Experienced Judge since 2017
Judge H. Yvonne Coleman was appointed to the Circuit Court of Cook County by the Illinois Supreme Court in March 2017. She began her judicial career in the First District Court, civil non-jury trial section, and currently serves as a trial judge in the Domestic Relations Division at the Daley Center. Prior to becoming a judge, she had more than 30 years of experience in civil litigation in state and federal courts. She is licensed to practice law in Illinois, Louisiana, and Texas.
Judge Coleman attended James McCosh Elementary School (now Emmit Till Elementary) in the Woodlawn community and Englewood High School in the Englewood community on Chicago’s South Side. She began college at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and moved with family to California where she completed her undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and received her law degree at the University of California, Davis.
Judge Coleman practiced law in Louisiana from 1981-1988, which included employment as a special assistant district attorney. She relocated with her family to Chicago in 1988 and served as a staff attorney with the National Labor Relations Board-Region 13 and later as the executive director of the Community Law Project, Inc. In 1999, Coleman joined the Office of the Illinois Attorney General as bureau chief of the civil rights bureau and continued her state public service with the Illinois Department of Employment Security as the appeals manager. Immediately preceding her appointment to the bench, Coleman was in private practice concentrating in civil litigation, employment law and discrimination, employer investigations, arbitrations, and mediations.
During her legal career, Coleman was a freelance writer; part-time instructor; contract arbitrator and administrative hearing officer for various agencies. She is a member of the Cook County Bar Association (former board member); Chicago Bar Association (former chair, civil rights committee); Black Women Lawyers Association; Illinois State Bar Association; Illinois Judges Association; and the Illinois Judicial Council (former secretary).
Coleman has received awards and recognition for her dedication to enhancing the public trust of the legal profession through her involvement with bar associations and her volunteer activities with community and faith-based organizations. Coleman served as president (2015-2019) and currently serves on the board of directors of the Cook County Bar Association Foundation (CCBAF), a non-profit charitable organization committed to providing scholarships to law school students and free legal information, resources, and services to individuals and families who cannot afford an attorney. In 2024, Coleman was inducted into the Cook County Bar Association’s Hall of Fame.
Coleman is a member of the Illinois Supreme Court’s Judicial Evaluation Committee and she is a faculty member for the Illinois Judicial College.