The Hon. Steven James Bernstein is a circuit judge of the Juvenile Justice Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. He was elected to the bench in 2010 and re-elected in 2016.
Before pursuing a legal career, Bernstein graduated with a B.A. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1968, majoring in psychology. He then went on to earn his J.D. in 1971 from DePaul University School of Law.
Before taking the bench seat, Bernstein worked as an attorney in private practice for over 35 years in DuPage, Kankakee, and Lake counties.
In addition to his services to the court, Bernstein worked as an Assessor for Evanston Township from 1991 to 1997. He then went on to become Alderman for the Evanston 4th Ward between 1997 to 2009. From there he served as Democratic Committeeman for Evanston from 2003 until 2004.
Bernstein is a registered Democrat.