Hon. Sarah Gallagher Chami is an associate judge for the 23rd Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois in DeKalb County. She was appointed to the bench by the circuit judges of the 23rd Judicial Circuit in 2022, filling the vacancy created by the appointment of the Hon. Joseph Pedersen to circuit judge.
The 23rd Judicial Circuit Court includes DeKalb and Kendall Counties.
Prior to her appointment, Gallagher Chami was a partner at Dixon Gallagher Chami, LLC, where she practiced since 2017. Before that, she spent four years with the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Offce (2013 to 2017). During her tenure there, Gallagher Chami served as deputy chief of the Misdemeanor/Traffic Division (2013 to 2014) and was a felony trial assistant (2014 to 2015) and a chief civil assistant (2016 to 2017). As the chief civil assistant, she argued matters before the Second District Appellate Court and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Gallagher Chami began her legal career as an assistant state's attorney with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.
She received a B.A. in political science and government from DePaul University in 2000. Gallagher Chami went on to complete a J.D. at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2003.
At the time of her appointment, she resided in Sycamore with her husband and children. Her late father, the Hon. T. Jordan Gallagher, sat as a judge for the 16th Judicial Circuit.