Jeffrey Irvine Cummings (born 1962) is an American lawyer from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, who has served as a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. Appeals from the Northern District of Illinois ar ...

since 2023. He previously served as a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

of the same court from 2019 to 2023.

Education

Cummings received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, with high honors, from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

in 1984. He then received a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a Private university, private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, ...

, ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'', in 1987, and was inducted into the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

Career

Cummings served as a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for Judge Ann Claire Williams of the

from 1987 to 1989. From 1989 to 2019, he was an associate and ultimately a co-managing partner at Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C. in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois. Cummings served as counsel to

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

from 1996 to his senate election in 2004. Cummings was sworn in as a magistrate judge on January 29, 2019. He assumed office on February 1, 2019. Cummings is a former board member of Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Notable cases

In 1995, Cummings, alongside Barack Obama, represented

ACORN The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'' and '' Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne ...

, a voter registration organization that advocates for low- and moderate-income families in suing the State of Illinois in seeking to have it comply with the

National Voter Registration Act of 1993 The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), also known as the Motor Voter Act, is a United States federal law signed into law by President Bill Clinton on May 20, 1993, that came into effect on January 1, 1995. The law was enacted und ...

. In 2009, Cummings secured a $630,000 settlement for a class of

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

workers with Area Erectors, Inc., who alleged termination based on race.

Notable rulings

As a magistrate judge in 2020, Cummings ruled that

Illinois Governor The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

J. B. Pritzker would not be required to sit for a deposition as part of a discrimination case against his 2018 campaign. In 2021, Cummings ordered the pretrial release of Jim Bob Elliott, a member of the group the

Proud Boys The Proud Boys is an American far-right, neo-fascist, and exclusively male organization that promotes and engages in political violence in the United States.Far-right: * * Fascist: * * * * * Men only: * * * Political violence: * * * It has ...

, who was arrested for his participation of the

January 6 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob was seeking to keep Trump in pow ...

Federal judicial service

In December 2021, Cummings was recommended to the president by Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth. On January 18, 2023, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Cummings to serve as a

of the

. On January 31, 2023, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Cummings to a new seat. On February 15, 2023, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On April 20, 2023, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–9 vote. On September 12, 2023, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

invoked cloture on his nomination by a 51–44 vote. Later that day, his nomination was confirmed by a 50–45 vote. He received his judicial commission on October 10, 2023. He was sworn in on October 26, 2023.

References

External links

* * 1962 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century African-American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century African-American lawyers African-American judges Illinois lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Michigan State University alumni Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni People from Fort Wayne, Indiana United States district court judges appointed by Joe Biden United States magistrate judges {{US-federal-judge-stub