JUDGE BIOGRAPHIES
Hon. Frank Andreou
Circuit Court of Cook County
Hon. Frank J. Andreou is currently an Associate Judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County and in the Second Municipal District. Prior to being sworn in, Frank was a principal at Andreou & Casson, Ltd. in 2002. Frank was licensed to practice law in 1995 and is a former Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney. He has tried more than 50 jury trials to verdict; has written more than 70 appellate briefs and has argued before the Illinois Appellate Court and 7th Circuit Appellate Court. Frank’s areas of practice include personal injury; employment; and, commercial litigation in both federal and state court in both the trial and appellate courts. Frank is licensed to practice in the State of Illinois, the United States District Court, Northern District, the Seventh Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court
Hon. James K. Booras
Judicial Circuit of Lake County
Judge James K. Booras has been a judge for the last 32 years. Judge Booras served first is an associate judge for 10 years and for the last 22 years has been a circuit judge in the 19th judicial circuit Lake county Illinois. Before he was appointed judge he was in private practice and then served in the Lake county state's attorney's office for 11 years. During his judicial career he served as presiding judge of the juvenile division and subsequently was elected for two terms as chief judge of the 19th judicial circuit in Lake county Illinois. He obtained his undergraduate degree from Northern Illinois University and his JD also from Northern Illinois University law school. He presently serves in the felony division.
Hon. Anthony Calabrese
Circuit Court of Cook County
Judge Calabrese took the bench in 2007. He served in the First Municipal District from 2007 to 2019. He was assigned to the Chicago Courthouses at 111th St. and Doty and Belmont and Western presiding over criminal cases. For the past three years he has been assigned to the Second Municipal District Skokie Courthouse, presiding over criminal cases.
Prior to taking the bench, Judge Calabrese was a private practitioner of law as a criminal defense attorney practicing throughout Cook County for thirteen years. He served the City of Chicago for nine years as the Chairman of the License Appeal Commission. He presided over hearings regarding the legitimacy of liquor license revocations and denials of liquor licenses for the entire City of Chicago. Judge Calabrese had also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at DePaul College of Law, teaching trial advocacy for twenty years.
He began his career as an Assistant States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the Cook County States Attorneys Office. He served in the office for twelve years. During that period he was a felony prosecutor at 26th and California in Chicago, prosecuting jury and bench trials and served in the Gang Crimes Unit prosecuting gang related murder cases.
Judge Calabrese graduated from DePaul University College of Law. He graduated from the University of Illinois, Champaign with a degree in American History with an area of specialty in the Trans-Mississippi Western Migration.
Hon. George Canellis
Circuit Court of Cook County
Judge Canellis was sworn in as an Associate Judge in May of 2016. He has been assigned to Juvenile Court in the Juvenile Justice Division as well as the Markham Courthouse in the 6th Municipal District.
While in Markham, Judge Canellis has handled a variety of cases on both the criminal and civil sides. He began his time in Markham hearing traffic offenses and misdemeanor criminal cases. He has since focused primarily on civil cases where he presides over collections cases, small claims pro se and evictions.
Prior to his time on the bench, Judge Canellis was the Supervisor of the Felony Review Unit in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Judge Canellis started as an ASA directly after law school and worked in the Appellate, Juvenile and Criminal Divisions. Ultimately serving in a supervising capacity for the last 8 years of his time. Judge Canellis spent the vast majority of his career In the court room as a trial attorney, and was part of the trial team that prosecuted serial killer, Andre Crawford.
Hon. Judge Peggy Chiampas
Circuit Court of Cook County
Judge Peggy Chiampas was appointed as an Associate Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County in 2007. She is a graduate of Helge A. Haugan Elementary and Theodore Roosevelt High School. She continued her education at De Paul University receiving Bachelor of Science Degrees in both Marketing and Management and her Juris Doctor at The John Marshall Law School, serving as Chief Justice on the Moot Court Executive Board. Judge Chiampas is currently assigned to the Criminal Division.
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Judge Chiampas has an extensive background in criminal and special prosecutions. She served as an Assistant State’s Attorney from May 1990 until her appointment to the bench in April of 2007. In the international arena, she has served the United States Department of Justice as an instructor for the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) and International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Haiti, and Africa. Since 2015, she has served as an instructor and subject matter expert for the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) training law enforcement officers, prosecutors and the judiciary in Jamaica, the Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago. In 2019, Judge Chiampas was invited by the US Embassy of Belize-(INL-CARSI) and the Supreme Court of Belize to present at a Plea Agreement and Sentencing Workshop for the judiciary.
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Judge Chiampas and her family are active members of the Hellenic American Community in Chicago. She is a proud member of the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC), The Hellenic and Chicago Bar Associations, and a founding and current board member of PCO, a mentoring program for young at risk women.
Hon. Anna H. Demacopoulos
Circuit Court of Cook County
Anna Helen Demacopoulos was elected in 2008 as a State of Illinois Circuit Court Judge in Cook County. Judge Demacopoulos currently serves in the prestigious Chancery Division and previously presided in a high-volume felony courtroom. Judge Demacopoulos also serves a faculty member on various topics for the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Education and as a mentor judge for new judges.
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Prior to her election to the bench, Judge Demacopoulos’ professional experience includes over twenty-three years in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office serving in various supervisory roles and prosecuting high profile cases.
Since 1987, she serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law in Trial Advocacy at UIC Law formerly the John Marshall law School. In 2005, she was the recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Award and in 2015 she was bestowed with an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree.
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Demacopoulos is a founding member of the Order of Themis, Hellenic Judges Association and was elected its inaugural President in 2022.
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Demacopoulos serves as a board member of the Illinois Judges Association. In 2022 she received the Libertatum Award for her statewide efforts in preserving judicial independence. Considered a trailblazer, the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois recognized Judge Demacopoulos with the Mary Heftle Hooton Award in 2021. She’s also a prior board member and an active member of the Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois and founding member of the Hellenic American Leadership Council.
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Demacopoulos’ true passion is her family. She is married to Andreas Kosmas and the mother of 23-year-old twin daughters Erini and Angelina.
Hon. Nicholas Geanopoulos
Retired
Judge Nicholas Geanopoulos was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2008. In 2012 he was elected as an Associate Judge. Judge Geanopoulos earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He received his J.D. from the John Marshall Law School.
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Judge Geanopoulos began his career as an Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney. In his ten year career, he was assigned to the appellate, narcotics, felony trial and gang crime divisions. He was a first chair in the felony trial and gang crimes divisions.
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Judge Geanopoulos was a civil litigator for fourteen years, practicing in the U.S District Court Northern District of Illinois and the Circuit Court of Cook County.
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Judge Geanopoulos memberships included the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Child Custody Issues and National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. He served as a mentor for the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois.
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Judge Geanopoulos retired in 2021 and serves on the Illinois Judges Association Security Committee.
Hon. Nicholas Kantas
Circuit Court of Cook County
Hon. Nicholas Kantas is currently assigned to the Criminal Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, at the Leighton Courthouse at 26th and California in Chicago. He presides over felony cases. He was elected to the Circuit Court of Cook County in November of 2022. Previously, he served as a prosecutor for the Cook County State's Attorney's Office for 18 years, with his last assignment as a Supervisor in the Juvenile Justice Division.
Hon. Angelo J. Kappas
Associate Judge, DuPage County
Angelo J. Kappas is an Associate Judge for the 18th Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois in DuPage County. He was appointed to the bench in February of 2020. He is a graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Biology. He is also a graduate of Northern Illinois University College of Law at DeKalb, Illinois where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and served on the Law Review. He was an Associate at Parrillo, Weiss & O’Halloran in Chicago, Illinois from 2006-2008 and an Associate at Johnson & Bell, Ltd. In Chicago, Illinois from 2008-2013. Prior to his appointment, he was a Partner at Gordon & Rees, LLP where he handled a variety of civil litigation from 2013 to 2020. He is also a member of Saint Athanasios Greek Orthodox Church in Aurora, Illinois.
Hon. Anthony C. "Tony" Kyriakopoulos
Circuit Court of Cook County
Judge Anthony C. “Tony” Kyriakopoulos is a graduate of The University of Illinois in Chicago and the John Marshall Law School, now known as University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.
In the fall 1990, he joined the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. His assignments included two tours with the Narcotics Prosecutions Bureau, the Felony Review Unit, Preliminary Hearings Unit, and the Felony Trial Division.
In February 2010, the Supreme Court of Illinois appointed Judge Kyriakopoulos to the bench. Since September 2011, he has been assigned to the Mortgage/ Mechanic’s Lien Section of the Chancery Division and presides over Calendar 52, which is one of only three Mechanic Lien courtrooms in Illinois.
Judge Kyriakopoulos is a founding member, board member, and officer of Hel.LAS. the pro bono clinic of the Hellenic Bar Association. Judge Kyriakopoulos is a founding member, board member of The Order of Themis. In addition, Judge Kyriakopoulos serves as the assistant treasurer and a director for the Hellenic Foundation as well as a board member of the Hellenic Bar Association.
Judge Kyriakopoulos and his family reside on the North Side of Chicago and are parishioners of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church of Chicago. He has served on the parish council for over twenty years in many capacities.
Hon. Paul C. Lillios
Retired
Judge Paul C. Lillios began his career as a judicial law clerk for a federal judge and then
served for over a decade as an Assistant United States Attorney. Following his
appointment as a United States Administrative Law Judge, he served on the bench for
over twenty years, retiring as the Associate Chief Administrative Law Judge of the United
States Social Security Administration.
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Following his retirement from the bench, Judge Lillios returned to the practice of law. He
handles administrative law matters, provides ethics advice, conducts internal
investigations and presides over commercial arbitration hearings.
Judge Lillios is an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. He has been a member of the
Archdiocesan Council of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America for over twenty
years and is the current Chairperson of the Archdiocese Legal Committee.
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Judge Lillios was a trustee of Hellenic College/Holy Cross Seminary in Brookline, MA for
six years and was an adjunct Professor of Law for ten years at the John Marshall Law
School in Chicago. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Iowa
and his Juris Doctor degree from Creighton University School of Law.
Hon. Christ S. Stacey
Circuit Court of Cook County
Judge Christ S. Stacey currently sits in a jury trial room in the First Municipal Department of the Circuit Court of Cook County. He was elected in 2020. Before that, he was a trial lawyer in private practice in Chicago for more than 30 years. He graduated from University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. Prior to joining the bench, Stacey served on the Board of the Cabrini Green Legal Aid Clinic and The Crucible Project, and the Advisory Board of World Relief, International, and Active Transportation Alliance.
Hon. Stephanie Saltouros
Circuit Court of Cook County
Appointed to the bench in 2016 by the Illinois Supreme Court, Judge Stephanie Saltouros is seated in the Circuit Court of Cook County. She currently presides in the Domestic Violence Division in the Second Municipal District. She is a founding Board Member for The Order of Themis and a first generation Greek American. Judge Saltouros is a member of the Illinois Judges Association, the Hellenic Bar Association, and the North Suburban Bar Association. She is a mentor for the New Judge Mentoring Program in Cook County and a Judicial Performance Evaluation Facilitator for the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts. Judge Saltouros began her longstanding commitment to public service as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cook County where she remained for over a decade before starting her own law practice. Judge Saltouros was an accomplished litigator with over 20 years of litigation experience before she was elevated to the bench. She received her Juris Doctor from the John Marshall Law School and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Missouri. Judge Saltouros is a lifelong Chicagoan where she currently resides with her husband and two children.
