Hon. Elizabeth Loredo Rivera (Ret.) joins the JAMS family law practice in Chicago after 24 years of service on the Cook County bench. Judge Loredo Rivera presided over a trial calendar in the Domestic Relations Division from 2002 until her retirement in 2022, as well as a post-decree calendar in the same division from 2000 to 2002. She has extensive experience in family law matters, having heard hundreds of motions, arguments and trials. The trials over which she presided included hotly contested custody and child relocation issues, large estates and substantial business holdings.

Even so, the most rewarding aspect of Judge Loredo Rivera’s judicial career was being able to help many litigants reach settlements, thus avoiding the cost and uncertainty of a trial.

Judge Loredo Rivera’s litigation, judicial and settlement experience includes a wide array of family law cases, such as:

• Allocation of parental responsibilities (custody)
• Allocation of parenting time (visitation)
• Disputes regarding the safety of minors, including those with special needs
• Disputes about parenting styles
• Disputes about religious education
• Relocation of children
• Distribution of assets and debts
• Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements
• Valuation of businesses
• Setting/review of maintenance
• Same-sex civil union and marriage dissolutions
• College contribution
• Marital and nonmarital estate issues
• Allocation of family debts
• Annulments (Declaration of Invalidity of Marriage)

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Memberships and Affiliations

• Member, Hispanic National Bar Association
• Member, Illinois Judges Association
• Member, Illinois Latino Judges Association
• Past Board Member, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois
• Past Treasurer, Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois
• Past Member, Mexican Women’s Committee, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum (n/k/a National Museum of Mexican Art)
• Past Board Member, Chicago Urban League
• Past Board Member, Illinois Committee for the Prevention of Violence

Selected Talks

• Speaker “Pursuing a Legal Career: My Path,” Hispanic National Heritage Month, Circuit Court of Cook County, 1999–2019
• Speaker, “The Court System in Cook County Illinois and Illinois Law” (for visiting scholars and a judge from Tsu District Court in Japan), 2014
• Speaker, “… then you shoulda put a ring on it” (for a delegation of Mexican law school professors, law firm partners, bar association presidents and other legal professionals), American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative, Circuit Court of Cook County, 2011 (presented in Spanish)
• Speaker, “Illinois Law on Dissolution of Marriage” (for law school dean, law school professor and law students from Facultad Libre de Derecho in Monterrey, Mexico), Circuit Court of Cook County, 2011 (presented in Spanish)
• Speaker, “Legal Careers” and “The Truth About the Practice of Law” (for visiting law school students and high school students), Circuit Court of Cook County, 2009–2019
• Speaker (at Chicago area schools), “Seven Reasons to Leave the Party” (an interactive presentation on risky behavior for school-aged youth), Illinois Judges Association, 2009–2014
• Speaker, “Legal Protection from Domestic Violence” (at Chicagoland churches and civic organizations), Illinois Judges Association, 2011–2017
• Panelist, “Judicial Perspective” (Chicago cable television)

Background and Education

• Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County, 1998–2022
  • Domestic Relations Division, 2000–2022
    • Trial Calendar, 2002–2022
    • Post-Decree Calendar, 2000–2002
  • Cook County Juvenile Center, 1998–2000
    • Child Protection Division, 1998–2000
• Assistant State’s Attorney, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, 1983–1998
  • Executive Staff
    • Deputy Director, Community Prosecutions Division
  • Criminal Prosecution Division
    • Deputy Chief, Sex Crimes Prosecution Division
    • First Chair, Felony Trial Division
    • First Chair, Night Narcotics Division
    • Trial Supervisor, Felony Review Division
• J.D., John Marshall Law School (n/k/a University of Illinois Chicago School of Law), 1983