CBA Record January-February 2023

Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis “Everything we do is essential in the lives we serve.”

A fter serving as a judge for 39 years, Mary Jane Theis officially began her term as Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court in November 2022. A staunch believer that author ity of the court comes from the people’s trust and confidence in the court system, during her term as Chief Justice, Theis aims to make the judicial system more transparent and engaging. She plans to draw from her professional experiences as an assistant public defender, a judge, and a justice to rebuild the public’s faith in the judiciary, to focus on access to justice, and “to bring people from a place of crisis to a place of peace.” Theis has dedicated her career to public service. After serving as an assistant public defender, she served as an associ ate judge in the First Municipal District where she presided over traffic, civil jury and non-jury matters, and misdemeanor and felony trials. She refers to her time in the First District as serving the “People’s Court” because “it is where people’s life issues are resolved.” After serving in the Circuit Court of Cook County as both an associate and circuit court judge, she was elected an appellate court justice before being appointed to the Supreme Court. In 2012, Theis won her election to serve a full term on the Supreme Court. Most recently, she won her reten tion election in November 2022 and was subsequently sworn in as Chief Jus tice. One must acknowledge each of her past judicial positions to fully appreci ate the breadth and depth of experience she brings to her newest leadership role. From these different vantage points, she has gleaned firsthand the challenges faced by self-represented litigants, criminal defendants, attorneys, and judges alike. Interestingly, these are challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic simultaneously exac erbated and addressed. For example, in civil cases, self-rep

resented litigants have long struggled to represent their interests, as either plaintiffs or defendants, in court. To assist them the courts created help desks, some standard ized forms, and pamphlets that listed free legal resources. The pandemic challenged the courts, and the entire legal system, to do more. Chief Justice Theis applauds the courts for their outreach to self-repre sented litigants, especially in eviction mat ters, as well as utilizing Zoom to facilitate their access to the courts. She will con tinue to explore ways the courts may effec tively assist self-represented litigants such, as ways to peaceably resolve disputes and make more volunteers available to explain court processes and procedures. Theis stresses it is important to recog nize the needs of defendants in criminal matters. For instance, she points to what access to justice actually looks like in crim inal cases: while there is a constitutional right to an attorney in criminal cases, that is not always true across the state, because there are very few lawyers in smaller rural areas and limited funding. Other challenges facing the public, attorneys, and the courts include how to address issues of mental and behavioral health. The question is not only how to address these matters, but how these issues in turn impact the court system. Theis notes that in criminal cases specifi cally, it is not uncommon to have defen dants appear before the court who need treatment. Instead of receiving treatment, they may be incarcerated. To address these challenges, Chief Justice Theis wants more more creative thinking in the legal system. More cre ative thinking will ultimately benefit everyone. Chief Justice Theis stresses, “We don’t need to be stuck where we have always been... One of the most important lessons the pandemic taught us is that we can change and adapt. We have to con tinue thinking about how we can deliver

justice in this new world.” Theis credits her immediate past pre decessor, former Chief Justice Anne Burke, with the courts’ response to the pandemic. Under Burke’s leadership, the courts found a way to bring essential ser vices to people who needed them. This was achieved, in large part, by collabora tion among justice partners. Theis stresses that breaking down our silos and working together is key to effectively delivering justice in this new era. She plans to further encourage this spirit of collaboration. “Collaboration is not just a nice thing to do. It results in better outcomes. By collaboration we can face issues and come up with good alternatives.” She also wants to hear more from court users themselves. Hearing directly from the source, she believes, will help the courts identify and effectively address their needs. During her tenure as a justice on the Supreme Court, Theis has served under four Chief Justices: Thomas Kilbride, Rita Garman, Lloyd Karmeire, and Anne Burke. She draws inspiration from each. Theis has already hit the ground run ning by listening “to people with differ ent experiences that can teach me about their needs and their concerns.” Armed with the knowledge that the court system is primed to build upon its growth, she is ready to lead the conversation about how we can continue to deliver because “everything we do is essential in the lives we serve.”

CBA RECORD 19