--- title: "Virginia Mary Kendall | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/virginia-mary-kendall" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-07" --- # Virginia Mary Kendall 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: active - 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, 2006-present - Adjunct professor, Loyola University School of Law, 1995-present - Assistant U.S. attorney, Northern District of Illinois, 1995-2005 - Law clerk, Hon. George M. Marovich, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 1992-1995 - After law school, Kendall clerked for Judge George M. Marovich of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 1992 to 1995. - She then served in the United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago - Judge Kendall has been an adjunct professor for over twenty years, teaching trial practice, federal litigation, and human trafficking at the University of Chicago Law School, Northwestern University School of Law, and Loyola University Chicago School of Law ### Education - Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University in 1984, followed by a Master of Arts in writing from Northwestern in 1987 - She also holds an honorary degree from Dominican University ### Additional information - She became chief judge on August 1, 2024 - Kendall has received numerous awards for her legal and humanitarian work, including the Chicago Crime Commission's Star of Distinction Award, the Department of Justice Service Award, the FBI Director's Letter of Recognition, the Rape Victim Advocate's Visionary Award, the Eleanor Roosevelt Leadership Award, the Women and Gender Rights Leadership Award from DePaul University School of Law, and the 2015 Women of Achievement award from the YWCA Lake County. - President George W. Bush nominated Kendall to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on September 28, 2005, to a seat vacated by Susanne B. Conlon. - Date of birth: 1962-01-01 - Distinguished federal judge, legal scholar, and advocate for victims of human trafficking and child exploitation. - handling federal jury trials involving white-collar crime, insurance fraud, police and public corruption, child molestation, and racketeering. - Kendall also serves as an editor of Litigation Magazine and is an advisor to the American Law Institute on drafting a model penal code for sexual offenses Internationally, she has trained judges, trial attorneys, and investigators in countries including Kenya, Zambia, Liberia, Cyprus, India, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, the UK, Japan, Tanzania, Gabon, Egypt, Thailand, China, and Canada. - She held roles as Deputy Chief in the Criminal Division, Child Exploitation Coordinator, and Coordinator of Project Safe Neighborhoods. - Kendall also contributed to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee reviewing multi-jurisdictional child exploitation cases - Birth place: Evanston, IL ## 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/1392326) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1392326) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1392326) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1744/virginia-mary-kendall/) - [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/1744/virginia-mary-kendall/) - [Wikidata: Virginia Mary Kendall](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7934400) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/virginia-mary-kendall", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/virginia-mary-kendall", "name": "Virginia Mary Kendall | KnowJudges", "description": "Virginia Mary Kendall, 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.