Kent Slater, retired Illinois Appellate Judge in the Third District, has joined the Joliet law firm of Spesia, Ayers and Ardaugh, effective immediately. He will focus his areas of concentration on appellate practice, civil litigation and mediation.

Slater, a graduate of the University of Illinois with a BS degree in agricultural science, served as an officer in the Army, stationed in Vietnam. He received his law degree from John Marshall Law School, where he served on the law review and graduated first in his class in 1975. He later received his Master of Law (LL.M.) degree from the University of Virginia in 2001.

From 1975 to 1988, Slater practiced law in Macomb, with the general practice law firm of Lucie, Heiser and Slater. Elected in 1984 to the House of Representatives, Slater served two terms in the Illinois General Assembly before being elected circuit judge in the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Illinois.

In 1990, Slater was elected to the Illinois Appellate Court, Third District, a position he held for 16 years. Prior to his retirement from this post in 2006, he served for three years as the court's presiding officer.

Slater is a member of the Will County and McDonough County Bar Associations, Illinois Judges' Association and Illinois State Bar Association.