Federal Court Selects Karyn Bass Ehler as U.S. Magistrate Judge in Northern Illinois (Chicago, IL) – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has selected Karyn Bass Ehler to serve as a United States magistrate judge, filling a vacancy that will be created by the upcoming retirement of Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert, court officials announced.
Chief U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall said Bass Ehler will assume the role following Gilbert’s retirement on May 6, 2026.
“We are so pleased that Ms. Bass Ehler will be joining the hardworking and dedicated magistrate judge bench,” Kendall said in a statement. “She is a talented litigator with significant experience practicing before the Court and has demonstrated a strong commitment to public service.”
Bass Ehler currently serves as assistant chief deputy attorney general in the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, a position she has held since 2021. Her career includes a range of senior roles in both government and private practice.
Before rejoining the Attorney General’s Office, Bass Ehler was general counsel for the Illinois Department of Public Health from 2020 to 2021. She also served as head of the civil rights practice group and senior counsel at Grant & Eisenhofer between 2019 and 2020. Earlier in her career, she spent four years at the Illinois Attorney General’s Office as chief of the Civil Rights Bureau.
From 2007 to 2015, Bass Ehler worked as both an associate and a partner at the Chicago law firm Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym. She earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in 2000 and her law degree from DePaul University College of Law in 2005. She also previously clerked for U.S. Circuit Judge William J. Bauer and U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly.
U.S. magistrate judges are appointed for eight-year terms and must meet statutory requirements, including at least five years of membership in good standing with a state’s highest court and five years of active legal practice.
The selection process is governed by federal statute and Judicial Conference regulations. A merit selection panel reviewed applications, interviewed candidates and submitted recommendations to the district judges. The panel was chaired by Eileen Letts and included attorneys and non-attorneys from the community.
Magistrate judges play a key role in the federal court system, handling preliminary proceedings in criminal cases, presiding over misdemeanor trials with the consent of the parties, managing pretrial matters, and overseeing civil cases when litigants agree to magistrate jurisdiction.
Federal Court Selects Karyn Bass Ehler as U.S. Magistrate Judge in Northern Illinois
