Perla Tirado

Name: Perla Tirado

Age (as of Election Day): 44

Current residence: Chicago, Pilsen neighborhood

Current position: Supervising attorney, Beyond Legal Aid, 2016-present

Past legal experience: Sole practitioner, 2008-16; Tirado Winters LLP, 2007-08; contract attorney, Genson & Gillespie, February 2007-August 2007; Cook County Public Defender’s Office, 2005-07; Cabrini Green Legal Aid Clinic, coordinated expungement help desk at the Daley Center, 2003-05; intern, Cook County Public Defender’s Office, 2002-03

Campaign funds available, July 1 to Dec. 31: $12,205.37

Campaign funds spent, July 1 to Dec. 31: $8,008.85

Law school: DePaul University College of Law, 2003

Campaign website: facebook.com/TiradoforJudge

Family: Married to Patrick Leroy. One son: Joshua, 6.

Hobbies/interests: As a community lawyer, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of great organizations. My family has a membership to the Museum of Science and Industry, and we go as often as we can. I love to read and watch movies, and as a family, we love playing board games. I’m a dog lover. Our two dogs passed recently, and I can’t wait to go to a shelter after the campaign is over to adopt again.

Have you ever run for office before?

No.

Why should voters support your candidacy?

They should support my candidacy because I’ve dedicated my professional career to the community where I want to be a judge. I know it. It’s where I live. It’s where I grew up. The idea of subcircuits is to have judges that represent the community, and I believe I do represent the community where I want to serve.

I have a lot of experience in law with both criminal and civil law. I feel very fortunate that I have experience in both criminal and immigration law and where they intersect. I love being in the courtroom; it’s why I went into litigation. I love what I do. After all the years of experience I have and all the cases I’ve worked on, I am prepared for this next step.

Why do you want to be a judge?

I think being a judge is something that I’ve seen as a possibility from way back when I started at the public defender’s office. As an attorney, I’ve had a lot of great judges I looked up to and a lot of attorneys who mentored me, and they were the age then that I am now. You always feel like you have to work your way up because it’s based on experience, and it dawned on me that I’m now the age that I have people looking up to me like I did to those judges and attorneys then. I want to pay it forward and help other people.

The personal motivating factor that made me decide that now is the time is that I’m running in the 14th Subcircuit where I was born and raised and where my mom grew up. This is the community I know. I’ve had a lot of support from community members, and I’ve had some great people leading me along the way.

I realized the idea of being a judge wasn’t something that was so distant. It’s possible, and I want to help get more representation. Even after all this time, when I walk into a courtroom now, people think I’m the interpreter; they don’t realize I’m an attorney. People still don’t expect a Latina judge. Latinas only make up 1% of all lawyers in the U.S. Representation in the courtroom is important, and I want other young Latinas to see me and think they can do it too.

What was the most interesting case you handled as a lawyer?

There are a lot. A case that stands out for me the most that I always go back to that gets me thinking about the law and just how it needs to be followed, but how sometimes it’s not about the letter of the law, but what people don’t see behind the scenes sometimes, was while I was an intern at the public defender’s office.

There was a veteran who had served in the Marines and was charged with murdering the mother of his child and her boyfriend, who she had left him for. He had PTSD; he was out of work; he had been honorably discharged, but he ended up murdering his girlfriend and her partner. We represented him, and he was living with so much regret.

It was a case, that being in law school, hit me with reality that there are no winners here. This little girl lost her mom, but also her dad because he is in jail for the rest of his life. He was so remorseful, there was never a moment when he wasn’t crying.

There were so many behind-the-scenes circumstances that were going on. It’s hard not to let cases like this get to you, but I had to remind myself that I was there to make sure he was treated fairly through the process. If you automatically assume someone is guilty, you overlook the whole judicial process. The woman’s family forgave him and reached out to him.

It always stays with me because it involves following the law. It was correct for the judge to find him guilty, but for the people who think that all criminals should automatically be locked up, it is not always that easy. He was eligible for the death penalty, but we got him life in prison instead. It just highlights how complicated the system is. I think everyone involved in that case did the best they could in the situation.

What would you consider your greatest career accomplishment?

I went to a Jesuit high school and college — they played a big part in my life because they’re all about public service and the community. They influenced me a lot. My greatest accomplishment has been living out my values of public service. Even when I was in private practice, I still always ran my practice focused on serving the community. I have been consistent in being a public servant.

What qualities do you plan to bring to the bench?

I think I bring wide knowledge of the law, both civil and criminal. I think I could definitely be fair. People think as a defense attorney that you can’t be fair, but as a public defender, you have to look at both sides of the story. I also treat people with respect. I think I also bring a sense of professionalism that is sometimes lacking. There needs to be a sense of compassion to everyone involved, not only the people appearing before you.

Sometimes when I’m in court, I see how nasty people can be to each other sometimes. I think that’s also why so many people are disillusioned with the justice system. It can lack that sense of humanity, and we need to remember that we’re all people.

I’m pretty proud of my understanding of a lot of different areas of law. When you’re a community lawyer and someone comes in, you can’t say, “Sorry I can’t help you. I don’t practice in that area.” We have to be generalists, or at least be able to refer people to the right person.