Suzanne Favia Gillen was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1961. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics from Lake Forest College in 1984, and a Juris Doctorate degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law, in 1987.

Ms. Gillen was admitted to practice law in Illinois in 1987, and is also admitted to practice law before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.