Magistrate Judge Sheila M. Finnegan is a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, appointed on April 26, 2010. Judge Finnegan served as the Chief Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from January 2021 to December 2022.

Judge Finnegan obtained a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1982 and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1986, where she was inducted into the Order of the Coif. After obtaining her J.D., Judge Finnegan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Milton Shadur in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 1986 to 1987. Judge Finnegan then worked in the United States Attorney’s Office from 1987 to 1999, where she prosecuted federal criminal cases and was appointed Chief of the Criminal Division. In 2000, Judge Finnegan joined Mayer Brown, LLP as a litigation partner and served as co-chair of the Chicago Litigation practice. She remained at the firm until taking the bench in May 2010.

Since 2000, Judge Finnegan has been a mentor at the University of Chicago Law School in the 1L Women’s Mentoring Program. Judge Finnegan is also an Adjunct Professor of Trial Advocacy at Northwestern Law School since 2003 and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Judge Finnegan has served as a board member of River Trails District 26 School Board, Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization, and the Legal Assistance Foundation. She also formerly served as Co-Chair of the Seventh Circuit Electronic Discovery Pilot Program.