Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
“Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has announced that Anthony A. Iosco is one of four appointments to the governing board of Northern Illinois University.
“Iosco, a member of the NIU College of Law’s first graduating class (1978), currently serves as a judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County, sitting in the Rolling Meadows courthouse, the 3rd municipal district. Prior to his election to the bench in 2000, Iosco spent nearly 20 years in private practice and in state and local government in Chicago, e.g., as an assistant attorney general for nearly four years, with the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs.
“He also has been an adjunct faculty member at the highly respected John Marshall Law School, and has taught classes for the NIU MBA program and the NIU College of Engineering and Engineering Technology.
“Judge Iosco is an active member of the NIU community, currently serving as President of the NIU Alumni Association and as a member of the NIU College of Law Alumni Council and providing leadership and direction as a member of the Board of Visitors. During the past year alone, he has represented the university at events in New York, Detroit, Boise, Idaho and Phoenix.”
Of course, those of us who know Tony and are familiar with his professional accomplishments and the esteem in which he is held in our legal community are not at all surprised with this significant appointment in his distinguished career. Of his fellow colleague during their earlier career positions in the office of the Illinois Attorney General during the mid 1980s, Joseph F. Locallo Jr., past president of the Justinian Society of (Italian) Lawyers, says: “Judge Iosco’s whole career has been the pinnacle of professionalism; he was always a diligent lawyer and student of the law, who took those quality characteristics to the bench. When we worked together for years at the AG’s office, Tony could always be relied upon. His diligence and tenacity made him a tremendous asset to that office.”
While Iosco was an assistant attorney General from 1983 to 1987, his responsibilities included the investigation and litigation of civil and criminal matters. This position entailed the conduct of jury and non-jury trials, grand jury proceedings and administrative proceedings — including substantive matters in taxation, financial fraud, health care, public utilities, personal injury, civil rights, medical practice and criminal.
Another significant step in Tony’s distinguished career was his service for a period of years in the State of Illinois Department of Professional Regulation as chief of general prosecutions. In this role, he supervised and directed a staff of seven attorneys in the statewide investigation and the non-medical (business) licensing and regulatory statutes administered by that office.
Also during the late 1980s, Judge Iosco held the position of commercial loan attorney for the State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, where his responsibilities included the negotiation and preparation of commercial and real estate loan documents, including the negotiation and structuring of the underlying collateral packages.
Tony also practiced general law over the years with particular emphasis on mortgage, real estate, criminal, traffic, personal injury and bankruptcy matters. He was respected and successful as a private attorney but, obviously, was always called to work in the public sector, usually being a voice and watchdog for the general public.
These diverse and eclectic career experiences as a lawyer over the years well prepared Iosco for his ascending to the bench, when he was elected from the 13th sub-circuit as a Circuit Court Judge.
Iosco has also been an adjunct faculty member at the highly respected John Marshall Law School in Chicago, is a prolific author and lecturer, is active in all the judge and lawyer organizations, and is a recognized leader in our ethnic bar association, the Justinian Society.
Tony traces his Italian ancestry to Umbria. His family came through Ellis Island in the early 1900s to Grand Avenue area on the Near North Side, the traditional neighborhood for immigrants from Bari. His hobbies include scuba diving and aviation. He is a resident of Elk Grove Village with his lovely wife Debra, a special education teacher.
Another example of the best our community has to offer.
