Justice Sharon O. Johnson

Justice Sharon Oden Johnson serves on the Illinois Appellate Court First District. Prior to her election to the Appellate Court, Justice Johnson served in the Circuit Court of Cook County Domestic Relations Division, where she initiated working relationships with the Illinois Department of Employment Security and the Cook County Works program to assist unemployed parents in paying family support.  

Earlier in her career, Justice Johnson owned a boutique law firm, worked for the Chicago Mayor’s Office of Employment and Training, and served as a law clerk for the New Jersey Superior Court.   

She is a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Professional Responsibility, the CBA/CBF Task Force Subcommittee Working Group on the Sustainable Practice of Law, the Illinois Judges Association subcommittee: Restoring Confidence in the Legal System, the Cook County Bar Association, and many other legal associations.  

She was a faculty member of the Illinois Judicial Education Conference from 2014 to 2022 and is a former president of the Illinois Judicial Council.  

Justice Johnson received a J.D. from Howard University School of Law and a B.S. from Bradley University. She has served on the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism since 2022. She was appointed Vice-Chair in 2024.