•February 19, 2020•
By Capitol News Illinois

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Robert Thomas, a former placekicker with the Chicago Bears, will retire from his seat on the bench effective Feb. 29.
In a news release Monday, Feb. 10, Thomas said “the Lord has truly blessed me” with family — his wife, three kids and soon-to-be nine grandchildren; a former college and professional football career; and the “tremendous honor and privilege of serving as chief justice.”
“While I will miss the collegial atmosphere with my colleagues on the court, I am ready to return to the practice of law and help clients achieve justice,” he said.
He plans to join the Chicago-based Power Rogers law firm, which successfully represented him in a defamation suit against the Kane County Chronicle in 2006.
First elected to the high court in November 2000, and voted chief five years later, he was instrumental in opening its activities by allowing the online publication of video and audio from oral arguments. Thomas also supervised a mandatory continuing education program for Illinois lawyers and judges and established the court’s Commission on Professionalism.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.