Committed to access to the courts and the fair administration of justice, Justice Cynthia Y. Cobbs has served as justice on the Illinois Appellate Court since 2015. Justice Cobbs began her judicial career in 2011, as a trial judge on the Circuit Court of Cook County. But her commitment to fairness and access to justice began long before she became a judge.
In March 2002, Justice Cobbs was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court as the first woman and first African American to ser ve as Director of the Illinois Courts. As the eighth-ranking constitutional officer in the judicial branch, then Director Cobbs assisted the Supreme Court in super vising and overseeing the work of the Illinois courts.
As a law yer, Justice Cobbs ser ved as the Senior Judicial Law Clerk to Justice
Charles E. Freeman, the first African American to ser ve as a justice on the Illinois Supreme Court. Justice Cobbs had also clerked for Justice Freeman on the Appellate Court, the same court on which she now serves as a justice. Before becoming a lawyer, Justice Cobbs worked as a social worker, providing children alleged to have been victims of physical and sexual abuse and neglect. Justice Cobbs’ work as a clinician, which required her frequent appearance in the Mar yland courts advocating for the protection of the children she served, was the genesis for her legal career.
A proponent of public ser vice, Justice Cobbs currently ser ves on the boards of South Suburban PADS and the Illinois Judges Association. She previously served as President of the Illinois Judicial Council, as a Trustee on the
Supreme Court Judicial Education College Board and as a member on the law yers Lend a Hand to Youth board. She frequently mentors young attorneys seeking to one day become members of the judiciar y Justice Cobbs holds a B.A. (S ociology) from Morgan State University, a Master of S ocial Work from the University of Maryland, and a Juris Doctorate from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law.