‘Take out the noise:’ My talk with Ald. Michele Smith

Mediation Circus

By Michael R. Panter

Hon. Michael R. Panter (Ret.) is a senior mediator at ADR Systems of America LLC. He previously served in the Law, Family and Municipal Divisions of the Cook County Circuit Court. He was a trial lawyer for 30 years. Share responses and comments at mikepanter.com.

Posted September 5, 2018 11:53 AM

Despite daily reports of horror, 2.7 million people choose to live together in Chicago.We lawyers and judges sometimes forget that figuring out how to get people to live with each other is the entire purpose behind everything we do in law.Ward 43 Ald. Michele E. Smith, who used to be a prosecutor and corporate lawyer, told me recently that figuring out how to make that work is one of the most important parts of her job.“My role is to try to take out the noise,” so people can solve their own problems, she told …

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