Human Rights Commission Staff 

Michael J. Evans joined the Human Rights Commission as an Administrative Law Judge in January of 1991 and was appointed to Chief Administrative Law Judge in October, 2005. He received his B.A. from Northwestern University and his J.D. from DePaul University, where he served on the writing staff of the law review. He previously worked in small law firms and as an assistant state's attorney for McHenry County.

Judge Bauch, an attorney since 1984, earned a B.A. in sociology from U.C.L.A., magna cum laude, and a J.D. from the University of Miami, cum laude, where she served as Associate Editor on the Journal of International Law, now the Inter-American Law Review. She is also a graduate of the National Judicial College where she took an intensive course on “Administrative Law: Fair Hearings.” Prior to her appointment as Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge by the Commission in 2005, she served as Assistant General Counsel for the Illinois Department of Human Services where she was Litigation Counsel representing the Department in administrative hearings. Earlier in her career, Judge Bauch was an Honors Attorney and then Regional Attorney with the FDIC in its Washington D.C. and Chicago offices. For several years, she had her own private practice focusing on franchise and distribution law. She has also served as Chief of Staff to Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley. In addition to having numerous published articles and commentaries on a myriad of subjects, Judge Bauch served on the editorial board of the American Bar Association’s Franchise Law Journal as a Topics and Articles Editor and as an Associate Editor. She is Co-Chair of the CBA’s Administrative Law Judges Committee and an Executive Board Member of the Illinois Association of Administrative Law Judges. Judge Bauch was a founding board member of the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center. She is an avid marathon runner.

William J. Borah spent the last 21 years in private practice with his own firm, where he was a litigator in employment law before most state and federal courts, and agencies. Among the many bar leadership positions held, he was the Chair of the ISBA Labor & Employment Law Section Council, where he is a member. Judge Borah is also a speaker, author and recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. His article on workplace sexual harassment, published in the Illinois Bar Journal (IBJ) in 2008, was rated as one of “national significance” by West Publishing. A second article on the First Amendment and church employment, published in the July 2010 IBJ issue, received the same national recognition.

ALJ Brent was appointed as an administrative law judge for the Commission on June 1, 2000. An attorney since 1975, Judge Brent has served as a special assistant to the Clerk of the Illinois Supreme Court, an assistant state's attorney for Cook County and in several positions at the American Bar Association, including director of the Section of Litigation and of the Commission on Professionalism. Judge Brent received his BA from the University of Illinois (Urbana) and, after military service in Vietnam, a JD from DePaul University, where he was a member of the law review editorial board.

Mariette Lindt is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law and DePaul University College of Commerce. Judge Lindt has served with the Commission since September 2000, previously in the capacity of Assistant General Counsel and presently as an Administrative Law Judge. She has served as Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Civil Rights Committee and is a graduate of the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada. She is presently working toward her LL.M. degree in Child and Family Law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Gertrude L. McCarthy received her B.A. in Sociology from Northwestern University and her J.D. from DePaul University Chicago School of Law in 1981. Prior to her appointment to the Commission, she worked in private practice concentrating in domestic relations with an emphasis on the Illinois Domestic Violence Act.

Sabrina M. Patch received her J.D. degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and has attended the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada. She earned her M.A. in Journalism from Governors State University and her B.A. in Journalism from Columbia College Chicago. She has worked in private practice and for the U.S. Department of Labor. Judge Patch has served as an Administrative Law Judge for the Commission since August 2000.

Michael R. Robinson joined the Human Rights Commission as an Administrative Law Judge in its Springfield office in 1993. Robinson received his B.A. degree in history from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his J.D. from the University of Nebraska. Prior to joining the Commission, Robinson practiced with the law firm of Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen in Urbana. Prior to that he served as a senior research attorney for the Illinois Supreme Court Research Department. Judge Robinson has authored several articles for the Illinois State Bar Association's Illinois Bar Journal, of which three were cited as winners of the Lincoln Legal Writing Award. He has also written chapters on federal subject matter jurisdiction and Social Security benefits for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education.