George N. Leighton concentrates in the areas of federal litigation and appellate cases.  Judge Leighton became of counsel to Faraci & Faraci in 1997 after retiring from 23 years of service on the federal bench, in the North District of Illinois.  Judge Leighton is a 1945 graduate of Harvard Law School and a 1940 magna cum laude graduate of Howard University.

Judge Leighton’s early career included serving as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois and as Master in Chancery of the Circuit Court of Cook County.  In 1964 he was elected to a six-year term as Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County and, five years later, he was assigned by the Illinois Supreme Court to sit as Judge of the Appellate Court, First District.   In 1970, Judge Leighton was elected to a ten-year term as a Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, First District.  President Gerald Ford nominated Judge Leighton to serve as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1975.  he retired from the federal bench in 1987.

Judge Leighton is a member of theAmerican Bar Association, International Bar Association, National Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Cook County Bar Association, and the Chicago Bar Association.

Judge Leighton has received many awards and honors, including Honorary Doctor of Law Degrees from John Marshall Law School, Southeastern Massachusetts University, New England University School of Law, Loyola University, Elmhurst College and Rhode Island College.  He serves as an Overseer of the Rand Corporation and he is a Trustee Emeritus of Notre Dame University.