Laura Liu, Illinois' first Asian-American appellate judge, dies
Chicago Tribune April 17, 2016

Laura C. Liu was the first Chinese-American judge in Illinois' history and the first Asian-American to serve on the Illinois Appellate Court but she was less concerned with her own groundbreaking achievements than with the people affected by her rulings, her family and colleagues said.

"Judge Liu loved the law, she loved her family, and she loved serving others through ensuring justice for every resident of Illinois," Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. "As the first Asian-American justice to serve on the Illinois Appellate Court, Judge Liu broke barriers and blazed new trails of opportunity."

Liu, 49, died of complications from breast cancer April 15, her family said. A longtime Chicago resident, she had battled cancer for five years.

Born Laura Cha-Yu Liu in Carbondale to parents who were foreign exchange students, Liu grew up in Austintown, Ohio, and started school speaking very little English. She was valedictorian of her high school, her family said.

Liu received a bachelor's degree from Youngstown State University in 1987 and a law degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1991.

Liu moved to Chicago for an internship during law school and chose to stay in the city and live with relatives after graduation. From 1991 until 2010, Liu worked in private practice as a civil litigation attorney, focusing on health care and employment law.

In December 2010, Liu was appointed Cook County Circuit Court judge, and she won election outright to the position in 2012. Liu worked in the mortgage foreclosure section of the chancery division, dealing with the wave of foreclosure cases that materialized in the wake of the housing crisis.
In February 2014, the state Supreme Court appointed Liu to the Illinois Appellate Court's 1st District. Over the next two-plus years, Liu authored more than 150 opinions, including a case that decided the rights of biological parents fighting over the custody of frozen embryos created via in vitro fertilization.

"She took her work very seriously and was always so honored to be on the appellate court," said Appellate Court Justice Joy Cunningham. "She recognized that it was really an honor and she took that to heart because it was something to be treasured. And she in some cases agonized over the issues in her opinions because she recognized that these were things that were affecting people's lives."

Beyond serving as a judge, Liu worked on the Illinois Supreme Court's Access to Justice program, which is aimed at making Illinois' court system more accessible to non-native speakers. As part of co-chairing the program's language access committee, Liu helped create rules requiring courts to provide qualified interpreters for parties and witnesses and to install signage in different languages outside courthouses.
A past president of the Chinese American Bar Association, Liu was a member of many professional associations and awarded many honors, including the Asian American Bar Association's 2014 Vanguard Award, the Illinois Secretary of State's Distinguished Leadership Award and the Women's Bar Association of Illinois' Mary Heftel Hooton Award.

Outside of work, Liu always made time for her 7-year-old daughter Sophie, teaching her to play the piano and speak Mandarin, and cheering her on the soccer field.

Through her battle with cancer, Liu continued to work, including running for election in 2012 and winning appointment to the appellate court in 2014. Even as her condition worsened, Liu worked from home and filed an opinion just last week, Cunningham said.

"She didn't hide the fact that she was ill, but she never dwelled on it," Cunningham said. "She said, 'I got up in the morning, and I'm doing my work.' And she was always upbeat. That's why (her passing) took so many people by surprise, because she was always upbeat to the end. She was just a generally wonderful person and a thoughtful jurist."

"The courage, grace and dignity with which she faced her illness served as a true inspiration," Emanuel said in a statement.

Survivors also include her husband of 10 years, Michael J. Kasper; her parents, Yih-Wu Liu and Becky Liu; a sister, Jessica; and a brother, Eric.

There will b a memorial service at 11 a.m. April 25 at Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 E. Chestnut St., Chicago.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.

Copyright © 2016, Chicago Tribune

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