party’s side of the case without a predetermined agenda and communicate to all parties, including indigent parties, in a clear and respectful manner to afford them dignity and respect. I will ask tough questions not only the defense side, but also from the state’s attorney and police officers to ensure that each defendant is afforded due process and equal treatment under the law. Through my diversity of experience and years serving the most marginalized Cook County residents, I will help the Cook County court system reflect the population that it serves.