Sara L. Ellis

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Sara L. Ellis

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| image = Sara Ellis (Judge) (cropped).jpg

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| caption = Ellis in 2013

| office = Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

| term_start = October 8, 2013

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| appointer = Barack Obama

| predecessor = Joan B. Gottschall

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|12|08}}

| birth_place = London, Ontario, Canada

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| education = Indiana University (BA)
Loyola University Chicago (JD)

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Sara Lee Ellis (born December 8, 1969) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Early life

Ellis was born December 8, 1969, in London, Ontario, Canada,{{cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Sara-Ellis-Senate-Questionnaire-Public-Final.pdf|title=Senate Judiciary Committee Nomination Questionnaire|publisher=}} to Jamaican-born parents. She became a naturalized citizen of the United States when she was 15 years old.{{cite news|title=Judge asks new Syrian-American to lead Pledge of Allegiance|url=http://fox6now.com/2017/02/09/judge-asks-new-syrian-american-to-lead-pledge-of-allegiance/|access-date=February 10, 2017|work=FOX6Now.com|date=February 9, 2017}}{{FJC Bio|nid=1394286|inline=yes}}

Education and career

She received a Bachelor of Arts in 1991 from Indiana University. She received a Juris Doctor in 1994 from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She worked as a staff attorney at the Federal Defender Program in Chicago from 1994 to 1999. From 2000 to 2004, she worked at Stetler, Duffy & Rotert, Ltd., a white-collar criminal defense law firm. From 2004 to 2008, she served as assistant corporation counsel for the Chicago Department of Law, handling claims for injunctive relief and civil rights lawsuits. From 2008 to 2013, she served as counsel at the law firm of Schiff Hardin LLP in Chicago, where she was a member of the litigation and white-collar crime practice groups.{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/04/30/president-obama-announces-intent-nominate-three-serve-united-states-dist|work=whitehouse.gov|title=President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate Three to Serve on the United States District Court|via=National Archives|date=30 April 2013}}

=Federal judicial service=

On May 6, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Ellis to be a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, to the seat vacated by Judge Joan B. Gottschall, who assumed senior status on April 23, 2012. She received a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 19, 2013, and her nomination was reported to the floor of the Senate on July 18, 2013, by voice vote. The Senate confirmed her nomination on October 7, 2013, by voice vote. She received her commission on October 8, 2013.