ROCHELLE — In September, Ogle County attorney Russell Crull of Rochelle law firm Tess, Crull & Arnquist was appointed as an associate judge of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. He will preside in Ogle County in courtroom 304 starting on Dec. 2.
Crull received his undergraduate degree in 2009 from Western Illinois University in Macomb and his Juris Doctor in 2013 from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. After college, he worked for Sycamore law firm Klein, Stoddard, Buck & Lewis. He joined Tess, Crull & Arnquist on July 1, 2014 and was named as a partner April 1, 2016.
“The practice of law has its ups and downs, but the biggest up is always being able to help people,” Crull said of his recent appointment. “I thought it would be a position where I could help both sides and be fair and accurate in application of the law to both sides. I think it's a good step for me to help more people and to help our community.”
Crull, who grew up in Ogle County, decided to pursue law while in college at WIU. After working through law school at NIU and being hired by Klein, Stoddard, Buck & Lewis, he met David Tess through the Focus House Board, which his family has been involved with since its inception. Tess advised there was an opening in his office and Crull chose to practice law in Ogle County.
During law school, Crull took part in a clerkship in the Ogle County Courthouse, working for a number of Ogle County judges.
“I had a tremendous amount of respect for the judges,” Crull said. “Judge Mallon in particular would always come into my office and give me career and life advice and I always really respected and appreciated that. I also remember I was there when Judge Pemberton retired, and he sat on the bench for a great period of time after his last case. You could just see how important that was and how much that meant to him and how much he enjoyed that career. That always kind of stuck in my mind.”
Crull, 38, said he chose to apply for the associate judge position to help the community and make Ogle County a better place. He said he was “tremendously humbled” when he received news of his appointment.
The biggest change for Crull will be working with both sides of cases, rather than just one as an attorney. He thanked everyone at Tess, Crull & Arnquist for the past 10+ years.
Crull can trace his family’s roots in Ogle County back to the early 1900s. He’s found receipts from that time of one of his great grandfathers selling items to another.
“I've been given and need to take advantage of an opportunity to help make Ogle County and the whole 15th Judicial Circuit the best place that I can,” Crull said. “I like the people here and want them to do well and I want more people to want to live here. It's humbling, but very exciting. It means a lot that that trust has been put in me and that I can hopefully use it to help our area.”
Crull said making sure people respect the court process, and making sure they feel respected during the process will be paramount to him on the bench. He wants to make sure people feel they have a fair and impartial judge.
“Being able to help both sides is what I'm looking forward to most,” Crull said. “I'm looking forward to being able to have the time to listen to everybody. A lot of times as a lawyer you listen to the other side, but you're listening in order to attack. I think it'll be a lot nicer when I have the opportunity to just listen to both sides without predetermining anything and hearing out both sides in advance of making any determination.”
