Joy Cunningham has been a justice of the Illinois First District Appellate Court since December 2006. Prior to that, she was the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for the Northwestern Memorial System.
Judge Cunningham began her career as a judicial clerk for Illinois Appellate Justice Glenn Johnson and later worked as an Assistant Attorney General. She was also a lawyer for the firm of French, Rogers, Kezelis & Kominiarek, and an Associate General Counsel for Loyola University of Chicago and the Loyola University Health System. She then became a judge on the Cook County Circuit Court from 2000 until her election to the Appellate Court.
Judge Cunningham served as President of the Chicago Bar Association from 2004-2005, and has also served on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Bar Foundation, the Center for Conflict Resolution and the Center for Disability and Elder Law, and the Chicago Legal Clinic.
EDUCATION: City University of New York, B.S.; John Marshall Law School, Chicago, J.D.