PATRICIA O’BRIEN SHEAHAN 

Patricia Sheahan is a Cook County Circuit Court judge, currently assigned to the Law Division, Trial Section, at the Richard J. Daley Center, where she presides over personal injury tort trials, including medical malpractice, defamation, products liability and complex toxic tort litigation, as well as commercial bench trials.

Sheahan serves on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Judges’ Association and recently served as Topic Editor of the Illinois Bench Book on Civil Law and Procedure.

Prior to her county-wide election to the bench in 2014, Sheahan worked as Associate General Counsel at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, now known as Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. Early in her career, Sheahan worked as a litigation associate at Baker McKenzie. 

Throughout her career, Sheahan has devoted substantial time to pro bono and public interest work.  She served for 12 years as a member of the Center for Disability and Elder Law’s Governing Board of Directors, as well as the Advisory Board. She also served as Vice President of the Easy K Foundation, which is a not-for-profit residential home for individuals with developmental disabilities.  Currently Sheahan serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of The Academy at St. Joan of Arc.