Our Professionalism Spotlight series highlights Illinois legal professionals who demonstrate the ideals of professionalism in their careers.
In this Professionalism Spotlight, we spoke to Michelle M. Kohut, a Partner at Corboy & Demetrio in Chicago.
Michelle’s primary practice area is plaintiff’s personal injury and workers’ compensation.
Michelle is active in several bar associations, including the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, where she has previously held leadership positions.
How do you remain civil in tense situations?
Remaining civil in tense situations can be challenging at times, but I remind myself to take a step back and remember that I have been hired by someone who has been injured and is already dealing with an intense situation and needs me to remain calm, cool and collected.
As an advocate, I cannot let petty or uncivil behavior get the best of me. I do not take it personally as it is just unprofessional. Rather, I kill them with kindness by maintaining composure and keeping an eye on the end game. I get ultimate satisfaction by rising above instead of letting my emotions get the best of me.
What is an attorney’s role in furthering public confidence in the rule of law?
An attorney’s role in furthering public confidence in the rule of law is to first and foremost be honest and forthright. Nothing instills confidence more than someone who can set the record straight and tell someone something that may be difficult to hear, or something that they do not want to hear in a calm, professional, and compassionate matter.
Beating around the bush does not instill confidence. Nor does providing a response that it is not well thought out. It is better to say that you do not know the answer to something and that you will look into it further, rather than to make up something up for the sake of answering.
What do you think is the biggest challenge impacting lawyers today?
The biggest challenge impacting lawyers today is using artificial intelligence.
AI can be beneficial in helping with legal research, brainstorming, framing issues, and a multitude of other tasks, but one must understand its limits. On a number of occasions we have heard about an attorney relying completely on AI to do their job without checking the legitimacy of the final product.
This laziness and poor judgment has led to devastating consequences where lawyers have lost their job, ruined their reputation, and had sanctions imposed against them resulting in important rulings being lost. We do not want to lose our careers to AI, so why are some allowing it to “lawyer?”
We need to embrace AI as another legal tool to assist in our practice, but exercise restraint instead of taking the easy way out.
How can the legal profession address workplace bullying?
With 25% of attorneys experiencing bullying, the legal profession can provide better training through mandatory CLE, including how to identify bullying and how to overcome it.
It is especially troubling, but not surprising, that the Commission found that while bullying impacts lawyers from all backgrounds, it disproportionately affects female attorneys, attorneys with disabilities, attorneys of color, younger attorneys, and LGBTQ+ attorneys.
A good next step would be education with these groups in mind. Creating new, mandatory CLE would also send a strong message to the profession that the issue is important and that it should be tackled and remedied. In addition, the coursework would provide targets with valuable resources to effectively resolve bullying.
This is a significant enough problem that the profession must create a system to eradicate the problem altogether.
What do you do for fun?
When time allows and the weather cooperates, I like to take our son and daughter for a stroll through the Chicago Botanic Garden. We all enjoy the beautiful surroundings and the fun facts that we pick up along the way about various vegetation. The time each of us has away from our screens is refreshing. Immersing ourselves in the beauty of nature is such lovely way to decompress and spend quality time together.
Our Professionalism Spotlight recognizes legal professionals throughout Illinois who are admired for their professionalism and civility. Check out more interviews here.
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