James Block Zagel (March 4, 1941 – July 15, 2023) was an American judge and attorney. After a stint as a prosecutor, he became a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1987, assuming senior status in 2016. He presided over numerous high-profile trials, including those of several members of the Chicago Outfit and the corruption trial of former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich. Zagel also sat on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from 2008 to 2015.
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 2/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 54/year
Illinois Northern District Court · 1987–2023
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Illinois Governor's Advisory Counsel on Criminal Justice LegislationChairman · 1980–1987
- Illinois State PoliceDirector · 1980–1987
- Illinois Department of RevenueDirector · 1979–1980
- Illinois Law Enforcement CommisionExecutive director · 1977–1979
State of IllinoisAssistant attorney general · 1969–1977- ↳deputy chief, Criminal Justice Division · 1969–1970
- ↳chief, Criminal Justice Division · 1970–1977
- Illinois Judicial Inquiry BoardChief prosecutor · 1973–1975
- State of Arizona (on leave from Illinois)Chief assistant attorney general · 1975
- Cook County, IllinoisAssistant state's attorney · 1965–1969
Appointments
1987–2023 · Appointed by Ronald Reagan (Republican)Term ended: Death
Education
J.D. · 1965- University of ChicagoB.A. · 1962
- University of ChicagoM.A. · 1962