Hon. John W. Demling (Ret.) was an associate judge for the 18th Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois in DuPage County. He was appointed to the bench in 1997. Demling retired on July 31, 2018.
During his judicial tenure, he served for eighteen years in the Domestic Relations Division and was its Presiding Judge for one year beginning in 2016. Demling completed the Family Mediation Program in 2007, which was presented by The John Paul Jones Group for the Illinois Supreme Court.
Prior to joining the bench, he was a managing attorney in the surety claims office at Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. Before that, he was a partner at Demling & Eckhardt, where he handled civil litigation matters involving mechanics liens. Over the course of his legal career, Demling served as village president (1993 to 1997) and village trustee (1989 to 1993) for the Village of Glen Ellyn.
He received a B.A. in economics from Muskingum University in 1974. Demling went on to complete a J.D. at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1977.
His memberships have included the DuPage County Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Association, and the Illinois Judges Association.
Since 2018, Demling has served as a commissioner for the DuPage County Ethics Commission and director of the DuPage Legal Assistance Foundation.
Following his retirement, he became of counsel at Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella, LLC.
Demling was named Citizen of the Year by the Village of Glen Ellyn (1997) and Lawyer of the Year by the DuPage County Bar Association (2007). He is also the recipient of the Hon. John Powers Crawley Award from the Lawyers Assistance Program (2013) and the Ralph A. Gabric Award for Excellence from the DuPage County Bar Association (2022).
Demling also received an AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell.