Magistrate Judge Joshua P. Kolar was appointed on January 1, 2019 after spending over 10 years as an Assistant United States Attorney. During his time as a prosecutor, Judge Kolar tried over a dozen jury trials and briefed or argued over a dozen cases in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Early in his tenure as an Assistant United States Attorney, he tried cases and investigated matters ranging from narcotics and firearms violations to public corruption. In his last position with the United States Attorney’s Office, he was responsible for all national security matters throughout the Northern District of Indiana and prosecuted both domestic and international terrorism matters, as well as sanctions violations. Prior to his federal service, Judge Kolar worked at Mayer Brown LLP, where he represented clients in criminal, civil RICO, antitrust, and general commercial litigation in addition to taking on several pro bono matters. 

After earning his B.A. from Northwestern University, Judge Kolar went on to Northwestern University School of Law, where he earned his J.D. in 2003 and served on the Northwestern Law Review. Immediately following his law school graduation, Judge Kolar served as a Public Interest Law Initiative Summer Fellow with the Cook County Public Defender. Judge Kolar served as a law clerk to the Honorable Wayne R. Anderson (Ret.), United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He is a drilling reservist with the U.S. Navy and was called to active duty in 2014, deploying to Afghanistan.