News
July 20, 2009
The Honorable Judge George N. Leighton Honored by the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission
On Wednesday, July 22, 2009, at the Illinois Supreme Courtroom, the Honorable Judge George N. Leighton will be honored by the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission with the Commission’s first Honorable George N. Leighton Justice Award. The Commission consisting of nine members recently created an awards program with plans to name an attorney or judge each year who has made especially important contributions to the profession and to the courts. The first recipient of this award is the Honorable Judge George N. Leighton. The award is named in his honor and bears his likeness on one side and the Seal of the Supreme Court on the other.
The Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission was created in 2007 by the Supreme Court Preservation Act and is charged with assisting and advising Court in regard to the acquisition, collection, documentation, preservation, cataloging, and related matters with respect to historic aspects of building, objects, artifacts, documents, and information, regardless of form, relating to the Illinois judiciary.
Read this link for The Chicago Tribune’s coverage of Judge Leighton’s Award.
Judge George N. Leighton concentrates in the areas of federal litigation and appellate cases. He became counsel to Neal & Leroy, LLC in 1987 after retiring from 23 combined years of service as judge on the state and federal bench.
Judge Leighton is a 1946 graduate of Harvard Law School and a 1940 magna cum laude graduate of Howard University. Judge Leighton's early career included serving as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois and as Master in Chancery of the Circuit Court of Cook County. In 1964, he was elected to a six-year term as Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County and five years later he was assigned by the Illinois Supreme Court to sit as Judge of the Appellate Court, First District. In 1970, Judge Leighton was elected to a ten-year term as a Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, First District.
President Gerald Ford nominated Judge Leighton to serve as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1975, upon confirmation Judge Leighton began serving in 1976.