Carole Kamin Bellows (born May 24, 1935) is the former president of the Illinois Bar Association. Elected in 1977, Bellows was the first woman to serve as the president of a State Bar association. Bellows later served as a Circuit Court judge in

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

from 1986 to 2018.

Personal life

Bellows was born on May 24, 1935, in Chicago Illinois. Her father Alfred Kamin had been a labor attorney who was notable for representing

John L. Lewis John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960. A major player in the history of coal mining, he was the d ...

and the

United Mine Workers The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the Unit ...

. He later became a professor of labor law at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...

. Bellows' mother Sara Kamin was an Illinois lawyer. Bellows' husband Jason Bellows was a member of the Illinois Bar until his death in 1980.https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/directories/women_trailblazers/bellows_interview_2.authcheckdam.pdf In 1953, Bellows attended

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

class of 1957 where she studied political science. She also ran for the student government, becoming a student senator and an officer of the independent women's group. Bellows later attended law school at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, and graduated in the class of 1960.

Career

Bellows began her career as a clerk to the Chief Judge of the Illinois Court of Claims. In June 1961, Bellows was appointed to serve on the Bill of Rights Committee of the Illinois State Bar Association. Bellows was elected to the Board of Governors in 1969 where she served until 1979.https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/directories/women_trailblazers/bellows_interview_1.authcheckdam.pdf Bellows became the first woman in the United States to be elected as president of a State

Bar Association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...

when she was elected president of the

Illinois State Bar Association The Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) is among largest voluntary state bar associations in the United States. Approximately 28,000 lawyers are members of the ISBA. Unlike some state bar associations, in which membership is mandatory, ISBA memb ...

, where she served from 1977-1978. Bellows also served as a delegate to the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

House of Delegates from 1975-1988. Bellows was elected Illinois State Delegate in 1978, also serving as chairperson of the Fellows of the

American Bar Foundation The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is an independent, nonprofit national research institute established in 1952 and located in Chicago. Its mission is to expand knowledge and advance justice by supporting innovative, interdisciplinary and rigorous ...

. Bellows served on the Council of the Section from 1967-1977, and she served as chairperson of the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services from 1983 to 1985. In 1986, Bellows was appointed to the Illinois Circuit court by the

Supreme Court of Illinois The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five ap ...

. Bellows was reelected in 1988, and subsequently retained in 1994, 2000, and 2006. Bellows presided as a judge in the Domestic Relations Division of the Circuit Court. Her term ended in December 2018.

Awards and honors

In 1970 Bellows received the Maurice Weigle Award for Outstanding Service to the Organized Bar from th
Chicago Bar Foundation
In 1975, Bellows received the Medallion of Honor from the

Mother's Association, and in 1978 Bellows received the Alumnae Award from

. Other awards include the Alliance for Women Founders Award (2006), Samuel S.Berger Award
American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
Illinois Chapter (2007), Decalogue Society of Lawyers Lifetime Achievement Award (2008), Illinois Judges Association Distinguished Service Award (2013), Seymour Simon Justice Award, Jewish Judges Association of Illinois (2013), Legal Luminary Award, Illinois Bar Foundation, and Illinois Judges Foundation (2018).Sullivan's Judicial Profiles. The Illinois Judicial Directory, 2017. Print

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellows, Carole People from Cook County, Illinois 1935 births Living people Judges of the Circuit Court of Cook County