Northern District of Illinois / Appointed 2000 / Active

Joan Humphrey Lefkow

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 2000 and confirmed by voice vote, Joan Humphrey Lefkow is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She earned a law degree from Northwestern University School of Law (now Pritzker School of Law) in 1971. Sources: FJC Biographical Directory · Senate confirmation, June 30, 2000

Appointed by
William J. Clinton, 2000
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
Wheaton College, Illinois 1965 · Northwestern Law (now Pritzker School of Law) 1971
Succeeded by
Manish Suresh Shah
Federal judicial service
YearCourtAppointed byVote
2000Northern District of Illinois · succeeded Ann Claire WilliamsClinton (D)voice

A per-senator roll-call isn’t shown for this confirmation. The Senate’s recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989; many confirmations (especially before then, and most to the lower courts) were by voice vote or unanimous consent.

Education
Sources

25 years on the Northern District of Illinois. Data last verified 2026-06-28. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).