CBA Record May-June 2023

CBA RECORD

EDITOR’S BRIEFCASE BY JUSTICE MICHAEL B. HYMAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF R ecently, I came across a tale about a stonecutter who questioned his fate: a gruel ing job with many challenges, long hours, and unrelenting pressures. Many law yers feel like the stonecutter. Here is the story reimagined. One day, while an associate was contemplating how he possibly could finish a complex equity derivative contract due the next day, he heard cheers out his window. He joined the crowd and recognized the fellow causing the commotion as a popular movie star. “Oh, to have a life of celebrity and adoration,” the associate thought. “No more time sheets. No more late evenings staring at my laptop. How I wish I could be a famous actor.” Unbeknownst to the associate, this happened to be the day his wishes would be granted. Suddenly, he was aware of people cornering him for his autograph and a selfie. He was no longer an associate but a big movie star. “Oh, what ecstasy,” he whispered to himself. Soon, however, he became dispirited. He thought about all his money and didn’t know how to invest it. “I don’t understand,” he said. “I am free to do as I please when I please, and yet, I cannot stop thinking about my investments. I need a financial planner. That must be a more satisfying job than being a movie star. I wish I were a financial planner.” Suddenly, he was a financial planner, overseeing wealthy clients’ money. “Hooray, I feel I’ve found the job for me,” he said. Except, his spirits waned when he watched a politician interviewed on TV. He noticed that the politician was happy and confident and proud of himself. “I was wrong. If politi cians are like that, I wish to be a politician.” And so it was. To his dismay, however, he had neglected to indicate which party to join. As a result, he quickly became dispirited again. “I am miserable,” he said. “Everyone calls me night and day demanding I vote this way or that. And social media trolls attack me hourly. I’m a nervous wreck and now have ulcers. I need a doctor. Gee, medicine must be more rewarding. I wish to be a doctor.” Instantly, he found himself in an operating room performing delicate surgery. Then, as he left to contact the family, he was served with a summons and complaint alleging medical negligence. “This is intolerable. I don’t want to be second-guessed on everything I do,” he said. “Being a doctor means worrying about lawsuits. That’s not for me.” You can imagine what happened next. “If people need lawyers no matter their station or circumstances in life, I want to be a lawyer again,” he said. “But at a different firm doing litigation.” Boom, he was back in a cubicle late at night, researching a motion to dismiss a medical malpractice complaint. Sure enough, he realized that practicing law was the most fulfilling job for him – he just needed to be in the right place and in the right practice area for his abilities and character. An Interpretation The story serves as a reminder that when our work gets to us, we should not seek a career that comes with fame, money, power, prestige, or the like. Instead, we should find something that fascinates us, lights us up, excites us to work there, and gives our work meaning and our lives purpose. As the eminent Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung wrote, “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” We Are What We Choose to Become

EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Justice Michael B. Hyman Illinois Appellate Court

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Anne Ellis Proactive Worldwide, Inc.

SUMMARY JUDGMENTS EDITOR Daniel A. Cotter Howard and Howard Attorneys PLLC YLS JOURNAL EDITORS Jacob B. Berger Tabet DiVito & Rothstein LLC Theodore Kontopoulos FORVIS Nikki Marcotte Tabet DiVito & Rothstein LLC Carolyn Amadon Samuel, Son & Co. Daniel J. Berkowitz Aronberg Goldgehn Amy Cook Amy Cook Law LLC Nina Fain Janet Sugerman Schirn Family Trust Anthony F. Fata Kirby McInerney LLP Clifford Gately Quarles & Brady Judge Jasmine Villaflor Hernandez Circuit Court of Cook County Kaitlin King Hart David Carson LLP Lynn Semptimphelter Kopon Kopon LLC John Levin Kathryn C. Liss DePaul University College of Law Bonnie McGrath Law Office of Bonnie McGrath Clare McMahon Clifford Law Offices Kathleen Dillon Narko Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Alexander Passo Latimer LeVay Fyock LLC Adam J. Sheppard Sheppard Law Firm, PC Richard Lee Stavins Robbins DiMonte, Ltd. Rosemary Simota Thompson Hoffenberg & Block LLC Pamela Sakowicz Menaker

Judge E. Kenneth Wright, Jr. Circuit Court of Cook County

THE CHICAGO BAR ASSOCIATION Sharon Nolan Director of Marketing

Rehearing “Work to become, not to acquire." Elbert Hubbard (writer, 1859-1915).

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