Magistrate Judge P. Michael Mahoney was appointed as a part-time United States Magistrate Judge on March 18, 1976. He held the position as the only Magistrate Judge in the Western Division of the Northern District of Illinois until May 27, 1992, when he was appointed full-time U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, Western Division. Judge Mahoney served as the only Magistrate Judge in the Western Division until he resigned his position on December 31, 2012. He eventually accepted and remained on Recall until May 1, 2014.
Judge Mahoney was born on March 3, 1946, in Portage, Wisconsin. He spent most of his younger years in Freeport, Illinois where he attended St. Mary’s Grade School and Aquin High School. He received his B.A. Degree from St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa in 1968 and his J.D. Degree from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1971. During the time he was at the University of Illinois, he was an editor of the University of Illinois College of Law Forum and a research assistant for a member of the faculty.
Starting in 1971, he began to practice law in Freeport, Illinois in the firm that was started by his father, the Honorable Francis X. Mahoney. From 1992 to 2012 Judge Michael Mahoney was an adjunct professor of Advanced Criminal Procedure at Northern Illinois University College of Law, a position he enjoyed very much. In that course, he taught third-year law students criminal procedure from a Constitutional Law vantage point.
Judge Mahoney, for over a decade, handled the Rockford desegregation case, People Who Care v. District 205. Judge Mahoney is honored with the Mediation Center at the Stanley J. Roszowski Federal Courthouse in Rockford, Illinois being dedicated by the Federal Judges of the Northern District as the P. Michael Mahoney Mediation Center. The Judge is also honored with the Local Chapter of the Federal Bar Association in the Western Division being named the P. Michael Mahoney Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
Since May 1, 2014, Judge Mahoney became associated with the law firm of Mahoney and Hauser, Ltd. in Freeport, Illinois, now known as Mahoney & Mahoney, LLC. Judge Mahoney joined his son in the firm that was started by his father. Judge Mahoney now only does mediation, arbitration, and special assignments from the District Court.