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Joy Virginia Cunningham (born 1951 or 1952) is an American lawyer from Illinois who serves as a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. She previously served as a justice of the Illinois First District Appellate Court from 2016 until 2022. Before becoming a lawyer, she worked as a nurse, and later worked as counsel for several university hospital systems.

Early life and education

Cunningham is a New York native. She received a Bachelor of Science from the City College of New York in 1975, working as a nurse before attending law school and going on to receive a Juris Doctor from the John Marshall Law School in 1982.

Career

In 1982, she served as an assistant attorney general in the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, she then served as a law clerk to First District Appellate Court Justice Glenn T. Johnson. She later served as associate general counsel and chief counsel for healthcare at Loyola University Chicago for ten years. In 1996, Cunningham was sworn in as an associate judge of Cook County Circuit Court where she was assigned to the civil trial division. She served in that capacity until 2000, thereafter she served as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at Northwestern Memorial Healthcare. In 2006, she was elected as a justice of the First District Appellate Court, assuming office in December that year, and she was retained by voters in 2016. In 2012, she ran for a seat on the Illinois Supreme Court, to permanently fill the seat left by the vacancy of Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald but lost the primary to then-incumbent appointee Mary Jane Theis.

Appointment to Illinois Supreme Court

On September 12, 2022, she was appointed by the court as a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court to succeed retiring Chief Justice Anne M. Burke. Her term began on December 1, 2022. With her appointment, Cunningham became the second black woman appointed to the court in 2022, and as of 2022, she is one of three Black people serving at the same time on the court.

Memberships and associations

Cunningham is a member of the following organizations: Board of Trustees of Loyola University Health System, the Chicago Bar Association's Strategic Planning Committee, the Governor's Commission for Eradicating Poverty, the Board of Directors of the James R. Jordan Foundation, the Board of Directors of the Chicago Bar Association Media Organization, and is the Chair of the Associate Commissioners of the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission since 2010. From 2004 to 2005 she served as president of the Chicago Bar Association, becoming the first black woman elected as president.

Personal life

Cunningham is a Democrat.

References

1. "Former nurse runs for Illinois Supreme Court justice". Scrubs. February 16, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
2. ^ "Joy Cunningham Named Chicago Bar Association's 1st Black Female Pres". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. July 5, 2004. pp. 36–37.
3. ^ "CHIEF JUSTICE ANNE M. BURKE ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT" (PDF). Supreme Court of Illinois. September 12, 2022. Retrieved September 22, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
4. "Joy V. Cunningham Judge Profile on Martindale.com". www.martindale.com. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
5. "Joy V. Cunningham". December 11, 2016. Archived from the original on December 11, 2016.
6. Felton, Robert (January 18, 2012). "Joy Cunningham looks to become first black woman on Illinois Supreme Court". Austin Weekly News. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
7. Schulte, Sarah (September 12, 2022). "Chief Justice Anne Burke announces retirement from Illinois Supreme Court". ABC7 Chicago. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
8. ^ Bilyk, Jonathan (September 12, 2022). "Anne Burke to retire from IL Supreme Court, to be replaced by appellate Justice Joy Cunningham". Cook County Record. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
9. "Former CBA President Joy V. Cunningham Appointed to IL Supreme Court". www.chicagobar.org. September 15, 2022. Retrieved September 22, 2022.

External links

• Joy Cunningham at Ballotpedia

v t e Statewide political officials of Illinois
U.S. senators	Dick Durbin Tammy Duckworth
State government	J. B. Pritzker, Governor Juliana Stratton, Lieutenant Governor Alexi Giannoulias, Secretary of State Kwame Raoul, Attorney General Mike Frerichs, Treasurer Susana Mendoza, Comptroller
Senate	Don Harmon, President Bill Cunningham, President pro tempore Kimberly Lightford, Majority Leader John Curran, Minority Leader
House	Emanuel Chris Welch, Speaker Jehan Gordon-Booth, Speaker pro tempore Robyn Gabel, Majority Leader Tony McCombie, Minority Leader
Supreme Court	Mary Theis, Chief Justice Joy Cunningham P. Scott Neville Jr. Elizabeth Rochford Mary K. O'Brien Lisa Holder White David K. Overstreet

• 1950s births
• Living people
• 20th-century American lawyers
• 20th-century American judges
• 20th-century American women judges
• 20th-century American women lawyers
• 21st-century American judges
• 21st-century American women judges
• African-American judges
• African-American nurses
• American nurses
• City College of New York alumni
• Illinois Democrats
• University of Illinois Chicago School of Law alumni
• Judges of the Circuit Court of Cook County
• Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court
• Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court
• People from New York (state)
• 20th-century African-American lawyers