Taylorville attorney Michelle Coady has announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the position of circuit judge-at-large for the Fourth Judicial Circuit. Judge John P. Coady presently holds the circuit wide seat, but has recently announced his intentions to retire. Currently, there are only three female judges serving in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, which covers a nine county region in Illinois, including, Christian, Clay, Clinton, Effingham, Fayette, Jasper, Marion, Montgomery and Shelby.Coady was born in Nokomis and later moved to Taylorville, where she attended Taylorville High School. She obtained her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Psychology from Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville and went on to obtain her law degree from University of Missouri School of Law.
Coady began practicing at the law office of Beavers, Graham & Fines, in Taylorville, Illinois and then went on to practice with David R. Fines in Taylorville, Illinois, where she is currently engaged in private practice with an emphasis in family law and civil litigation. She is a certified mediator in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, serving as a neutral party to resolve custody and visitation disputes in family court. She has also served as a contract mediator for the Illinois Department of Employment Securities and a mediation and labor consultant for the Army Corp of Engineers.
“Judge John Coady has led by example with his temperament and compassion on the bench. If given the opportunity to serve the people of our circuit, I will use my extensive experience in the area of conflict resolution to attempt to practice with the same integrity that Judge John Coady has shown during his many years of service to the Circuit,” says Coady.
In addition to Coady’s extensive mediation practice, Coady has served as a conflict public defender in criminal proceedings, as a guardian ad litem for children and disabled adults as well as a child representative in family cases.
Coady is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and Christian County Bar Association. She was selected to serve as a section council leader for the Illinois State Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Section and served on the sub-committee for Illinois rural counties. She has also been involved as a big sister for Big Brothers Big Sisters and served from 2006-2009 as a board member for the Greater Taylorville Chamber of Commerce.
Email: michelle@coady4judge.com
