Ashonta C. Rice, a family law attorney and founding partner of the Akiwowo Law Group, is running as a Democrat for Cook County Circuit Court judge in the Coghlan Vacancy. The seat is on the ballot in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election.
Rice received a judicial appointment to the Circuit Court of Cook County effective Aug. 10, 2026, according to Special Order 2026-50 from the court. She is certified for the ballot, according to BallotReady election data.
Candidate information
- Party: Democratic
- Office sought: Circuit Court Judge, Cook County Circuit (Coghlan Vacancy)
- Education: Bachelor's degree in finance, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; juris doctor, Loyola University New Orleans School of Law; certificate in divorce mediation skills, Northwestern University School of Professional Studies
- Residence background: Grew up in Chicago Heights, according to her campaign website
Experience and public service
Rice said on her campaign website that she has been a founding partner of the Akiwowo Law Group, a family law and estate planning practice, since 2007. She said she has twenty years of legal practice representing clients in domestic relations, child protection and DCFS administrative hearings.
Before founding her firm, Rice worked as an attorney in the Office of the Cook County Public Guardian from 2004 to 2007, according to BallotReady profile data. She has also served as a Cook County arbitrator since 2007, according to the same source.
Rice said she is a Chicago Bar Association-approved child representative and guardian ad litem, routinely appointed by the Cook County Circuit Court to serve in complex cases. She said she has spoken as a panelist in continuing legal education seminars for the Illinois State Bar Association and the Black Women Lawyers Association of Greater Chicago.
Her practice extends beyond paid work. Rice said she has volunteered in her faith community's legal clinic, reviewing, explaining and preparing pro se documents for people who could not afford an attorney and preparing expungement applications for returning citizens.
Rice said Forbes Advisor named her one of Chicago's best divorce lawyers in 2023. She also said the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys named her one of its 10 Best Attorneys for Exceptional and Outstanding Client Service seven years in a row, from 2018 through 2024.
Endorsements
Rice has received "Qualified" or "Recommended" ratings from 14 bar associations, according to her campaign website's bar evaluation page. She is also endorsed by IUOE Local 150, according to BallotReady profile data.
Bar association ratings (Qualified or Recommended):
- Arab American Bar Association of Illinois
- Asian American Bar Association
- Black Men Lawyers' Association
- Black Women Lawyers' Association of Greater Chicago
- Chicago Bar Association
- Chicago Council of Lawyers
- Cook County Bar Association
- Decalogue Society of Lawyers
- Hellenic Bar Association
- Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois
- Illinois State Bar Association
- LAGBAC (Chicago's LGBTQ+ Bar Association)
- Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois
- Women's Bar Association of Illinois
Other endorsements:
- IUOE Local 150
Candidate information in this profile is drawn from the candidate's campaign website, BallotReady profile data, bar association evaluations published on the candidate's website, and Cook County Circuit Court records. No candidate questionnaire responses on policy issues were available for this profile.
