LaShonda A. Hunt

LaShonda A. Hunt

Nonpartisan

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Tenure

2023 - Present

Years in position

2

Predecessor: Charles Norgle (Nonpartisan)

Prior offices:

United States Bankruptcy Court Northern District of Illinois

Years in office: 2017 - 2023

Education

Bachelor's

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1992

Law

University of Michigan Law School, 1995

Contact

Official website

LaShonda A. Hunt is a is a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on January 31, 2023, and confirmed by the United States Senate on May 4, 2023, by a vote of 56 - 41.^[1][2][3] Hunt was one of 235 Article III judges nominated by President Joe Biden (D) and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is one of 94 U.S. district courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Prior to joining the court, Hunt was a judge for the United States bankruptcy court, Northern District of Illinois. She was appointed to a fourteen-year term beginning on January 6, 2017.^[4][5]

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2023-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On January 31, 2023, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Hunt to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.^[1] She was confirmed by a 56 - 41 vote of the U.S. Senate on May 4, 2023.^[2] Hunt received commission on May 26, 2023.^[6] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: LaShonda A. Hunt
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Progress
Confirmed 93 days after nomination.
ANominated: January 31, 2023
AABA Rating: Well qualified by a substantial majority/Qualified by a minority
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
AHearing: February 15, 2023
Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
AReported: April 20, 2023
AConfirmed: May 4, 2023
AVote: 56 - 41

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Hunt by a vote of 56 - 41 on May 4, 2023.^[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Hunt confirmation vote (May 4, 2023)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	47	0	1
Republican	6	41	2
Independent	3	0	0
Total	56	41	3

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Hunt's nomination on February 15, 2023. She was reported to the full Senate on April 20, 2023, after a 14-7 committee vote.^[7]

Nomination

On January 18, 2023, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate Hunt to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The president officially nominated Hunt on January 31, 2023.^[1][2]

Hunt was nominated to replace Judge Charles Norgle, who assumed senior status on October 4, 2022.^[2]

The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Hunt well qualified by a substantial majority/qualified by a minority.^[8] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Biography

Education

Hunt earned her B.S. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1992 and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1995.^[5][1][9]

Professional career

• 2023-present: Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• 2017-2023: Judge, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois
• 2016: General counsel for the Illinois Department of Central Management Services
• 2015-2016: Chief legal counsel for the Illinois Department of Corrections
• 2003-2005, 2010-2015: Assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois
• 2007-2009: Assistant general counsel at Exelon Company
• 2009-2010: Regulatory outreach manager at Com Ed
• 2006-2007: Project director for the Just the Beginning Foundation
• 2001-2003: Law clerk for Judge William J. Hibbler on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• 1998-2001: Staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• 1995-1998: Associate at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP

About the court

Northern District of Illinois
Seventh Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 23
Judges: 23
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Virginia Kendall
Active judges: Georgia Alexakis, Jorge L. Alonso, John Robert Blakey, Edmond E. Chang, Sharon Coleman, Jeffrey Cummings, Jeremy Daniel, Robert Dow, Sara Lee Ellis, Sunil Harjani, LaShonda A. Hunt, Lindsay Jenkins, Iain David Johnston, Virginia Kendall, John Kness, Martha Pacold, April Perry, Mary Rowland, Steven Seeger, Manish Shah, John Tharp Jr., Franklin Ulyses Valderrama, Andrea R. Wood Senior judges: Marvin Aspen, Elaine Bucklo, Suzanne Conlon, Thomas M. Durkin, Robert Gettleman, Joan Gottschall, Ronald Guzman, Frederick Kapala, Matthew Kennelly, Charles Kocoras, Joan Lefkow, George Marovich, Charles Norgle, Rebecca Pallmeyer, Philip Reinhard, James Zagel

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is one of 94 United States district courts. The district operates out of Chicago and Rockford, Illinois. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit located in the same courthouse as the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.

The Counties of the Northern District of Illinois (click for larger map)

The Northern District of Illinois has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

There are two court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Eastern Division, covering Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake County, LaSalle, and Will counties

The Western Division, covering Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago counties

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

• The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
• The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

• As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

• After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

• If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
• If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

• The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

• If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
• If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

See also

• United States bankruptcy court, Northern District of Illinois
• United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

External links

• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• Biography from the Federal Judicial Center

Footnotes

v • e Federal judges who have served the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Active judges	Chief Judge: Virginia Kendall   •  Robert Dow  •  Sharon Coleman  •  Edmond E. Chang  •  Jorge L. Alonso  •  Franklin U. Valderrama  •  John Tharp, Jr.  •  Mary Rowland  •  Sara Lee Ellis  •  Andrea R. Wood  •  Manish Shah  •  Iain D. Johnston  •  John Robert Blakey  •  LaShonda A. Hunt  •  Martha Pacold  •  Steven Seeger  •  John Kness  •  Jeffrey Cummings  •  Sunil Harjani  •  Lindsay Jenkins  •  Jeremy Daniel  •  Georgia Alexakis  •  April Perry
Senior judges	Marvin Aspen  •  Elaine Bucklo  •  Suzanne Conlon  •  Robert Gettleman  •  Joan Gottschall  •  Ronald Guzman  •  Frederick Kapala  •  Matthew Kennelly  •  Charles Kocoras  •  Joan Lefkow  •  George Marovich  •  Charles Norgle  •  Rebecca Pallmeyer  •  Philip Reinhard  •  James Zagel  •  Thomas M. Durkin  •
Magistrate judges	Jeffrey Cole  •  Susan Cox  •  Maria Valdez  •  Sheila Finnegan  •  Jeffrey Gilbert  •  Young Kim (Illinois)  •  Daniel G. Martin  •  David Weisman  •  Gabriel Fuentes  •  Lisa Jensen  •  Beth Jantz  •  Heather McShain  •  Margaret Schneider  •
Former Article III judges	James Holderman  •  Wayne Andersen  •  Ruben Castillo  •  David Coar  •  John Darrah  •  Samuel Der-Yeghiayan  •  John F. Grady  •  William Hart  •  William Hibbler  •  Harry Leinenweber  •  George Lindberg  •  Blanche Manning  •  James B. Moran  •  John Nordberg  •  Ann Williams (Federal judge)  •  Paul Plunkett  •  Joel Flaum  •  Brian Duff  •  Ilana Rovner  •  Mark Filip  •  Milton Shadur  •  Thomas Drummond  •  Henry Williams Blodgett  •  William Bauer  •  Philip Tone  •  Peter Stenger Grosscup  •  Christian Cecil Kohlsaat  •  Solomon Hicks Bethea  •  Kenesaw Mountain Landis  •  George Albert Carpenter  •  Adam Cliffe  •  James Herbert Wilkerson  •  John Peter Barnes  •  George Johnson (Illinois)  •  William Harrison Holly  •  Philip Leo Sullivan  •  Michael Igoe  •  William Lynch (Illinois)  •  James Alesia  •  Richard Austin  •  Nicholas Bua  •  William Campbell (Illinois)  •  John Crowley (Illinois)  •  Bernard Decker  •  Susan Getzendanner  •  Julius Hoffman  •  Alfred Kirkland  •  Winfred Knoch  •  Walter LaBuy  •  George Leighton  •  Abraham Marovitz  •  Prentice Marshall  •  Frank McGarr  •  Richard McLaren  •  Thomas McMillen  •  Julius Miner  •  Alexander Napoli  •  James B. Parsons  •  Joseph Perry (Illinois)  •  Edwin Robson  •  Stanley Roszkowski  •  Elwyn Shaw  •  Hubert Will  •  Charles Woodward  •  Gary Feinerman  •  John Z. Lee (Illinois)  •  Nancy Maldonado  •
Former Chief judges	Marvin Aspen  •  Ruben Castillo  •  John F. Grady  •  Charles Kocoras  •  James B. Moran  •  Rebecca Pallmeyer  •  John Peter Barnes  •  Philip Leo Sullivan  •  William Campbell (Illinois)  •  Frank McGarr  •  James B. Parsons  •  Edwin Robson  •

v • e Federal judges nominated to Article III courts by Joe Biden
Commissioned in 2025	Keli Neary
Commissioned in 2024	John Kazen • John Russell • Margaret Garnett • Cristal Brisco • Jacquelyn Austin • Gretchen Hess Lund • Micah Smith • Joshua Kolar • Karoline Mehalchick • Kirk Sherriff • Lisa Wang • David Leibowitz • Jacqueline Becerra • Julie Sneed • Melissa Damian • Kelly H. Rankin • Nicole Berner • Sunil Harjani • Leon Schydlower • Ernesto Gonzalez • Susan Bazis • Robert White • Ann Marie McIff Allen • Eumi Lee • Krissa Lanham • Eric Schulte • Camela Theeler • Angela Martinez • Jasmine Yoon • Nancy Maldonado • Meredith Vacca • Georgia Alexakis • Joseph Saporito • Amy Baggio • Stacey Neumann • Mary Kay Lanthier • Adam Abelson • Laura Provinzino • Mary Kay Costello • Dena Coggins • Kevin Ritz • Shanlyn A. S. Park • Byron Conway • Jeannette Vargas • Michelle Williams Court • Jonathan E. Hawley • April Perry • Mustafa Kasubhai • Sarah Russell • Amir Ali • Rebecca Pennell • Anthony Brindisi • Elizabeth Coombe • Cynthia Valenzuela • Anne Hwang • Brian Murphy • Noël Wise • Sanket Bulsara • Tiffany Johnson • Sparkle Sooknanan • Gail Weilheimer • Embry Kidd • Melissa DuBose • Sharad Desai • Serena R. Murillo • Benjamin Cheeks • Sarah Davenport
Commissioned in 2023	Kai Scott • Tamika Montgomery-Reeves • Margaret R. Guzman • Daniel Calabretta • Matthew Garcia • DeAndrea G. Benjamin • Cindy Chung • Adrienne Nelson • Lindsay Jenkins • Gina Méndez-Miró • Araceli Martínez-Olguín • Jamar Walker • Ana Reyes • Jamal Whitehead • Gordon Gallagher • Matthew Brookman• Maria Araujo Kahn• James Simmons • Robert Ballou• Andrew Schopler • Jonathan Grey• Colleen Lawless • Arun Subramanian • Jessica Clarke • Robert Kirsch • Michael Farbiarz • Anthony Johnstone • Orelia Merchant • Wesley Hsu • Bradley Garcia • LaShonda A. Hunt • Nancy Gbana Abudu • Amanda Brailsford • Darrel Papillion • Jeremy Daniel • Hernan D. Vera • Julie Rikelman • Nusrat Choudhury • P. Casey Pitts • Myong Joun • Kymberly Evanson • Tiffany Cartwright • Rachel Bloomekatz • Natasha Merle • Dale Ho • Philip Hadji • Rita Lin • Brendan Hurson • Vernon D. Oliver • Matthew Maddox • Julia Munley • Brandy McMillion • Susan DeClercq • Julia Kobick • Ramon Reyes, Jr. • Ana de Alba • Kenly Kiya Kato • Mónica Ramírez Almadani • Jeffrey M. Bryan • Jamel Semper • Irma Ramirez • Richard Federico • Loren AliKhan • Brandon Long • Jerry Edwards Jr.• Sara Hill • Joseph Laroski
Commissioned in 2022	David Herrera Urias • Gabriel Sanchez • Holly Thomas • Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong • David Ruiz • Charles Fleming • Bridget Brennan • Leonard Stark • Alison J. Nathan • John Chun • Julie Rubin • Jacqueline Scott Corley • Ruth Bermudez Montenegro • Victoria Calvert • Georgette Castner • Anne Traum • Cristina Silva • Ketanji Brown Jackson (Supreme Court) • Sarah Geraghty • Hector Gonzalez • Fred Slaughter • Jennifer Rochon • Robert Huie • Sunshine S. Sykes • Stephanie Dawkins Davis • Evelyn Padin • Sherilyn P. Garnett • Ana de Alba • J. Michelle Childs • Trina Thompson • Elizabeth Hanes • Nancy Maldonado • Nina Morrison • Gregory Williams • John Z. Lee • Sal Mendoza, Jr. • Lara Montecalvo • Florence Pan • Andre Mathis • Sarah A.L. Merriam • Jennifer Rearden • Roopali Desai • María Antongiorgi-Jordán • Camille Vélez-Rivé • Doris Pryor • Frances Kay Behm • Dana Douglas • Mia Roberts Perez • Anne Nardacci • Jeffery P. Hopkins
Commissioned in 2021	Ketanji Brown Jackson • Zahid Quraishi • Julien Xavier Neals • Deborah Boardman • Regina Rodriguez • Candace Jackson-Akiwumi • Lydia Kay Griggsby • Tiffany Cunningham • Eunice Lee • Angel Kelley • Florence Pan • Veronica Rossman • David G. Estudillo • Sarah A.L. Merriam • Gustavo Gelpí • Christine O'Hearn • Margaret Strickland • Karen McGlashan Williams • Patricia Tolliver Giles • Toby Heytens • Michael Nachmanoff • Sarala Nagala • Beth Robinson • Omar A. Williams • Myrna Pérez • Jia Cobb • Tana Lin • Lauren King • Lucy H. Koh • Jennifer Sung • Samantha Elliott • Katherine Menendez • Mary Dimke • Linda Lopez • Shalina Kumar • Jane Beckering • Jinsook Ohta • Jennifer L. Thurston • Stephen Locher • Charlotte Sweeney • Nina Nin-Yuen Wang • Arianna Freeman • Jerry Blackwell