Experienced Judge since 2017
Robert F. Harris was appointed Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County by the Illinois Supreme Court on September 21, 2017 and was elected a Cook County Circuit Court Judge in the 5 th Judicial Sub-circuit in November 2018. When he was first appointed, Harris presided over traffic, evictions, and civil jury matters in the First Municipal Division for cases valued at $50k and under. He was transferred to the motions section of the Law Division in February, 2023 where he heard construction, personal injury, medical malpractice, FELA and other cases valued at $50k and over. He currently presides over civil jury personal injury and other tort cases in the Law Division.
Prior to being appointed judge, Robert was appointed the first African-American Cook County Public Guardian by the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, the Honorable Timothy C. Evans, in 2004.He began with the Public Guardian’s office as an entry level attorney rising through the ranks to become the Chief Deputy Public Guardian before his appointment as Public Guardian. The Office of the Cook County Public Guardian (OPG) is the only law office of its kind that combines the legal representation of abused and neglected children, children in divorce and custody cases, and adults (mostly elderly) with cognitive disabilities. Prior to becoming an attorney, Robert worked as a manufacturing, quality control, and sales engineer for Westinghouse Electric Corporation and Honeywell Inc.
Robert is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Illinois Supreme Court’s Judicial College. He is a member of the Illinois Judges Association, Illinois Judicial Council, Alliance of Illinois Judges, Chicago Bar Association, Cook County Bar Association, Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago, and DePaul University College of Law Dean’s Advisory Council. He has served on the board of directors or worked with many other organizations such as the Chicago Bar Association Board of Managers, Chicago Bar Foundation Board of Directors, DePaul University College of Law’s Schiller DuCanto and Fleck Advisory Committee, Southland Juvenile Justice Council, Aids Legal Council of Chicago, and LINK Unlimited. Robert was honored with the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago Special Service Award in 2023, and previously was awarded the Chicago Bar Association’s Earl Burris Dickerson Award (2017), Center for Law and Social Work’s Spirit Award (2016), National Association of Elder Law Attorneys John J. Regan Writing Award (2010), Cook County Bar Association’s Ida B. Platt Award (2008), Reclaim a Youth Foundation of Illinois Humanitarian Award for Youth Advocacy (2005), and DePaul College of Law’s Outstanding Contribution to Public Service Award (2006) and Outstanding Service to the Profession (2005). A lifelong resident of Chicago and its southern suburbs, Robert is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign College of Engineering and DePaul University College of Law.