Former Riverside resident Martin Reggi hopes that the third time will be the charm as in this year’s race for judge in the 3rd Judicial Subcircuit.
Reggi, who now lives in Cicero, unsuccessfully ran for judge in 2014 losing a two-person race in the Democratic primary to fellow Riversider John Allegretti in the 2014 Democratic primary. He finished third in a 2018 race that was won by Elizabeth Ciaccia and also featured Riversider John O’Meara, who finished a close second.
Reggi faces another uphill battle in the March 19 Democratic primary, facing Lucesther “Lucy” Vasquez-Gonzalez who has the support of most of the politicians in the subcircuit that includes much of Riverside and part of Brookfield, and is predominately Hispanic.
Vasquez-Gonzalez had the endorsement of former State Rep. Mike Zalewski, who remains Riverside Township Democratic committeeman, state Sen. Mike Porfirio, Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar, Chicago Ald. Silvana Tabares, Cicero Mayor Larry Dominick and a host of other Cicero government officials. One area where Reggi has the edge is in bar associations’ ratings.
Reggi, a graduate of Northern Illinois University Law School, began his career as a prosecutor for the Cook County State’s Attorney, but has been a solo practitioner since 1985. He has an office in Berwyn. Reggi has been found either recommended or qualified by 10 of 12 bar associations that evaluated him, with only the Illinois State Bar Association rating Reggi as not qualified and the Decalogue Society of Lawyers (an association of Jewish lawyers) rating him as not recommended. The Illinois State Bar raised concerns about “the depth and breadth of Reggi’s current legal knowledge.” According to the Illinois State Bar Association’s evaluation, Reggi’s practice focuses on criminal defense, civil litigation, real estate closings, Secretary of State hearings and evictions.
The Chicago Council of Lawyers, typically one of the toughest judicial ratings groups, found Reggi qualified and Vasquez Gonzalez not qualified. The Chicago Council of Lawyers praised Reggi’s temperament and said that he has substantial litigation experience, much of it involving more complex matters.
Vasquez-Gonzalez, 56, received a GED in 1988, went on to earn two associate degrees from Morton College and graduated from Roosevelt University before graduating from John Marshall Law School. She was admitted to the bar in 2009 and opened her own solo law practice after working for two small law firms.
She has focused primarily on family law, and also serves as an administrative law judge for the City of Chicago, conducting code violation hearings. In addition to her extensive work in family law, she also has done some work in probate, immigration and workman’s compensation cases. She has frequently served as guardian ad litem representing children. She has served as an adjunct professor at the UIC School of Law, formerly known as John Marshall Law School. She is the secretary of the Puerto Rican Bar Association.
Vaquez-Gonzalez was found not recommended or not qualified by six of 11 bar associations that rated her. The Illinois Bar Association said that she had no jury trial experience and limited bench trial experience. The Chicago Council of Lawyers also raised concerns about her punctuality and diligence.
“She is reported to be knowledgeable about her fields of practice and is reported to have a good temperament,” the Chicago Council of Lawyers evaluation stated. “However, the Council is concerned that there have been reports questioning her punctuality and diligence – noting that she sometimes fails to meet court deadlines and return communications to other lawyers. We are also concerned about her lack of litigation experience in more complex matters.”
Also finding Vasquez-Gonsalez not recommended were the Chicago Bar Association, the Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois, the LAGBAC-Chicago LGBTQ+ Bar Association and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois.
The bar associations that found Vasquez-Gonzalez qualified or recommended were the Puerto Rican Bar Association, the Black Women Lawyers Association, the Cook County Bar Association (an association of African-American lawyers) the Decalogue Society of Lawyers and the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois.
The other 3rd Judicial subcircuit race has only one candidate, Patrick Heery of Brookfield. Running unopposed countywide is Riverside resident Chloe Pederson. Pederson was appointed to the bench last year after finishing second in a 2022 subcircuit race. She is currently assigned to the Traffic Division downtown.
