Administrative Judge Young B. Kim was born in 1966 in South Korea — the oldest of three children. His family moved to the States in 1977. He obtained his BA in Economics and Business from the University of Illinois-Champaign in 1988 and received his law degree from Loyola University of Chicago School of law in 1991.

Judge Kim began his legal career as an Assistant Public Defender in Cook County, working in various misdemeanor courtrooms and in the Domestic Violence Division. Two years later, he accepted a federal judicial clerkship with United States District Court Judge Charles Norgle of the Northern District of Illinois. After the clerkship, Judge Kim joined the federal prosecutor’s office in Chicago where he litigated both civil and criminal cases. During his seven year service, Judge Kim focused on healthcare fraud, medical malpractice and employment discrimination cases. Judge Kim was also a member of the defense team representing U.S. Customs Inspectors in the highly-publicized O’Hare strip-search class action in which the plaintiffs alleged racial profiling. In July 2001, Judge Kim accepted an appointment with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as an Administrative Judge.

He now lives in the Chicago area with his wife and their two children. Judge Kim is one of the recipients of NAPABA’s "2004 Best Lawyers Under 40" award.