Edmond E. Chang ’87 holds the distinction of having been the the-youngest judge serving in the federal judiciary when he was appointed, as well as the first Asian American federal judge in Illinois and the second beyond the East and West Coasts.
Nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama and confirmed unanimously by the Senate in 2010, Judge Chang ’87 has decided a wide variety of cases, including civil and constitutional rights, intellectual property, and criminal law. During the pandemic, Chang ’87 held the first jury trial after the resumption of trials in the Northern District of Illinois.
In this Alumni Conversation, Judge Chang ’87 will share his journey from Bronx Science to the federal bench. He will also discuss some of the most pressing questions about the practice of law today.
Alumni Conversations: Edmond E. Chang ’87
Date: Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. EST
Venue: Virtual
About Our Speaker
Edmond E. Chang ’87 is a US District Court Judge in the Northern District of Illinois. A specialist in criminal procedure and civil rights, he has received a variety of awards and recognitions for his record as a judge and previously as a prosecutor. He has been honored with accolades such as the Chicago Crime Commission Star of Distinction for Task Force Investigation and Prosecution; a Drug Enforcement Administration award for a gang prosecution and a Federal Bureau of Investigation recognition for a national security investigation as well as the National Asian-Pacific American Bar Association’s Trailblazers award, the Vanguard Award from the Chinese American Bar Association of Chicago, the Cook State’s Attorney’s Office Asian-Pacific American Community Service Award and the Chinese American Bar Association of Chicago’s Sandra Otaka Distinguished Judicial Service Award. Since 1996, Judge Chang '87 has taught Civil Rights Litigation as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law. He is the author of the Civil Rights chapter in the American Bar Association Section of Litigation’s treatise on Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts. He is also a frequent lecturer on a variety of topics from the rules of evidence to diversity in the legal profession. Judge Chang '87 currently serves on the Judicial Advisory Committee of Just the Beginning, a national organization that promotes diversity in the legal profession. Judge Chang '87 also led the Northern District of Illinois’s participation in a Model Intern Diversity Pilot Project, which the Administrative Office of the US Courts established to provide greater opportunities in the legal profession for disadvantaged students.