I first met Scott Frankel about 15 years ago when our sons were classmates and close buddies at Pilgrim Community Nursery School. Since that time, Scott has become not only a good friend of mine, but also one of the people I most respect in our community. When Scott told me he planned to run for Judge in the 11th Subcircuit of Cook County, I was thrilled and immediately told him it was a perfect fit.
Scott is a longstanding, dedicated, and positive part of our community who cares about and understands its people. He and his wife Laurie have lived in Oak Park for 20 years and sent their two children to our public schools. In many meaningful ways, Scott has been a strong and passionate advocate for the community: supporting our local schools, serving as an active member of his synagogue, and volunteering on the Community Relations Commission and with PADS/Housing Forward, where he prepares and delivers meals to the homeless.
His professional qualifications as a judge are exemplary. Scott was recently rated “highly qualified” — the highest level possible — by the Chicago Bar Association. As a law student, he was editor-in-chief of the Ohio State Law Journal and later served as a law clerk for a U.S. District Court judge. Scott has spent most of his distinguished legal career as a criminal defense and civil rights attorney, first in the Cook County Public Defender’s Office, and then, since 1992, as a private attorney where he represents individuals in a wide variety of criminal and civil matters.
Scott’s personal qualities and intelligence, integrity, and decency are also particularly well-suited for a role on the bench. I have enjoyed countless conversations with Scott over the years about topics relating to our community, nation, and world. In these discussions, his understanding of often complicated issues and compassion for others is consistently clear. He has a genuine, curious, and engaging manner that will allow him to treat the cases he reviews with the seriousness and the human qualities they require.
In background, competence, knowledge, and temperament, Scott Frankel is exactly the kind of person who will be effective in making important and fair decisions that will improve the lives of those in our community. I am enthusiastically supporting his candidacy for Judge in the 11th Subcircuit of Cook County and I urge you to do the same.
Ian Friedman
Oak Park
