The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism is pleased to release a Profiles in Professionalism interview with Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis.
The Profiles in Professionalism video series highlights distinguished Illinois judges and lawyers whose character, ethics, and contributions have shaped the legal profession.
“The Commission on Professionalism is honored to share Chief Justice Theis’ story, as she provides an intimate look at the events and ideals that motivate her inspiring career,” said Erika Harold, Executive Director of the Commission on Professionalism. “Chief Justice Theis’ steadfast commitment to advancing an ethical, compassionate justice system that is trusted and accessible to all Illinoisans is a model that we hope all legal professionals will learn from and emulate.”
A career motivated by public service
In this interview, Chief Justice Theis reflects on how her upbringing inspired her career in public service, shaping her view of the law as a vehicle to “right wrongs.”
Chief Justice Theis’ father served in the Illinois General Assembly when civil rights was the “important issue of the day,” she said, and then as a Cook County Circuit Court judge. She shared how she watched the law come to life in his courtroom as a child.
“Everyone was casually talking about the Fourth Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, and the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution, and then I would go to my dad’s court, and there it was. It was alive; it was real,” she said, noting that she witnessed the law’s ability to significantly impact the lives of people who were suffering.
Chief Justice Theis emphasizes that those who pursue a career in the law are choosing to take on an important role in our democracy and society.
“I always say to young lawyers, ‘I bet that one of the reasons you decided to become a lawyer is to use your skills to make the world a better place and to work for justice,’” she said. “I think we need to touch back on that from time to time when we really get worn down by what we do.”
Building public trust in the justice system and ensuring the legal system is accessible for all have been motivating forces throughout her career, she said.
This means that lawyers and judges must learn to move beyond their personal experiences, so they can “understand and see people who have lives different than ours.” Chief Justice Theis emphasizes the magnitude of a judge’s role in making decisions about issues that so “intimately impact people’s lives.”
“[People] read about the United States Supreme Court, and they see it as kind of abstract,” she said. “But the state courts are courts for real people with real problems. What state courts do is protect vulnerable people, abused children, disabled adults, people whose families are breaking up, people in mental health crisis, people whose lives and families are shattered because of crime.”
To expand the accessibility of legal services in Illinois, Chief Justice Theis and the Illinois Supreme Court recently announced the approval in concept of a new Community Justice Worker Program that will allow certified individuals who are not lawyers to provide limited legal assistance in designated high-need areas of law under the supervision of an Illinois-licensed attorney.
The program is intended to expand access to legal services and to help underserved areas, including legal deserts, by leveraging existing resources and people already in those communities, according to the press release.
Chief Justice Theis said she also prioritizes a strong commitment to judicial ethics, advancing “transformative judicial education” and what she calls the most independent, robust judicial discipline system in the nation.
This has included ensuring the Illinois Courts Commission is funded. The Illinois Court Commission adjudicates complaints brought by the Judicial Inquiry Board against Illinois judges alleging violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct. Unlike in other states, its decisions cannot be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
“It is a very robust part of this commitment to the enforcement of judicial ethics that, to me, is the key to enhancing public trust and confidence,” she said.
In closing the interview, she invoked Code of Judicial Conduct, Canon One, which says, “A judge must act at all times in a manner that promotes the public’s trust and confidence in the integrity, impartiality and independence of the judiciary.”
She said, “As I sit here today looking back at my career and the questions you’ve asked me, I think about this. I try to work every day to earn the people’s trust.”
Chief Justice Theis’ three-year term as Chief Justice will end on October 25, 2025. The Illinois Supreme Court recently announced that she will be succeeded as Chief Justice by Justice P. Scott Neville, Jr.
Watch the full interview on the Commission on Professionalism’s YouTube channel.
Background on Chief Justice Theis
Chief Justice Theis has served on the Illinois Supreme Court since 2010. She was installed as Chief Justice on October 26, 2022, making her the fourth woman to hold the role of Chief Justice.
Throughout her career, Chief Justice Theis has served at every level of the Illinois judiciary. She was appointed as an Associate Judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County in 1983, where she served for five years. In 1988, she was elected to the Circuit Court, where she was assigned to both the Criminal and Chancery Divisions until 1993, when she was appointed to the Appellate Court, First District. She was elected to the Appellate Court in 1994, where she served as a Presiding Judge.
When Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald retired in 2010, the Supreme Court appointed Justice Theis to fill his vacancy on the Court. She subsequently won election to a full term in 2012 and was re-elected to a 10-year term in 2022.
Chief Justice Theis received a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University Chicago and a law degree from the University of San Francisco. She began her career as an Assistant Public Defender in Cook County.
She has been honored with multiple awards, including the American Constitution Society’s Legal Legend Award, the Chicago Bar Association’s Vanguard Award and John Paul Stevens Award, the Illinois Judges Association’s Celebrating the Achievement of a Judicial Icon, the Juvenile Justice Initiative’s Champion of Children’s Rights Award, the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois’ Ruth Bader Ginsburg Judicial Achievement Award, and the Illinois Bar Foundation’s Distinguished Service to Law and Society Award.
Most recently, Chief Justice Theis and the Illinois Supreme Court received the Charles W. Daniels Judicial Leadership Award from the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA) for the Court’s landmark work in supporting the expansion of pretrial services throughout Illinois.
She previously served as Supreme Court Liaison to the Commission on Professionalism.
About the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism
The Illinois Supreme Court established the Commission on Professionalism under Supreme Court Rule 799 to promote integrity, professionalism, and civility among the lawyers and judges of Illinois, to foster a commitment to the elimination of bias and divisiveness within the legal and judicial systems, and to ensure those systems provide equitable, effective, and efficient resolution of problems for the people of Illinois.
The Commission achieves this mission through professional responsibility CLE, lawyer-to-lawyer mentoring, legal professionalism programming, educational resources, robust communications platforms, and more. To learn more, visit 2Civility.org and follow us on LinkedIn.
Press Contact
Laura Bagby, Communications Director
312-363-6209
laura.bagby@2civility.org
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