List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Illinois

Firsts in state history

Lawyers

• Lloyd Garrison Wheeler : First African American male admitted to the Illinois State Bar. However, he relocated soon after to Arkansas.
• Antonio Rosas Sarabia : First Mexican American male lawyer in Illinois
• Theodore "Ted" Burtzos: First deaf male lawyer to argue a case before a jury in Illinois

  Judicial Officers

State

Judges

• Albert B. George: First African American male judge in Illinois
• David Cerda: First Latino American male judge in Illinois
• Thomas R. Chiola : First openly LGBT male judge in Illinois
• Theodore "Ted" Burtzos: First deaf male judge in Illinois
• Kenneth Moy: First Asian American male judge in Illinois
• Israel Desierto: First Filipino American male judge in Illinois

  Superior Court

• Albert B. George: First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Superior Court in Illinois

  District Court

• F. Keith Brown : First African American male judge and Chief Judge in the Sixteenth Judicial District

  Appellate Court

• George N. Leighton : First African American male appointed as a Judge of the First District Appellate Court in Illinois
• David Cerda: First Hispanic American male appointed as a Judge of the Illinois Appellate Court
• Jesse Reyes : First Latino American male elected as a Judge of the Illinois Appellate Court

  Supreme Court

• Charles E. Freeman : First African American male appointed as a Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court and serve as its Chief Justice

  Federal

District

• James Benton Parsons : First African American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• Alexander J. Napoli: First Italian American male appointed as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• Joe Billy McDade : First African American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
• Samuel Der-Yeghiayan : First Armenian immigrant male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• Ruben Castillo : First Latino American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He is also the first Latino American male judge to serve on the Federal Sentencing Commission.
• Manuel Barbosa: First Hispanic American male bankruptcy judge to serve in the U.S. Northern District of Illinois
• John Z. Lee : First Korean American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• Manish S. Shah : First Indian American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

  Attorney General

• Roland Burris : First African American male elected as the Attorney General of Illinois

  Assistant Attorney General

• James G. Gotter: First African American male to serve as the Assistant Attorney General of Illinois

  State's Attorney

• James R. Burgess, Jr.: First African American male to serve as the State's Attorney in Illinois

  Assistant State's Attorney

• Ferdinand Lee Barnett: First African American male to serve as an Assistant State's Attorney in Illinois

  Bar Association

• Vincent Cornelius: First African American male to serve as the Illinois State Bar Association

  Firsts in local history

Boone County

• K. Patrick Yarbrough: First African American male judge in Boone and Winnebago Counties, Illinois

  Champaign County

• Joe Somers: First African American male to serve as the Justice of the Peace in Champaign County, Illinois
• James R. Burgess, Jr.: First African American male to serve as the State's Attorney of Champaign County, Illinois

  Cook County

• Richard A. Dawson : First African American male to graduate from the University of Chicago's law department
• Cecil A. Partee: First African American male to serve as the State's Attorney of Cook County, Illinois
• James Benton Parsons : First African American male to serve as a Judge of the Superior Court of Cook County, Illinois
• Israel Desierto: First Filipino American male to serve as an Associate Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois
• Sanjay Tailor: First Indian American male appointed as an Associate Judge in Cook County, Illinois
• Chester Blair: First African American male to serve as the President of the Chicago Bar Association

  DuPage County

• Chester Blair: First African American male to serve as the President of the Chicago Bar Association
• Kenneth Moy: First Asian American male appointed as Judge of the DuPage County Circuit Court

  Kane County

• Charles Willner : First Jewish male lawyer in Burlington, Illinois
• F. Keith Brown : First African American male judge and Chief Judge in the Sixteenth Judicial District
• John Dalton: First openly LGBT male judge in Kane County, Illinois
• Rene Cruz: First Hispanic American male to serve as an associate judge in Kane County, Illinois

  Lake County

• George Bridges : First African American male judge in Lake County, Illinois
• Jorge L. Ortiz : First Hispanic American male judge in Lake County, Illinois and first Chief Judge

  Madison County

• Clayton R. Williams : First African American male lawyer in Madison County, Illinois. He would later become a judge.

  McHenry County

• Mario J. Perez: First Latino American male lawyer in McHenry County, Illinois
• Carlos S. Arevalo: First Hispanic American to serve as the President of the McHenry County Bar Association, Illinois

  Sangamon County

• Abraham Morris Williams: First African American male lawyer in Sangamon County, Illinois

  Will County

• David Garcia: First Latino American male judge in Will County, Illinois

  Winnebago County

• K. Patrick Yarbrough: First African American male judge in Boone and Winnebago Counties, Illinois

  Other topics of interest

• List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
• List of first women lawyers and judges in Illinois