Maria McCarthy is running for Judge in the 12th subcircuit of Cook County. While only the residents of the 12th subcircuit can vote for Maria, she can serve anywhere in Cook County once elected.

Maria has been endorsed by 27 retired Cook County Judges, the North Suburban Association of Chiefs of Police, 13 retired Chiefs of Police, and several police associations and unions. She has been found Highly Qualified, Highly Recommended, Qualified or Recommended by every bar association in Cook County. Maria was 1 of only 4 out of 61 Cook County Circuit Court judicial candidates to have been found Highly Qualified by the Chicago Bar Association. 

Maria worked as an assistant state’s attorney in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for 30 years.  From 2009 to 2019, she was Supervisor of the Third Municipal District, where she oversaw the prosecution of all felony and misdemeanor cases from approximately 25 suburbs of Chicago. Prior to holding that position, Maria was the Supervisor of the Homicide/Sex Unit in Chicago and the Supervisor of the Domestic Violence Division. Maria subsequently worked as the First Assistant in the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office, where she supervised the Criminal and Civil Bureaus. In 2022, she was appointed Special Prosecutor in murder cases that are pending in Will County. Maria also worked for Freeborn & Peters in Chicago, where she defended companies in civil litigation.

 

Maria has handled thousands of cases, including complex and high-profile murder and rape cases. Cases tried by Maria have been profiled on Dateline NBC, Oxygen Network and ID Channel.  She has extensive experience with physicians, psychiatrists and forensic experts in DNA, fingerprints, firearms, trace evidence, blood spatter, cell tower analysis, pathology and water deaths.

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Maria has lectured on a local and national level.  She has trained thousands of prosecutors on trial advocacy skills, legal issues, rules of evidence and ethics.  Maria recently presented at the national Conference on Crimes Against Women in Texas.  In October of 2023, Maria presented at the Illinois Homicide Investigators Association’s (ILHIA) Annual Conference.  In addition, she conducts trainings for the Chicago Police Department’s new detectives as well as detectives seeking their Lead Homicide Investigator certification.  In 2022, while a Board member for Rahab’s Daughters, an anti-human trafficking organization, Maria coordinated a day-long training for police officers on the investigation of human-trafficking cases.

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While she lived and worked in Chicago, Maria taught trial advocacy classes at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, where she received the Joan M. Corboy Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching Advocacy and Professionalism, and at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.  Maria has taught criminal law and criminal procedure classes at Harper Community College for over 10 years.

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In 2020, Maria was inducted as a Fellow in The American College of Trial Lawyers, widely considered to be the premier professional trial organization in North America. Maria currently serves as the Regional Chair on the National Trial Competition Committee and is a Faculty Member of “Trial Advocacy – Diversity in the Courtroom,” an annual training attended by diverse lawyers from throughout the country. In addition, Maria was a Faculty Member of the Chicago Bar Association and The American College of Trial Lawyers Boot Camp Training: Anatomy of a Trial, The Rosenberg Spy Case, where she presented the Government’s opening statement and participated in a panel discussion on direct examination.

 

Maria grew up in Mount Prospect and Arlington Heights, and attended Prospect High School, where she received the Distinguished Alumni award in 2007. She attended the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and IIT Chicago Kent School of Law, where she led her mock trial team to victory in the Regional Championship and to becoming National Quarter Finalists. She currently lives in Mount Prospect with her stubborn but lovable bulldog, Mac.