For hire: Courts Commission seeks executive director, general counsel

For the Defense

By Donald P. Eckler

Donald “Pat” Eckler is a partner at Freeman, Mathis, & Gary LLP, focusing on professional liability defense, insurance coverage litigation, and general tort defense. He is the legislative chair of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel. Eckler also is the co-host of the Podium and Panel podcast with Daniel Cotter. His views are his own and not those of his firm or its clients.

Posted March 16, 2022 12:33 PM

Judicial integrity is fundamental to the judicial system. To ensure that, Art. VI, Sec. 15 of the 1970 Illinois Constitution, created the Illinois Courts Commission. The commission is an independent body to determine appropriate punishment for misconduct by judges. These determinations follow an investigation by the similarly created Judicial Inquiry Board. However, until recently, and contrary to the plain language of the Constitution, there was no funding for staff for the commission. As a consequence, the decisions of …

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