Current News
On Oct 12, 2009, Deidre was interviewed as the attorney representing hundreds of people with loved ones buried at Burr Oak Cemetery on ABC 7 Chicago News (play video).
To see a longer interview with Deidre on the subject of Burr Oak, view this Chicago Tonight Interview with Phil Ponce (play video).
In Deidre's Essay in the Chicago Tribune, she tells voters why she would best serve Cook County as Circuit Court Judge
"I was born and raised in Rogers Park, I graduated from Lane Tech High School and obtained my undergraduate and law degrees from the University from Illinois. I paid for my education myself working many jobs from bank teller, newspaper photographer, shoe salesperson, to office clerk. My parents were Chicago Public School teachers. For seventeen years, I have devoted my practice to representing individuals against the Government and large corporate interests. Although I support the Democratic Party, I am neither a party insider nor am I an insider in the legal community. What I offer the people of Cook County is compassion, patience, understanding of people and their everyday concerns, and empathy towards those less fortunate than myself. While practicing law, I have been well regarded by judges and opposing counsel alike for my ability and my written work, which is frequently allowed me to recover where there were immunities or other political bars to recovery. My practice is currently divided into civil rights cases and injury cases, although I have done significant First Amendment work, as well as criminal defense at both the trial and appellate levels. I represent victims of discrimination, wrongful conduct by government, acts that created injury by other individuals and other people-oriented cases. I am before many boards and commissions representing school teachers, policemen, immigrants and others.
In addition to my trial work, I regularly practice before the Illinois Appellate Court, First Judicial District and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. I have once argued before the Supreme Court of Illinois. Currently, I am a lead counsel on the Burr Oak Cemetery Litigation, having filed the first class action law suit in Cook County and having obtained the appointment of an interim receiver within days of the public discovery of the tragedy. In terms of community involvement, I have been a leader in various bar associations, including past president of the North Suburban Bar Association, Co-Chair for Judicial Evaluations for the Suburban Bar Coalition, Chair of the Judicial Reception Committee for the Women's Bar, and Chair of the Constitutional Law Committee for the Chicago Bar Association. I was recently appointed to the Professional Conduct Committee of the Illinois State Bar Association and have been appointed by the CBA Board of Managers to several legally significant committees, the Anti-Terrorism Legislation Task Force and the Judicial Re-Map Subcommittee. I was responsible for conducting a CBA Seminar on Hate Speech, recently conducted a continuing legal education seminar on the Burr Oak Litigation and have served, numerous times, as a guest lecturer at Northwestern University, School of Law. Moreover, I have lectured to senior citizens about employment discrimination issues, including age and disability concerns, as part of the North Suburban Bar Association’s Law Day, have served, for several years, as judge for the Chicago Bar Association/ Young Lawyer's Division Moot Court and Mock Trial Competitions, served as a judge, lecturer, and tutor for the ”We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution” competition sponsored by the Center for Civic Education, and taught gifted youngsters at National Louis University and at my alma mater, Lane Tech. I am currently, and have been since 2004, president of the Chicago/Cook County 4-H Foundation, an organization dedicated to providing scholarships for deserving 4-H youth who are attending a college or university, am a Board Member of the Lane Tech Alumni Association, and do work for The Human Rights Campaign, a national organization dedicated to the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, having served on the 2009 HRC Gala Committee.
My view of the law is informed by free choice consistent with concern for the rights of others – as opposed to blind adherence to authority or the chain of command. And, as an independent candidate, I am beholden only to the dictates of the law. It is time the people reject the status quo, a system that tells you for whom you should and should not vote, a system which is corrupt, not because the people who participate are bad, but because it eschews commitment to the law and to the people the law is designed to serve. I practice in the courts every working day of my life, I know the law, and would like to use that knowledge to help the people of Cook County maintain the peace and dignity that they deserve."
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