Closing Date: 13th July, 2026
Description:
Position Description: The Criminal Prosecutions Bureau of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office is seeking an experienced Assistant State's Attorneys at a 2nd chair or higher level to litigate post-conviction matters assigned to courthouses through Cook County. This is a full-time bargaining unit exempt position.Working Environment & Reporting Structure: The Assistant State's Attorney will manage a case load of felony criminal and civil matters seeking collateral relief from criminal convictions and sentences imposed by the trial court. The ASA will conduct appropriate investigations, file written pleadings, present oral arguments, and conduct evidentiary hearings under the guidance of the Post Conviction Unit Supervisor and senior post-conviction ASAs. The ASA will directly report to the Deputy Supervisor of the Post-Conviction Unit.
Duties/Requirements: The ASA will be required to investigate constitutional claims such as actual innocence, ineffective assistance of counsel, police misconduct, and prosecutorial misconduct. The responsibilities of the Post-Conviction Unit ASA are as follows: Review collateral claims of constitutional violations in criminal prosecutions including due process/actual innocence, ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel, police misconduct, juvenile sentencing, and discovery violations to determine whether claims have substantive merit; Investigate allegations by working with investigators to interview potential witnesses, contacting former defense attorneys and prosecutors, locating surviving victims and/or family members of deceased victims and keeping them informed of court proceedings; Research legal issues and draft motions to dismiss, answers, and other relevant legal pleadings; Present oral arguments to the trial court as well as collaborate with courtroom ASAs and ASAs in other Bureaus in preparing and presenting evidence at evidentiary hearings.
The ASA shall be an effective advocate and emissary of the mission, vision and values of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office both with ASAs as well as criminal justice stakeholders and partners.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Possess a J.D. degree from an accredited law school.
- Felony Second Chair or higher equivalent experience.
- Significant criminal trial or civil litigation experience.
- Must possess strong verbal and written communication skills, excellent legal writing ability, a strong work ethic, accountability, and sound judgement.
- Must uphold the mission and values of the CCSAO at all times and support fellow ASA in doing the same.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Prior post-conviction litigation experience is preferred but not required.
- Prior experience as a Trial Supervisor in the Felony Review Unit.
Why are you interested in this particular role?
What in your professional experience has prepared you to succeed in this role?
How will you work to foster and maintain public trust in the Cook County State's Attorney's Office while upholding the mission, vision and values of the Office in your dealings with the ASAs, law enforcement partners, the judiciary, and other stakeholders in the criminal justice system?
Physical Requirements: Light work. Light work involves lifting no more than 20 pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects weighing up to 10 pounds. Even though the weight lifted may be very little, a job is in this category when it requires a good deal of walking or standing, or when it involves sitting most of the time with some pushing and pulling of arm or leg controls. To be considered capable of performing a full or wide range of light work, you must have the ability to do substantially all these activities. If someone can do light work, we determine that he or she can also do sedentary work, unless there are additional limiting factors such as loss of fine dexterity or inability to sit for long periods of time.
