Prior to becoming an attorney, she worked as a teacher and community organizer, developing after-school programs to help keep kids involved in education and away from drugs and gangs. Madigan also volunteered as a high school teacher in South Africa during apartheid. Madigan later worked as a litigator for the Chicago law firm of Sachnoff & Weaver (now Reed Smith LLP).
In 1998, at the age of 32, Madigan ran for Illinois state senator for the 17th District. She handily beat her primary opponent with 66% of the vote and ran unopposed in the general election. She served in that office from 1998 through 2003. She and Barack Obama served in the Senate together, sat next to each other, and their offices were next to each others. She sat on the judiciary committee.
In 2004, Madigan became the first Illinois Attorney General in more than 25 years to personally argue a case before the United States Supreme Court. She successfully argued Illinois v. Caballes, where the court reaffirmed the ability of police officers to use specially trained dogs without a search warrant or probable cause to detect the presence of illegal drugs during traffic stops.
Madigan was one of many Illinois politicians with strained relationships with now-convicted former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. (See Rod Blagojevich controversies.) Her father Michael Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives previously had a feud with Blagojevich, as highlighted by TIME magazine.[4] On December 12, 2008, Madigan attracted national attention after filing a motion with the Supreme Court of Illinois to temporarily remove Governor Rod Blagojevich from office and install Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn.[5] Although that court denied that motion without a hearing, Blagojevich was subsequently impeached and removed from office by the Illinois General Assembly, and Quinn was sworn in as governor. Blagojevich was later convicted in Federal court on 18 counts and sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment, based on the blatancy of his attempts to use his office for personal gain. Although the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court upheld his convictions, on a subsequent appeal, the 7th Circuit threw out 5 of the convictions in 2015, but Blagojevich was resentenced to the same lengthy term of imprisonment.[6]
Illinois Attorney General Madigan in a briefing about a Wells Fargo lawsuit in 2012
In 2008, Madigan was considered a potential candidate for Governor of Illinois[7] or the United States Senate. However, on July 8, 2009, Madigan announced she was running for reelection as Illinois Attorney General instead of seeking higher office in 2010.[8] Although she was also considered a possible replacement for Barack Obama's Senate seat following his victory in the 2008 presidential election, Madigan described her chances of being appointed as "less than zero."[9] Instead, Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich appointed Roland Burris to fill that term, which appointment gave rise to the Blagojevich Senate appointment scandal and ultimately led to his federal convictions. Many speculated Madigan was "Senate Candidate #2" in the complaint against Blagojevich, although no wrongdoing on her part was implied.
She was widely believed to have the ambition to pursue a higher political office. In 2008 The New York Times named her among the seventeen most likely women to become the first female President of the United States.[10] However, on July 14, 2013, Madigan, who was widely expected to run for governor of Illinois in 2014, announced she would not run because of her father's decision to stay in his post as speaker of the Illinois House. Instead, she ran for reelection as state attorney general and won.[11]
On September 15, 2017, Madigan announced she would not seek reelection in 2018.[12][13][14]
In September 2019, Lisa Madigan joined Kirkland & Ellis as litigation partner.[15]
Awards and honors
2005, received the John F. KennedyNew Frontier Award, presented to "exceptional young Americans under the age of 40 whose contributions in elective office, community service or advocacy demonstrate the impact and value of public service in the spirit of John F. Kennedy."[16]
Personal life
Madigan was born Lisa Murray. She changed her name when she was 18 and was formally adopted in her 20s by Michael Madigan.[17][18] Madigan is married to cartoonistPat Byrnes, and they have two daughters.
^Request for temporary restraining order filed before Supreme Court of Illinois on December 12, 2008 [1]Archived December 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
