This episode examines the College of Law’s Jurist in Residence program. Started in 2025, the program brings a member of the judicial branch to campus to teach a class, work with faculty, and be a resource to students. The program, one of only two such initiatives in Illinois, aims to deepen the College’s connections to the bench, inspire students to pursue judicial clerkships, and provide them with the opportunity to learn from leading legal minds.
Dean Jamelle Sharpe is the first guest on the episode, and he joined to share a little background on the program and some of his personal experience with the College of Law’s 2026 Jurist in Residence. The second guest on the episode is Judge Candace Jackson-Awikumi, who spent time on campus in March as the latest Jurist in Residence. She spoke about her background, how she came to the bench, and what she enjoyed about her time at Illinois Law.
About Judge Candace Jackson-Awikumi
Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit by President Joseph R. Biden in July 2021. She is the first former public defender to sit on that court, which reviews decisions made by federal courts in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Judge Jackson-Akiwumi received her A.B., with honors, from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she was a Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal. She began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge David H. Coar of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and Judge Roger L. Gregory of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She then practiced law at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and spent a decade as an attorney with the Federal Defender Program for the Northern District of Illinois, Inc., before joining the Washington, D.C., litigation firm Zuckerman Spaeder LLP. Judge Jackson-Akiwumi previously served on the boards of the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, the Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, and the Princeton Club of Chicago. During her time as a federal public defender, she taught at national seminars and Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. She also served as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in Israel and Namibia, a Princeton-in-Asia fellow in Thailand, and an American Inns of Court Temple Bar Scholar in England.
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