Getting to Know Mary Heftel Hooton

​A recognized presence in the legal profession in Illinois, Judge Megan Goldish serves as a judge in the Domestic Violence Court of the Circuit Court of Cook County. In 2020, Judge Megan Goldish was one of the recipients of the Mary Heftel Hooton award from the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois (WBAI).

In honor of the memory of former Circuit Court of Cook County Judge Mary Heftel Hooton, WBAI established the Mary Heftel Hooton award to recognize the members of the legal profession who advance the cause of women lawyers. The award is given to circuit, supreme court, and federal judges who have distinguished themselves with exceptional professionalism, leadership, and effort to women in law.

Born on July 5, 1919, in New York, Judge Hooton’s dream was to be a US President. Thinking she could not be President without becoming a lawyer, she earned her juris doctor from DePaul University in 1943. Her 33-year career as a lawyer and judge is marked by making women lawyers known and accepted. When elected as president of WBAI in 1976, her charge to the members was to “keep their heads up and keep going,” a charge that became WBAI’s mandate until today.

Judge Megan Goldish, Honors&Awards; ProfessionalTopics; Hobbies&Interests; Groups&Organizations

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