Judge Smith was admitted to the Illinois bar in 2007. She was elected in 2020 to a countywide vacancy in the circuit court. She served for a brief period in Traffic Court. From 2021 to 2024, Judge Smith was assigned to the Child Protection Division in Juvenile Court. In 2024, she was transferred to the Juvenile Justice Division. She worked in several areas of civil law: expungements, insurance defense, and mortgage counseling until becoming an Assistant Public Defender in 2010 where she practiced prior to her election.
Reports of screaming matches between the Judge and attorneys, and between the Judge and minor respondents cause concern about her temperament and effectiveness of her judicial performance. ISBA does not recommend Judge Tiesha L. Smith be retained to the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Multiple bar associations said no to retention including AABA, DSL, HBA, ISBA, LAGBAC, PRBA
ISBA:
Judge Smith was admitted to the Illinois bar in 2007. She was elected in 2020 to a countywide vacancy in the circuit court. She served for a brief period in Traffic Court. From 2021 to 2024, Judge Smith was assigned to the Child Protection Division in Juvenile Court. In 2024, she was transferred to the Juvenile Justice Division. She worked in several areas of civil law: expungements, insurance defense, and mortgage counseling until becoming an Assistant Public Defender in 2010 where she practiced prior to her election.
Reports of screaming matches between the Judge and attorneys, and between the Judge and minor respondents cause concern about her temperament and effectiveness of her judicial performance. ISBA does not recommend Judge Tiesha L. Smith be retained to the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Multiple bar associations said no to retention including AABA, DSL, HBA, ISBA, LAGBAC, PRBA