Experienced Judge since 1994
Judicial Experience
Judge James M. Varga presides over civil jury trials in the Law Division at the Daley Center in Chicago. He has presided over record verdicts, including the record of $387.4 million. Before and after COVID shut down the trial call, he had the highest number of jury verdicts in 2023 and 2019. In 2017 and 2016, he had the highest number of jury verdicts in the Law Division; in 2015, 2014, 2012, and 2011, he had the second highest.
Legal Experience
Judge Varga began his career with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, where he was a member of the prosecution team against John Gacy, the serial killer of thirty-three boys and young men. In private practice, he has been a trial attorney for plaintiffs and defendants. Before his initial election in 1994, he returned to the State’s Attorney’s Office to supervise the Medical Litigation Division, whose attorneys defend the Cook County Health and Hospital System in personal injury cases.
Education
Judge Varga graduated from Notre Dame Law School in 1978, where he attained the distinction of associate editor of the law review. He graduated from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale in 1975, where he attained a perfect cumulative academic grade point average.
Teaching
Judge Varga returns as Guest Faculty to the University of Notre Dame for the Law School Intensive Trial Advocacy Program, most recently for spring semester 2024. He was on the faculty teaching Illinois judges at the Illinois Judicial Education Conferences, most recently in 2022, and in 2014, 2012, 2010, and 2004. In 2020, he was a co-speaker for “The View from the Court: Trial Best Practices and Anecdotal Stories,” continuing legal education sponsored by the Chicago Bar Association.
Publishing
In April 2023, his article, “Bringing in the Experts,” was published in the Illinois Bar Journal of the Illinois State Bar Association. His articles, “Pitfalls in Proving Proximate Cause,” “Pointers for Proving Future Damages,” and “A Short Guide to Using Cross Examination to Impeach Experts” were published in the April 2017, August 2015, and September 2012 issues of the Illinois Bar Journal. He has contributed three articles to the Law Division Jury Section Bench Book and contributed updates to 2023 on several chapters on evidence.