Thomas Robert Fitzgerald (July 10, 1941 – November 1, 2015) was a chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.
Born in Chicago on July 10, 1941,[2] Fitzgerald graduated from Leo Catholic High School in 1959.
[6] The son of a circuit court judge, Fitzgerald began his own career in the law as a prosecutor in the Cook County, Illinois State's Attorney's Office.
He was also appointed to serve as presiding judge of Illinois's first statewide Grand Jury.
[6] Fitzgerald served as president of the Illinois Judges' Association, chair of the Illinois Supreme Court Special Committee on Capital Cases, member of the Governor's Task Force on Crime and Corrections, chairman of several committees of the Illinois Judicial Conference, member of the Chicago Bar Association's Board of Managers and past chairman of the Chicago Bar Association's committees on constitutional law and long-range planning.
[citation needed] He was elected Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court on May 19, 2008, with his term effective September 6, 2008.