Larry Rogers Jr. facts for kids

Larry R. Rogers Jr. (born in 1967 or 1968) is an American lawyer and politician. He currently serves as a commissioner for the Cook County Board of Review in Illinois. He has held this position for the 3rd district since 2004.

Early Life and School

Larry Rogers Jr. is the son of a lawyer, Larry R. Rogers Sr. He grew up in California with his mother, Judith.

He went to the University of California, Davis. In 1990, he earned a degree in managerial economics. Later, he studied law at Chicago-Kent College of Law. He received his law degree in January 1994. While in law school, he won an award for his skills in trial advocacy. He became a licensed lawyer in Illinois on May 5, 1994.

His Career as a Lawyer

After becoming a lawyer, Larry Rogers Jr. joined the law firm Power Rogers & Smith in Chicago. He became a trial lawyer, which means he represents people in court. His main focus was on personal injury law, helping people who were hurt due to someone else's fault.

Big Cases and Successes

One of Larry Rogers Jr.'s first big successes was helping with the Willis case. This case involved a terrible car crash in Wisconsin. Six children from the Willis family were killed. The court decided the family should receive $100 million. This was reported to be the largest payment ever for a single family in U.S. history.

An investigation into this crash found a problem in the Illinois Secretary of State's office. It was discovered that some truck drivers were given licenses unfairly. This led to a large investigation.

Larry Rogers Jr. has won many cases that resulted in millions of dollars for his clients. For example, he won $5 million for a person killed in a Metra train crash in 2004. In 2007, he won $7 million in a medical malpractice case against the Michael Reese Hospital. He has also reached agreements with big organizations like American Airlines and the Chicago Park District.

Today, Rogers is a partner at Power Rogers & Smith. His father is also a founding partner at the same firm.

Awards and Leadership

Since 2005, Larry Rogers Jr. has been named an Illinois Super Lawyer. This means he is recognized as one of the top lawyers in the state. He has also been on Leading Lawyers Magazine's list of "top 100 lawyers."

From 2004 to 2005, he was the president of the Cook County Bar Association. This is the oldest group of African American lawyers in the United States. He is still an active member of its board.

Rogers has been involved in many other legal groups. These include the American Association for Justice and the Illinois State Bar Association. He was also the chairperson of the Young Leadership Division of the National Bar Association from 2001 to 2002.

He was invited to join the Inner Circle of Advocates. This is a special group of only 100 top trial lawyers from across the U.S.

On June 5, 2020, Larry Rogers Jr. became the president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. He is the 67th president of this group. He is also only the second African American president of the association. The first was his own father, who served from 2000 to 2001.

His Political Career

Serving on the Cook County Board of Review

In 2004, Larry Rogers Jr. decided to run for a seat on the Cook County Board of Review. This board handles property tax appeals. He ran against the person who held the seat at the time, Robert Shaw.

Rogers was new to politics and had never run for office before. However, he won the Democratic primary election. Then, he won the general election without any opponents. This made him a commissioner for the 3rd district.

He has been re-elected many times since then. He won again in 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2018. In most of these elections, he ran unopposed.

In his first two years on the board, some of the changes he suggested were not approved by the other two members. In 2006, Rogers supported another Democrat, Brendan Houlihan, who won a seat on the board.

In 2016, an investigation looked into whether his law firm's work followed all the rules when it worked with the county government. In 2018, it was reported that he had received too many campaign donations. The Cook County Ethics Board asked him to return some of the money.

Considering a Mayoral Campaign

In 2011, some people hoped Larry Rogers Jr. would run for mayor of Chicago. He thought about it but decided not to run.

Community Work

Larry Rogers Jr. has been involved in many community groups. From 1997 to 1999, he was on the board of the Robert Taylor Boys & Girls Club of Chicago. He also served on the board of Windows of Opportunity.

He has been involved with the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the NAACP. These organizations work for civil rights and social justice. Since 2003, he has been on the board of trustees for Providence St. Mel School.

His Family Life

Larry Rogers Jr. is married to Rolanda. They have four children: a son named Dominique and three daughters named Erin, Jordan, and Sydney. When he was first elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners, his family lived in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Electoral History

2004

2008

2012

2014

2018

2022

2024