'Right time' for Sycamore's Gallagher to become a judge

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SYCAMORE - About 200 people filled a courtroom Thursday afternoon as a longtime Sycamore-based attorney was appointed to serve as a judge. T. Jordan Gallagher was selected last month to be an associate judge for the 16th Circuit Court of Illinois and was sworn in Thursday during a ceremony at the DeKalb County Courthouse in front of an overflow capacity of family members, judges, attorneys, court staff, clients and friends. More than 20 Illinois judges attended the ceremony. Gallagher was one of two people selected to fill a pair of open positions in the court: One of the seats had been held by James Donnelly, who was recently appointed circuit judge for the 16th Circuit because Judge Philip DiMarzio became an immigration judge in Los Angeles. The other is due to the retirement of Associate Judge Wiley W. Edmondson. Gallagher will move on from DeKalb County after about 36 years of legal practice in the area to handle traffic and misdemeanor offenses in Aurora. Attendees laughed and cried as Gallagher recalled several memories of his career and thanked many people. “At this point in my career, it's the right time to go back to public service,” Gallagher said after the ceremony about his decision to accept the position. “These are wonderful people here. They made me who I am.” A DeKalb High School graduate, Gallagher went to Chicago-Kent College of Law after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After working as a DeKalb County assistant state's attorney, Gallagher, then 29, was elected the county's state's attorney in 1976 - making him the youngest person ever elected to that post. In 1984, he went into private practice and has worked as a defense attorney since. Circuit Judge Kurt Klein, who presides over the DeKalb County Courthouse, once worked with Gallagher as an attorney. Klein described Gallagher's generosity before swearing him in. “Over the years I had the opportunity to work with him, he made me a better lawyer,” Klein said. “I never heard him say no to anyone.” Gallagher said he would miss the people he has worked with in the DeKalb County legal system, noting even people from outside the area who came to practice at the Sycamore courthouse were astounded to find the friendliness of bailiffs, security deputies and clerk staff. “The hardest thing is to leave the clients,” he added. “It's an awesome responsibility to sit in judgment of others. Hopefully we can make the journey a little less frightening for people.”