Judge Cynthia Y. Cobbs: Professional Background and Legal Expertise

Hon. Cynthia Y. Cobbs is a justice of the First District Appellate Court (Third Division) in Illinois. She was assigned to the Appellate Court by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2015.

Cobbs began her judicial career as a judge for the Cook County Circuit Court after receiving an appointment to the position by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2011. She was re-appointed in 2012 and later elected to the post in 2014.

Cobbs received a B.A. from Morgan State College and an M.S.W. in social work from the University of Maryland. After obtaining her master’s degree, she worked for several years helping abused and neglected children as a clinical social worker in Maryland. She then completed a J.D. at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1988.

Shortly after graduating from law school, Cobbs became a judicial law clerk (1989 to 1990) and later a senior judicial law clerk (1990 to 1997) to the Hon. Charles E. Freeman, chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.

After her clerkship, Cobbs joined the legal staff of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts in 1997. Though she began as an attorney in the Executive Division, Cobbs quickly rose through the ranks. She was first promoted to serve as chief legal counsel in 1999 and held that position until receiving an appointment by the Illinois Supreme Court to serve as director of the Illinois Courts in 2002. As such, she became the first woman and the first African-American to serve as administrative director. In that role, she was tasked with overseeing and administering the day-to-day operations of the Illinois Judicial Branch. She would continue in that capacity until assuming the Circuit Court bench.

Cobbs has served on the Illinois Supreme Court Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors for the Southern Suburban PADS. She has also served as a member of Lawyers Lend a Hand, the Center for Conflict Resolution (board of directors), the United Council for Higher Education in Haiti, and the Conference of State Court Administrators.

Her memberships have included the Illinois Judges Association, the Illinois Judicial Council, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Cook County Bar Association, the Black Women Lawyers Association, and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois.

Among her accolades, Cobbs was named Justice of the Year by the Holy Spirit Church in 2016.

Away from the bench, she enjoys reading and interior design.

Cobbs is registered as a Democrat.