The Hellenic Bar Association is proud to announce that Hon. Thomas V. Lyons will receive the 2026 HBA Socrates Dikastes Award at the our upcoming Judge’s Night. Judge Lyons is the Presiding Judge of the Law Division and has served as a trial judge in the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, located in the Daley Center in Chicago since 2014. Click the button below to read more about Judge Lyons.
Please join the HBA as we recognize and honor distinguished members of the state and federal judiciary in Cook, Lake, DuPage, and Will Counties, and especially Judge Lyons, on June 4, 2026, at the National Hellenic Museum. Sponsorships are still available, and individual ticket sales begin next week.
About Judge Thomas V. Lyons
Judge Thomas Lyons is the Presiding Judge of the Law Division and has served as a trial judge in the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, located in the Daley Center in Chicago since 2014.
He was appointed to the bench by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2008 and was elected to that position in 2010. Judge Lyons began his judicial career in Traffic Court, and then as a jury trial judge in the First Municipal District.
Lyons began his legal career in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, where he served in the Criminal, Narcotics, Special Prosecutions, and Civil Actions Bureaus of that office. Lyons served as Deputy Chief of the Civil Actions Bureau under State’s Attorney Richard Devine before working as a trial lawyer in private practice.
Judge Lyons earned his BA from Northwestern University, and his JD from Loyola University School of Law.
Judge Lyons is former Chairman of the Torts Section Council for the Illinois State Bar Association, a Member of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. In addition, Judge Lyons serves on the Board of Directors for the North Suburban Bar Association, the Board of Directors of the Illinois Judges’ Association and has served on the board of Directors for the Illinois Judges’ Foundation. Judge Lyons is founding member The Brehon Association of Judges, where he serves as Vice President and serves on the Board of Directors. He is a frequent presenter at CLE Presentations and Seminars and serves as a Faculty Member for the Education Conference of Illinois Judges