Firsts in state history
Lawyers
- Lloyd Garrison Wheeler (1869): [1] [2] First African American male admitted to the Illinois State Bar. However, he relocated soon after to Arkansas.
- Edward Hong (1941): [3] First Chinese American male lawyer in Illinois
- Antonio Rosas Sarabia (1950): [4] First Mexican American male lawyer in Illinois
- Theodore "Ted" Burtzos: [5] First deaf male lawyer to argue a case before a jury in Illinois
State judges
- John J. Bird: [6] First African American male magistrate (1873) and justice of the peace (1881) in Illinois
- Albert B. George: [7] [8] First African American male judge in Illinois (1924)
- Bernard P. Barasa: [9] First Italian American male judge in Illinois (c. 1920s)
- James K. Chelos: [10] [11] [12] First Greek American male judge in Illinois (1952)
- David Cerda: [13] First Latino American male judge in Illinois (1965) and serve on the Illinois Appellate Court (1989)
- George N. Leighton (1947): [14] [15] First African American male to serve on the First District Appellate Court in Illinois (1969)
- Joseph H. Goldenhersh: [16] First Jewish American male to serve on the Supreme Court of Illinois (1970)
- Charles E. Freeman (1962): [17] [18] [19] First African American male to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court (1990) and serve as its Chief Justice
- F. Keith Brown (1981): [20] [21] First African American male judge to serve as a Chief Judge in the Sixteenth Judicial District Court (Kane County, Illinois; 1991)
- Thomas R. Chiola (1974): [22] First openly LGBT male judge in Illinois (1994)
- Sebastian Patti: [23] [24] First openly LGBT male to serve as an appellate court judge in Illinois (1995)
- Theodore "Ted" Burtzos: [5] First deaf male judge in Illinois (1995)
- Kenneth Moy: [25] [26] First Asian American male judge in Illinois (1996)
- James Shadid: [27] [28] First Arab American male judge in Illinois (2001)
- Israel Desierto: [29] First Filipino American male judge in Illinois (2005)
- Lionel Jean-Baptiste: [30] First Haitian American male judge in Illinois (2011)
- Jesse G. Reyes (1982): [31] [32] First Latino American male elected as a Judge of the Illinois Appellate Court (2012)
- Rouhy J. Shalabi: [33] First Palestinian American and Muslim American judge in Illinois (2020)
- Sanjay Tailor: [34] First Asian American (who is of Indian descent) male to serve as a presiding judge in Illinois (2021). In 2023, Tailor became the first Indian American male to serve as a Judge of the Illinois Appellate Court. [35]
Federal judges
- James Benton Parsons (1949): [36] [37] First African American male to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1961)
- Alexander J. Napoli: [38] First Italian American male to serve on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1966)
- George N. Leighton: First Cape Verdean male to serve as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1976)
- Joe Billy McDade (1963): [39] First African American male to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois (1991)
- Ruben Castillo (1979): [40] First Latino American male to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1994) [41]
- Manuel Barbosa: [42] First Hispanic American male bankruptcy judge to serve in the U.S. Northern District of Illinois (1998)
- Samuel Der-Yeghiayan (1978): [43] First Armenian immigrant male to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2003)
- Edmond E. Chang: [27] First Asian American (male) to serve on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2011)
- James Shadid: [27] [28] First Arab American male to serve on the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois (2011)
- John Z. Lee (1992): [44] First Korean American male to serve on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2012)
- Manish S. Shah (1998): [45] First Indian American male to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2014)
- Sunil R. Harjani: [46] First South Asian to serve as a Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2019)
- Franklin U. Valderrama: [47] First Panamanian American male to serve as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2020)
Attorney General
- Roland Burris (1963): [48] First African American male elected as the Attorney General of Illinois (1991-1995)
- Kwame Raoul: [49] First Haitian American male elected as the Attorney General of Illinois (2019)
Assistant Attorney General
- James G. Gotter: [50] First African American male to serve as the Assistant Attorney General of Illinois (1917)
United States Attorney
- Gregory K. Harris: [51] First African American male to serve as the United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois (2021)
State's Attorney
- James R. Burgess, Jr.: [52] [53] First African American male to serve as the State's Attorney in Illinois (1972)
Assistant State's Attorney
- Ferdinand Lee Barnett: [54] First African American male to serve as an Assistant State's Attorney in Illinois (1896)
Bar Association
- Lawrence X. Pusateri: [55] First Italian American male to serve as the President of the Illinois State Bar Association (1975)
- Vincent Cornelius: [56] First African American male to serve as the Illinois State Bar Association (2016)
