Magistrate Judge Edward A. Bobrick was appointed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on June 13, 1990. Judge Bobrick retired from service in 2005.
Judge Bobrick was born in Chicago in 1935 in what was then referred to as the old "Vest" side, attending Harrison High School for three years, later finishing at Benton Harbor High School in Benton Harbor, Michigan. His grandparents worked a fruit farm in Benton Harbor, where he would work every summer until it was sold. After he returned to Chicago, he enrolled at Herzl Junior College for one year, then onto the Business School at the University of Illinois, earning his Bachelor of Science Degree in February of 1958. Shortly thereafter, he left for the United States Navy Officer Candidate School at Newport, Rhode Island, and was commissioned an Ensign in July 1958.
After his Commissioning, Judge Bobrick was assigned to the Destroyer Escort U.S.S. Cromwell for extended sea duty, later becoming its Weapons Department Head. Judge Bobrick left the Cromwell at the end of his period of active duty in June of 1961, but remained in the active reserve serving on many ships and with several major commands. Judge Bobrick commanded several Naval Reserve Units, also serving on the Staff of the Commander Second Fleet (commanded at the time by Admiral Stansfield Turner, who later became the head of the Central Intelligence Agency under President Carter). Judge Bobrick was awarded and wore the Surface Warfare Insignia as a designated Surface Warfare Officer and received the Navy Commendation Medal, among other service awards. Judge Bobrick retired from the United States Navy at the rank of Captain in 1988 after over 30 years of service.
Judge Bobrick began his legal career after leaving active duty with the United States Navy, enrolling at DePaul University Law School in September of 1961. He received his Juris Doctor Degree in 1964, subsequently entering private practice with a small law firm at that time. In 1966, he joined the United States Office of the Solicitor of the United States Department of Labor as a trial lawyer engaged in enforcing federal labor laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and The Equal Pay Act, among others. During his time with the Solicitor's Office, Judge Bobrick was promoted to the position of Counsel for Occupational Safety and Health, in which he oversaw all litigation in a four-state area (Illinois, Indiana., Wisconsin, and Minnesota) concerning enforcement of federal safety and health regulations (OSHA). He then left the Solicitors Office in 1978 to accept an appointment with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission as an Administrative Law Judge presiding over cases prosecuted under OSHA, as well as hearing other regulatory administrative law cases brought by other federal Departments or Agencies. He was later appointed as the Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Chicago Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission office. In 1985, as part of a cost-cutting reduction in force within the federal government, the Chicago Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission office was designated to be moved to Denver, with Judge Bobrick as Chief Judge. As his first child was born three days after notice of the relocation of the Chicago OSHRC office, Judge Bobrick decided to leave the agency at that time and accepted a position as an Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration.
In 2005, with Judge Bobrick’s children reaching college age, and the advent of enormous educational financial costs coming on the scene, he reluctantly and sadly decided to leave the greatest and most rewarding job of all time as a Magistrate Judge with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois; this was a singular place in which wonderful, kind, generous, brilliant and one-of-a-kind colleagues and friends blessed your everyday. And the work was great too!
After leaving the Court, Judge Bobrick joined JAMS in Chicago as an Arbitrator and Mediator. From his judicial experiences singularity received at the Dirksen Building, he had been able to find the means to successfully resolve, through mediation, closely held disputes by parties that appeared at first blush unresolvable. Trial work done at the Court prepared him to successfully arbitrate any matter no matter how complex or difficult: an example being the case of Kraft Food v. Starbuck involving a four-week trial, a 200-page Decision, and a 3-billion-dollar award.
In 2020, Judge Bobrick, at age 85, decided that he had reached retirement age and began world traveling.