Joan Humphrey Lefkow
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. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1944 · age 82
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 2000
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Wheaton College, Illinois 1965 · Northwestern Law (now Pritzker School of Law) 1971
- Succeeded
- Ann Claire Williams
- Succeeded by
- Manish Suresh Shah
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Northern District of Illinois succeeded Ann Claire Williams | Clinton (D) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
| Wheaton College, Illinois | A.B. | 1965 |
| Northwestern University School of Law (now Pritzker School of Law) | J.D. | 1971 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Lefkow was assigned 4,914 district-court cases (1986–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 183 days across 4,631 closed cases.
Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.
On appeal
Of 188 of Lefkow’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 152 were affirmed, 20 reversed or vacated, and 16 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.
In our data, Lefkow authored 42 published opinions for the court (1991–2011). Most cited: Vivas v. Boeing Co. (38 citations).
A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Recent & notable rulings
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Vivas v. Boeing Co. | 486 F. Supp. 2d 726 | 38 |
| 2010 | Wendorf v. Landers | 755 F. Supp. 2d 972 | 22 |
| 2010 | United States Securities & Exchange Commission v. Benger | 697 F. Supp. 2d 932 | 16 |
| 2004 | In Re Midway Games, Inc. Securities Litigation | 332 F. Supp. 2d 1152 | 15 |
| 2010 | Harris v. Illinois | 753 F. Supp. 2d 734 | 13 |
| 2004 | Breit & Johnson Sporting Goods, Inc. v. Ashcroft | 320 F. Supp. 2d 671 | 13 |
| 2010 | Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc. v. Leila Sophia AR, LLC | 703 F. Supp. 2d 777 | 11 |
| 2007 | In Re Automotive Professionals, Inc. | 379 B.R. 746 | 10 |
| 1991 | Krystyniak v. Lake Zurich Community Unit District No. 95 | 783 F. Supp. 354 | 8 |
| 2010 | Patten v. Northern Trust Co. | 703 F. Supp. 2d 799 | 7 |
| 1991 | Munoz v. Expedited Freight Systems, Inc. | 775 F. Supp. 1181 | 7 |
| 2009 | Bergt v. McDOUGAL LITTELL | 661 F. Supp. 2d 916 | 6 |
| 2003 | Te-Ta-Ma Truth Foundation-Family of Uri, Inc. v. World Church of the Creator | 246 F. Supp. 2d 980 | 6 |
| 2009 | In Re South Beach Securities, Inc. | 421 B.R. 456 | 5 |
| 2005 | Nowak v. International Truck and Engine Corp. | 406 F. Supp. 2d 954 | 5 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 42 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed Joan Humphrey Lefkow?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Joan Humphrey Lefkow to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 2000.
- Was Joan Humphrey Lefkow appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Joan Humphrey Lefkow was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Joan Humphrey Lefkow's confirmation vote?
- Joan Humphrey Lefkow was confirmed by voice vote on June 30, 2000. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Joan Humphrey Lefkow on?
- Joan Humphrey Lefkow is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
26 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).