Abbey Fishman Romanek
Judge up for retention, on the Chicago ballot November 3, 2026. Incumbent.
Circuit Court of Cook County
Ratings
Record
Elected to the Circuit Court in 2014 from the 9th Subcircuit; hears cases in the Domestic Relations Division. Injustice Watch reports that a 2024 federal lawsuit said she barred Connor Paris, an adult whose parents had a case before her, from a Zoom hearing; a federal judge dismissed it on judicial immunity grounds, and an appeal is pending. In a statement she said she keeps children who are not litigants out of the courtroom, in the best interest of her litigants' children. A judge stays on the bench with a yes from 60 percent of voters.
Background
Attorney at a suburban firm in business and commercial litigation (2012-2014); earlier a senior attorney in the Illinois attorney general's Medicaid fraud division (2004-2006), an associate and partner at four firms defending physicians in medical malpractice cases (1990-2001), and a criminal defense attorney (1987-1990). Law degree from IIT Chicago-Kent (1987).
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