The Hon. Michael P. Gerber (Ret.) was a judge for the Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois. He was appointed to the Circuit Court by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2019 but lost his bid for election to the seat in the March 2020 primary election. At the time of his appointment, he filled the vacancy created by the retirement of Margarita Kulys Hoffman (Ret.).
In a similar set of circumstances, Gerber had previously received an appointment to serve as a circuit judge by the Supreme Court in 2016 and was unable to secure his position in the 2018 primary election.
He received a bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt University. Gerber went on to complete a J.D. at DePaul University College of Law in 1979.
Prior to joining the bench, he had worked as an assistant state’s attorney with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office since 1984. At the time of his departure, he held the distinction of being the office’s longest-tenured prosecutor, having served thirty-three years.
He came to the State’s Attorney’s Office after serving briefly as a public defender with the Cook County Public Defender’s Office (1981 to 1984) and was in private practice before that (1979 to 1981).
Gerber is registered as a Republican.