| Judge Deborah Mary Dooling Judge Deborah Mary Dooling is assigned to the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. She presides over a jury room and hears pretrial conferences, dispositive motions, jury and bench trials and post-trial matters. From June of 1997, to April of 2003 and then from February 2004 to present, the numerous jury trials over which Judge Dooling has presided include multi-party actions for medical and legal malpractice, personal injury, breach of contract, product liability, and Structural Work Act. A number of these were lengthy, highly publicized, and complex; additionally, several of the cases involved third-party actions for contribution and indemnity. One such trial in a contribution case Willis v. Guzman, et al. No. 98L 3127 involved the invocation of the 5th Amendment by parties and witnesses in a civil trial. In addition to her regular trial assignment, Judge Dooling is Supervising Judge of the Surety Section of the Circuit Court of Cook County. In 2003, Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans entrusted Judge Dooling with the responsibility of overseeing the authorization of all civil sureties and bond certificates in the Circuit Court. Judge Dooling was also additionally assigned to the Chancery Division. In Chancery, Judge Dooling was responsible for an individual calendar that included actions for equitable remedies such as injunctions, declaratory actions, specific performance, administrative hearings and many class actions including the City of Chicago v. Korshak, 01CH 4962 (Cir. Ct. of Cook Co. July 30, 2003), involving the pension benefits of the Chicago Police, Fire and Municipal employees. Prior to her Law Division assignment, Judge Dooling presided over criminal matters, including a night narcotics and felony trial room. The trial room was an individual calendar, which involved all aspects of criminal practice, including pretrial discovery motions, felony jury and bench trials, fitness and restoration hearings, habeas corpus and post- conviction petitions involving constitutional issues. Many of the criminal cases also involved highly publicized matters as well as issues of first impression. One such case, People v. Earl Hawkins, 181 Ill.2d 41 (1998), presented the unique issue of post-conviction rights following an ancillary determination that the trial judge had been bribed. The Illinois Supreme Court unanimously affirmed Judge Dooling’s decision in a published opinion. In addition to her courtroom duties, Judge Dooling is a frequent participant in continuing legal education programs for law students, lawyers and fellow judges. As an adjunct professor of law at The John Marshall Law School, Judge Dooling has taught trial advocacy since 1992. Similarly, she has been invited annually to lecture about discovery issues in the context of medical malpractice actions at Loyola University Law School. As an appointed member of the faculty for the Illinois Judicial Conference, Judge Dooling taught a seminar on Professional Negligence in April 2001. In July of 2001, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed Judge Dooling a member of the Judicial Conference and a member of the Committee on Discovery procedures. Additionally, Judge Dooling is a frequent moderator and speaker at Chicago Bar Association seminars, speaking on such topics as effective cross-examination and motion practice in a trial court in the Law Division. Judge Dooling also moderated a ICLE seminar on jury selection. Judge Dooling was an invited speaker to a seminar sponsored by the Southwest Bar Association on Supreme Court Rule 213. Judge Dooling has received recognition from DuSable High School and Harlan Community Academy for her work in Moot Court competitions for high school students sponsored by the Chicago Bar Association. She has also taught paralegal students at South Suburban Junior College. Before her election to the bench, Judge Dooling worked in the legal department of two international corporations and obtained extensive trial practice in both the State and Federal Court system. As an assistant state’s attorney in Cook County, Judge Dooling’s experience included practice in the criminal, civil and appellate divisions of the office, rising to a supervisory position. She ultimately assumed a position as the legislative liaison for the State’s Attorney’s Office in Springfield. Judge Dooling was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1978 following her graduation from Chicago-Kent College of Law, and then admitted to the Florida Bar in 1981. Judge Dooling is a 1975 graduate of the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and a 1971 graduate of Sacred Heart High School. |
