Judge Oran F. Whiting (Ret.) was appointed Circuit Court of Cook County Judge, at Large, by the Illinois Supreme Court, on July 27, 2017, to fill the unexpired term of retired Judge Eileen Mary Brewer. Assigned to the First Municipal Department, he presided over jury and bench trials in negligence and commercial litigation matters.

Upon the November 30, 2018 expiration of his appointed term, he reopened his law firm, where he currently represents domestic and international clients in commercial and insurance defense litigation, and in aviation law, government, regulatory, and compliance matters. He is presently a consultant to the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department of the United Arab Emirates, where he serves as a Major Court of First Instance Judge and as a judicial/law professor training judges and attorneys. He also teaches aviation law as a Loyola University Chicago Law School Adjunct Law Professor.

Prior to his judicial appointment, Judge Whiting was a 29 year law firm veteran. As a partner in several international law firms, Judge Whiting represented domestic and international clients in commercial and insurance defense litigation, and in government, regulatory affairs, and compliance matters. He successfully tried numerous commercial litigation and personal injury cases to verdict; drafted dozens of state and federal appellate court briefs; argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; and appeared in several state and federal jurisdictions via motions pro hac vice.

Judge Whiting served as outside general counsel for Chicago’s Mercy Hospital, where he was responsible for a $2 million legal budget. As a governor appointed Illinois Court of Claims commissioner, he presided over 23 bench trials; and as an Illinois Secretary of State appointed hearing officer, he determined whether drivers with licenses under suspension for DUI qualified for license reinstatement. Judge Whiting served as counsel to the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the 89th Illinois General assembly, providing legal advice and technical review of proposed legislation.

As a member of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois’ Oversite Committee, Judge Whiting is responsible for investigatory quality assurance review. He has served on several boards, including the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, and the Board of Trustees of the Francis W. Parker School. As a member of the American Bar Association, he has held several leadership positions, including executive editor of the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation’s Litigation News Magazine, and co-chair of the Section’s Committee on Ethics and Professionalism. A prolific speaker and writer, Judge Whiting has authored more than 38 published articles on various legal issues.

Judge Whiting's distinctions include being: recommended by his peers at Leading Lawyer Magazine for his litigation and government services work; selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer; and featured in Crain's Chicago Business's "Big Cases Chicago Lawyers Worked On," a roster of Chicago lawyers performing prominent and important work. As a practitioner, Judge Whiting had a brief adopted by a senior United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois judge as the judge's opinion, a rare honor.

Judge Whiting is admitted to practice in the: State of Illinois; United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois; United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois; United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; and United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Judge Whiting is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, where he received a juris doctorate, and of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in international relations from the College of Arts and Sciences, and a bachelor of science degree in economics from the Wharton School. While at the University of Pennsylvania, he studied in Madrid, where he became fluent in Spanish, and was a men's varsity volleyball team letterman.