District Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings was appointed to the Northern District of Illinois by President Joseph R. Biden in 2023.
Judge Cummings was born in 1962. He served as a law clerk for Judge Ann Claire Williams of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 1987 to 1989. He was then an associate and ultimately co-managing partner at Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C. in Chicago from 1989 to 2019, specializing in employment discrimination, civil rights, and whistleblower protection cases. He served as counsel to Barack Obama from 1996 until Obama's Senate election in 2004. He served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Northern District of Illinois from 2019 to 2023 before being elevated to district judge.
Education
- Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, J.D., cum laude, Order of the Coif, 1987
- Michigan State University, B.A., with high honors, 1984
Career
- U.S. Magistrate Judge, Northern District of Illinois (2019–2023)
- Co-Managing Partner, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C., Chicago (1989–2019)
- Counsel to Barack Obama (1996–2004)
- Law Clerk, Hon. Ann Claire Williams, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (1987–1989)