--- title: "Robert William Gettleman | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-william-gettleman" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Robert William Gettleman 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 - Law clerk, Hon. Luther Swygert, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 1970-present - Staff law clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 1968-present - Judge, District Court, N.D. Illinois, 1994-2009 - Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994 and elevated to senior status in 2009 - From 1970 to 1994, Gettleman practiced law in Chicago, rising from associate to partner at D’Ancona & Pflaum in the firm’s litigation department - Began his legal career as a staff law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, later serving as clerk to Judges Latham Castle (1968–1969) and Luther Swygert (1970) - Law clerk, Hon. Latham Castle, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 1968-1969 ### Education - Northwestern University School of Law (Pritzker School of Law) in — J.D. (1968) - B.A. degrees from Boston University in 1965 - B.S.B.A. — Boston University — 1965 ### Additional information - He assumed senior status on May 5, 2009 - Nominated on August 16, 1994 to a federal judgeship vacated by John F. Grady, confirmed by the Senate on October 7, 1994, and commissioned on October 11, 1994. - Private practice, Chicago, IL, 1970-1994 - Born 1943. - Date of birth: 1943-01-01 - Joint B.S - Gettleman was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and grew up in Miami, Florida. - Birth place: Atlantic City, NJ ## 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/1381141) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1381141) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1381141) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1181/robert-william-gettleman/) - [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/1181/robert-william-gettleman/) - [Wikidata: Robert William Gettleman](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7351085) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-william-gettleman", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-william-gettleman", "name": "Robert William Gettleman | KnowJudges", "description": "Robert William Gettleman, 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.