Hon. David H. Coar served as a United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois for 16 years and as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for 8 years. He served as the first United States Bankruptcy Trustee in the Northern District of Illinois from 1979 to 1982.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Coar graduated from Syracuse University in 1964. Coar was a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps in 1965, and in the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 1965 to 1971. Coar received his J.D. degree from Loyola-Chicago Law School in 1969 before obtaining an L.L.M. from Harvard Law School in 1970. Coar was a legal intern for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York City from 1970 to 1971.In 1979, pursuant to the newly enacted Bankruptcy Code, Judge Coar became one of ten U.S. Trustees in the country, under a pilot program established within the U.S. Department of Justice. In that capacity, he monitored cases and appointed and supervised trustees and examiners in bankruptcy proceedings.
As Associate Professor of Law at DePaul University College of Law, Judge Coar taught courses on ethics, corporations, corporate finance, constitutional law, labor law, and professional responsibility. As a practicing lawyer, Judge Coar represented private plaintiffs in the case that determined how Title VII impacted the merger of previously segregated lines of progression in the steel industry. As a U.S. District Judge, he tried and settled hundreds of cases involving the full array of matters subject to federal jurisdiction including class action Multi District Litigation, complex corporate, commercial, employment, intellectual property, mass tort, and securities cases. Maintaining a special interest in automation within the courts, he was a member of the Information Technology Committee, heading the Budget Subcommittee.
