Lewis Nixon, a Cook County Circuit Court Judge since 2002, serves in the mechanics lien section of the Chancery Division.  Before becoming a judge, his trial work took him throughout the state in both federal and state courts. His practice was concentrated for several years in labor relations, torts, general litigation and ethics matters. He was designated a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney while with HUD.

A resident of River Forest, Judge Nixon is married with three sons and is also a proud grandfather.  He attended St. John’s University and De Paul University Law School. During college and law school he served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Illinois Army National Guard.  He serves as an adjunct instructor at Roosevelt University, teaching in the areas of civil litigation and corporate law. He has taught trial practice for attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Legal Education Institute in Washington, D.C.

             Judge Nixon has been active with the CBA and was co-chairman of the Police Lawyer Relations committee.  He has been involved with minority and women’s business development with the ISBA and on several occasions, he has served as the annual banquet chairman for the Cook County Bar Associations’ annual awards banquet. He has been a member of the ABA’s Affordable Housing Law Forum committee as well as the CBA’s Diversity in the Law committee.  Judge Nixon has served as a board member of the Cook County Bar Association.  In 1977 Judge Nixon was one of the founding board members of Minority Legal Education Resources, Inc., an Illinois not-for-profit organization which assists law school graduates in passing the Illinois Bar Examination. MLER relied on hundreds of dedicated attorneys who volunteered their time to the program. Several organizations, bar associations and BAR-BRI made financial contributions to support the program.  The ABA entered into a joint venture to establish similar programs in other states. Illinois Bar Examiners routinely refer unsuccessful exam candidates to the program.

            Lewis Nixon has been appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to serve on the Illinois Judicial Conference’s Committee on Criminal Law and Probation. Judge Nixon has served on the Chicago Bar Associations Task Force on the Independence of the Judiciary.  A member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Judge Nixon enjoys golf, reading and genealogical research.