John C. Anderson was born in 1970 and raised in Will County. He earned his Bachelor of Science in political science from Illinois State University in 1995, his Juris Doctor from University of Illinois-Chicago in 1999, his Master of Business Administration from University of Notre Dame in 2004, his Master of Science in political studies from University of Illinois-Springfield in 2012, and his Master of Laws from Duke University Law School in 2016.
Justice Anderson’s early legal career includes clerkships for John T. McCullough and Robert C. Buckley on the Illinois Appellate Court, and Thomas L. Kilbride on the Illinois Supreme Court. He later worked at a commercial litigation boutique, and then worked at Thompson Coburn, LLP.
Anderson served on the Will County Board of Commissioners, and became a circuit judge in 2010. He spent most of his time on the circuit bench hearing chancery and other civil cases. He was elected to the Illinois Appellate Court in November 2024.
Justice Anderson has served on a variety of Illinois Supreme Court boards and committees, including the Lawyers’ Trust Fund, the Judicial Retirement System, and the Rules Committee (the latter of which he was chairman). He also served as an editor for the judicial benchbook on mortgage foreclosures.
He was named “Judicial Officer of the Year” by the Illinois State Crime Commission, and helped raise tens of millions of dollars for various legal aid organizations. He has published several articles on various legal topics.