CBA Record March-April 2026

PRESIDENT’S PAGE BY JUDGE NICHOLE C. PATTON The Unconventional Path: When Your Career Timeline Doesn’t Follow the Script

The Chicago Bar Association www.chicagobar.org President Judge Nichole C. Patton First Vice President Trisha M. Rich Second Vice President Kathryn C. Liss Secretary Andrew W. Vail Treasurer Jonathan B. Amarilio Immediate Past President John C. Sciaccotta Executive Director Beth McMeen BOARD OF MANAGERS John C. Ellis Kevin Gerow Noah Graf Martin D. Gould Judge Kenya A. Jenkins-Wright Michael S. Kozlowski Francine D. Lynch Sari W. Montgomery Judge Thomas A. Morrissey Ryan M. Nolan Brandon E. Peck Gavin Phelps Justice Rena Marie Van Tine Judge Andrea R. Wood Daniel J. Berkowitz James V. Campell Elizabeth Carpenter Gina Crumble Steven R. Decker Nishá N. Dotson

to pivot to the private sector, first doing transportation defense at Liberty Mutual, then moving to a law firm for medical malpractice defense, then launching my own private practice. I later went back to the Cook County SAO, this time working in the Mental Health Unit. That return raised eyebrows. But I had three children during my time in private practice, and when my youngest turned 2, I knew what I needed to do. Going back to the SAO wasn’t a step backward, it was a deliberate choice to align my work, and my workload, with where I was in life. Each transition felt like starting over. I watched colleagues follow straighter lines—the ones who made partner on a “typical” schedule, or who rose through the prosecutor ranks, or who seemed to have mapped their entire careers by their third year of law school. Meanwhile, I was explaining to interviewers why I left the SAO, why I left Liberty Mutual, and why I wanted to go back to prosecution after building a civil practice. Here’s what I wish someone had told me earlier: There is no “should be.” The pressure young lawyers face around career timelines is immense. The legal pro fession loves its benchmarks, its prescribed sequences, its unspoken rules about the “right” time to make moves. But some of the most important devel opments in my career happened precisely because I wasn’t where I was “supposed” to be. My work in the Mental Health Unit became the cornerstone of my judi cial campaign. When I was appointed to the bench in 2018, my mental health background led to my assignment in the

I must confess that I’ve never been good at following timelines. When I became President of the CBA, I did so after spending just six months as Second Vice President before moving into the First Vice President role for another six months. The traditional path takes four years, moving through each leadership position annually. But life doesn't always follow the traditional path. I was unexpectedly asked to step into the role of First Vice President. Sometimes the most important moments in your career aren’t the ones you planned, they’re the ones where you say “yes” when circum stances call for it. And truthfully, my entire legal career has been a study in unconventional timing. Straight out of law school, I spent five years with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, convinced I’d found my calling in prosecution. Then I decided

6 March/April 2026