The Honorable Matthew W. Jannusch was appointed as an Associate Judge with the State of Illinois, Circuit Court of Cook County. He was sworn into office on October 4, 2021.
Before ascending to the bench, Judge Jannusch was an Assistant State’s Attorney with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for nearly 20 years. He held assignments within the State’s Attorney’s Office in the Felony Trial Division, Domestic Violence, Mortgage Fraud, Public Corruption, Financial Crimes, and was a supervisor in the Child Support Enforcement Division. He has tried 20 felony juries to verdict including First Degree Murder and complex Mortgage Fraud schemes. Judge Jannusch ended his career with the State’s Attorney’s Office in its Community Justice Unit where he was tasked with reducing violence through data-driven prosecution and reaching out to more marginalized populations that are less trusting of the criminal justice system through awareness and harm-reduction programming. He was also elected by his peers as President of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group.
Judge Jannusch is a member of the Executive Board of Directors at LAGBAC, Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association where he holds the title of Treasurer. He currently Chairs the Nominations Committee at LAGBAC and participates in its mentoring program for law students and new attorneys. He is a supporter and member of several local and national bar associations including the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois LGBTQ+ Civil Rights Committee, the Cook County Bar Association LGBTQ+ Section, the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, the Filipino American Lawyers Association of Chicago, the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, the Northwest Suburban Bar Association Diversity Committee, the Arab American Bar Association, the Puerto Rican Bar Association, the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago, the Chicago Bar Association, the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, and the North Suburban Bar Association where he will be sworn in as a new board member on October 6, 2021.
Giving back to the profession and community is very important to Judge Jannusch. He volunteers his time for various LGBTQ+ causes, is a proud committee member of the Diversity Scholarship Foundation, and sits on the Junior Board for the Lighthouse for the Blind (one of Chicago’s oldest charitable organizations). Judge Jannusch graduated cum laude from Northern Illinois University College of Law in 2001 and was an Assistant Editor of the Law Review. He was also recently recognized by Northern Illinois University College of Law as the recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Service Award.
