Former Quinn Emanuel partner becomes traffic court judge and ‘Zoom master’

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Careers Former Quinn Emanuel partner becomes traffic court judge and 'Zoom master'

By Debra Cassens Weiss

June 20, 2023, 2:38 pm CDT

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Stephen Swedlow, a former partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, spent about $950,000 on his self-funded campaign to become a judge in Cook County, Illinois. Image from Shutterstock.

A former top partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has left the lucrative practice of law to become a judge in Cook County, Illinois, making a little more than $215,000 per year.

Bloomberg Law has a story on Stephen Swedlow’s career switch to county judge after rising to managing partner of Quinn Emanuel’s Chicago office. He spent about $950,000 on his self-funded campaign for the judicial seat.

In his first six months on the bench, Swedlow, 52, mostly heard traffic court violations and presided in trials for drunken driving, according to Bloomberg Law. He was recently promoted to the municipal department, where he hears civil lawsuits for damages up to $30,000, evictions, credit card collections and other cases.

Swedlow’s new role as a judge is a “totally, totally different experience” from law practice, where associates take care of administrative details, he told Bloomberg Law.

“Before, I’d only go to a Zoom meeting that somebody sent me a link to. Then I became a judge and I had to organize the Zoom, create the breakout rooms. I became a Zoom master,” Swedlow said.

Swedlow said he made the decision to go into public service after telling himself that he would leave law practice once he made a certain amount of money. After reaching the first number, he raised the level and decided to leave when he attained it.

“I think most people just keep making up new numbers,” he told Bloomberg Law.

It could be years before Swedlow is transferred to the law division, where complex civil trials are heard.

“What I want to do is preside every day over a jury trial,” Swedlow told Bloomberg Law. “That’s my goal. It’s the best combination of theater and intellectual pursuit.”

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