Kathy M. Flanagan is a Cook County Circuit Court judge and the acting presiding judge of the Law Division. Her term ends December 2, 2024, and she ran for re-election in November 2024. Flanagan has faced criticism for her temperament and is currently under investigation by the Judicial Inquiry Board for a courtroom incident with a lawyer.
Career:
Before becoming a judge, Flanagan worked in private practice. She started her judicial career in the domestic relations division as a trial and preliminary motion judge. Since 2011, she has supervised the Law Division's motion section.
Incident:
During a May hearing, Flanagan ordered an attorney to stop talking and instructed attorneys to step back. The attorney was then escorted from the courtroom and handcuffed to a chair in a hallway. The incident led to top Cook County judges requesting a state review board to investigate Flanagan for judicial misconduct.
Bar association ratings:
The CBA rated Flanagan as qualified, and the ISBA recommended her for retention. However, the CCL rated her as “not qualified” and claimed that some practitioners find her aggressive and overbearing. Flanagan has stated that she is strict with lawyers who are not timely, but that she is cordial with litigants who are not represented by lawyers.
Re-election:
In the 2024 retention election, Flanagan received 64.1% approval.
