India Tribune Newsdesk

Chicago: Indian American jurist Sanjay Tailor is set to make history with his appointment to the Illinois Supreme Court, becoming the first Indian American to serve on the state’s seven-member highest judicial body. His appointment, announced through a court news release, will take effect at the end of January, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Mary Jane Theis. Tailor will serve on the bench until at least December 2028, when voters in Cook County will decide whether to grant him a full 10-year term.

Currently serving as a justice on the Illinois Appellate Court, Tailor brings more than two decades of judicial experience to the Supreme Court. He began his judicial career in 2003 as a Cook County associate judge, where he presided over cases in the Municipal, Domestic Relations, Law, and Chancery Divisions. In January 2021, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed him as an at-large circuit judge, later naming him presiding judge of the County Division. In 2022, Cook County voters elected him as circuit judge from the 9th Judicial Subcircuit, the same year he joined the appellate bench.

Before becoming a judge, Tailor built a diverse legal career, serving as an assistant state’s attorney in Cook County, practicing as an associate at Chapman and Cutler, and working as in-house counsel at the First National Bank of Chicago. A cum laude graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law, he has also taught civil procedure there since 2004.

Tailor has been deeply involved in judicial administration and reform, serving on the Illinois Supreme Court’s Commission on Access to Justice and Committee on Judicial Education, and previously on the Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee. He is a past president of the Lawyers Club of Chicago and a member of numerous bar associations.

His appointment has been widely praised, including by the South Asian Bar Association of North America, which called it a historic and inspiring milestone that reflects both his distinguished record and the growing diversity of the communities served by Illinois’ judiciary.