--- title: "Joan Humphrey Lefkow | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/joan-humphrey-lefkow" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-07" --- # Joan Humphrey Lefkow U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois · U.S. District Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois - State: Illinois - Role: U.S. District Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, N.D. Illinois, 2000-2012 - Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 2000 and assuming senior status in 2012 - Appointed U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois in 1982, later becoming a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge in 1997, and was nominated to the U.S. District Court in 2000 - Executive director, Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation, Inc., 1981-1982 - Administrative law judge, Illinois Fair Employment Practices Commission, 1975-1979 - Law clerk, Hon. Thomas E. Fairchild, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 1971-1972 - Began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Thomas E. Fairchild of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ### Education ### Additional information - She was instrumental in advancing the Court Security Act of 2007, leading to a U.S. Marshals Service conference room named in her honor. - Instructor, University of Miami Law School, 1980-1981 - Staff attorney, Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, Inc., 1972-1975 - Born January 8, 1944 in Nemaha County, Kansas, Lefkow obtained an A.B. in 1965 from Wheaton College in Illinois and a J.D. in 1971 from Northwestern University School of Law (now the Pritzker School of Law). - Date of birth: 1944-01-01 - She continues to hear cases and serves on diversity, equity, and inclusion committees for the Seventh Circuit and the Northern District of Illinois - Lefkow has received numerous honors, including the John Paul Stevens Award for integrity and public service, the CBA Alliance for Women’s Founders Award, and judiciary awards from the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. - She also initiated the creation of an infant care center in a federal courthouse, now renamed in her honor - Birth place: Rural Nemaha County, KS ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391246) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391246) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391246) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1896/joan-humphrey-lefkow/) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1896/joan-humphrey-lefkow/) - [Wikidata: Joan Lefkow](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6205218) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/joan-humphrey-lefkow", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/joan-humphrey-lefkow", "name": "Joan Humphrey Lefkow | KnowJudges", "description": "Joan Humphrey Lefkow, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.