Magistrate Judge Susan E. Cox was selected as a Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago on April 19, 2007, and assumed the bench on August 27, 2007. She retired on August 9, 2023.
In 1980, Judge Cox graduated from Allegheny College as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1983, Judge Cox received her law degree from Boston University Law School, where she was an editor of the Boston University Law Review. After obtaining her J.D., Judge Cox spent three years as a law clerk to United States District Judge Wayne R. Andersen. She later spent eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney and thirteen years practicing civil litigation. In 1997, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce awarded her its "Excellence in Law Enforcement" award for her work as a federal prosecutor. Prior to her appointment as Magistrate Judge, Judge Cox was the president and owner of The Law Offices of Susan E. Cox, Ltd., a litigation firm specializing in federal criminal defense and litigation.
As a Magistrate Judge, Judge Cox was a member of the Second Chance Re-Entry Court and presided over the Veterans’ Treatment Court. Since 2001, Judge Cox has also served as an adjunct law professor at DePaul College of Law. She previously served as an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois College of Urban Planning and Public Administration. Judge Cox also served as an impartial Due Process Hearing Officer for the Illinois State Board of Education from June 2005 until June 2007, and as a Federal Defender panel attorney from 2003 until her judicial appointment. From 2005 until her appointment as Magistrate Judge, Judge Cox was appointed by the federal court to assist in monitoring employment actions of the City of Chicago and served in that capacity.
Judge Cox has served as member of the Board of Directors for Helping Hand Rehabilitation Center, which serves disabled adults and children, the Greater La Grange YMCA, where she was named 2005’s Volunteer of the Year and was a two-time chair of the Lyons Township High School Community Advisory Council. She is an active member of several bar associations, where she has served in a leadership capacity and is a frequent speaker for legal and school groups.