Judge Joan B. Gottschall was appointed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in August of 1984 as a Magistrate Judge. In March 1996, Judge Gottschall was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 25, 1996. On August 1, 1996, she was commissioned as a District Court Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Judge Gottschall was born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. She received her Bachelor of the Arts degree from Smith College 1969. She then received her Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School in 1973. She was in private practice in Chicago, Illinois, until 1976 at Jenner & Block, and again from 1978 to 1982. Judge Gottschall served as a staff attorney of the Federal Defender Program in Chicago from 1976 to 1978. She was also a staff attorney in the legal office of the University of Chicago from 1982 to 1984.

Judge Gottschall assumed senior status on April 23, 2013. Judge Gottschall is a former chair and lifetime member of the University of Chicago Divinity School, Visiting Committee. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Chicago Divinity School Martin Marty Center since 2002. Judge Gottschall has authored numerous publications.