P. Scott Neville Jr.

P. Scott Neville Jr. (born 1948 or 1949) is an American lawyer who has served as the chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court since 2025, while also concurrently serving as a justice of the court since 2018.

Education

Neville received his bachelor's degree in history from Culver–Stockton College in 1970 and his Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law in 1973.

Career

He was admitted to the bar in 1974 and served as a law clerk to appellate court Justice Glenn T. Johnson. From 1977 until 1979, he was Of Counsel at Howard, Mann & Slaughter. In 1979, he became a principal with the law firm of Neville & Ward. In 1981, he established P. Scott Neville, Jr. & Associates, which merged with Howse, Howse, Neville & Gray in 1990.

State judicial service

Neville was appointed to the Circuit Court of Cook County in 1999 and elected in 2000. On June 11, 2004, he was appointed to the Appellate Court to succeed Neil Hartigan. He was then elected to the Appellate Court in 2012. He also served as Chairman of the Executive Committee for the Illinois Appellate Court, First District from September 1, 2013 until August 31, 2014, is a former member of the Appellate Court's Executive Committee and has been the Presiding Justice of the Second, Third and Fourth Divisions. He was sworn into office on June 15, 2018 and his term would have ended on December 7, 2020, but he was subsequently elected in his own right in the 2020 Illinois judicial elections. Neville was only the second black justice in the Illinois Supreme Court's 170-year history (Freeman had been the first).

Personal life

Neville was born in Chicago. He is married to Sharon J. Neville and has two adult stepdaughters.