JUDGE THADDEUS L. WILSON Circuit Court of Cook County Criminal Division BIOGRAPHY Judge Thaddeus L. Wilson was appointed to the bench by the Illinois Supreme Court and sworn as a judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County on August 31, 2007 and elected November 2, 2010. He is currently a supervising judge assigned to the Criminal Division where he hears felony cases. Judge Wilson is a native of South Carolina. During his senior year of high school, he served as a youth advisor to then South Carolina governor Richard W. Riley. In 1989, he received his Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from the University of Notre Dame in Management of Information Systems with a double major in Philosophy. Upon graduating from Notre Dame, he moved to Chicago, Illinois to work as a computer programmer/systems analyst for Joseph T. Ryerson & Son. Judge Wilson received his law degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law in 1994. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Wilson was the managing attorney of the Law Office of Brookins & Wilson (A Partnership of Professional Corporations). He practiced in the areas of personal injury, criminal defense, general civil litigation, civil rights/police misconduct, bankruptcy, foreclosure, and election law. As part of his multifaceted litigation practice, he represented corporations, banks, municipalities, insurance companies and individuals. He also served as an arbitrator with the Circuit Court of Cook County Mandatory Arbitration Program and as a hearing officer for the Chicago Board of Elections. He has argued cases before the Illinois Appellate Court and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Wilson is admitted to practice law in the State of Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a past chair of the board of KIPP Ascend Charter School. He was also a longtime member of the Cook County Bar Association ARDC Liaison Committee. Judge Wilson presided over the first-ever terrorism case tried in the Circuit Court of Cook County under Illinois’ state terrorism statutes. He also presided over the first ever complete trial to be recorded and televised live with cameras in a courtroom in Cook County, Illinois. In his role as a supervisor, Judge Wilson is leading a team of judges in the development and implementation of caseflow management standards designed to shorten the period of time it takes for a criminal case to progress from arraignment to final disposition using case management orders and various differentiated case management approaches. Judge Wilson was appointed a member of the Judicial Conference of Illinois by the Illinois Supreme Court. The Judicial Conference is responsible for suggesting improvements in the administration of justice in Illinois. He was also appointed by the Court to its newly created e-Business Policy Advisory Board. The Advisory Board was created to provide recommendations, advice, and guidance to the Supreme Court and its Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts regarding the implementation of e- Business applications and data exchanges in Illinois circuit courts. Additionally, he sits on the Interactive Orders System Pilot committee – tasked with designing and implementing a new data collection, order entry, and paper-on-demand computer system in the Criminal Division. Judge Wilson has also achieved the honor and designation of ASTAR Fellow in Advanced Science and Technology (completing 120 hours of coursework on complex science and technology issues and a scientific literature research project). In addition to his judicial duties, Judge Wilson is an adjunct professor at The John Marshall Law School – teaching Criminal Procedure and Voting Rights & Election Law. He also lectures at continuing legal education seminars in the areas of constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, ethics and technology in the courts. He was tapped by the Illinois Judicial Education Conference to do a presentation to Illinois judges on Extended Media Coverage (cameras in the courtroom) during the last education conference. Judge Wilson has been found qualified by all of bar associations evaluating judges for retention. Judge Thaddeus L. Wilson Page 2 of 2 .