Michele Jochner (Chicago Alumni Chapter)
Partner, Schiller, DuCanto, & Fleck

TITLE: How Leadership Roles Made Me a Better Lawyer
Presenting Saturday, August 3rd from 10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. Eastern

“Few women attorneys have the sphere and breadth of influence as does Michele Jochner."

These words opened the article written about workshop presenter Michele M. Jochner when she was recognized as one of the top 50 Women in the Law by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and Chicago Lawyer magazine. How did she earn this distinguished reputation that led to her colleagues honoring her with this and many other awards throughout her career? One unmistakable key to her success has been accepting and excelling in leadership roles. 

In this dynamic and interactive session, Michele shares numerous practical insights as to how leadership roles can be the valuable gift that keeps on giving throughout your career!  

Michele explains how your bright tomorrow starts today – here at the 65th Biennial Convention – with your leadership roles in Phi Alpha Delta, as well as in other legal and community groups. Michele also traces how her own career unfolded to lead to her partnership in Chicago’s Schiller DuCanto & Fleck, where she represents high asset and highly successful clients from the business, media and entertainment arenas in complex divorce and family law matters.  

Michele will walk you step-by-step through the various leadership opportunities that await you, including how your involvement in PAD can serve as a catalyst for further career growth and development. By the end of the session, you will be armed with a gameplan to make your mark through PAD’s hallmark of service to both the legal profession and the broader community! 

Biography:
Throughout her career, Michele M. Jochner has led the way in advancing the ideals of leadership and mentoring throughout our legal community. Whether chairing boards and committees, penning hundreds of legal articles offering practical advice to colleagues or serving as a one-on-one mentor and role model to law students and new attorneys, Michele has “paid it forward” to help others achieve their very best.

As a partner at Schiller DuCanto and Fleck LLP, Michele handles complex, high-stakes marital dissolution matters in the Illinois courts of review. Prior to entering private practice, Michele served for more than 15 years as a Judicial Law Clerk to two Chief Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court who were trailblazers in their own right: the late Hon. Mary Ann G. McMorrow and the late Hon. Charles E. Freeman.

Known for her legal scholarship, Michele has authored more than 200 articles, with her writings appearing in publications nationwide. She has also been invited to lecture at several dozen conferences and seminars across the country, with a significant portion of this work focusing on instructing colleagues in effective appellate advocacy, legal writing and new developments in the law. She has been recognized by her peers in family appellate law, ranked in the Top 100 Women Consumer Lawyers in Illinois and profiled in the 2016 Consumer Edition of Leading Lawyers magazine. In addition, Michele has earned recognition by Super Lawyers and The Best Lawyers in America, and is listed in Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Family Lawyers.” The Women’s Bar Association of Illinois has honored her with its Top Women Lawyers in Leadership Award; she was also recognized as one of several distinguished “Women Making an Impact” by Chicago Lawyer magazine for her mentoring work.

A well-known leader in her profession, Michele is the immediate past-Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court’s Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Board, and also is a past Chair of the DePaul University College of Law Dean’s Advisory Council after previously being honored with the DePaul University College of Law Outstanding Service to the Profession Award. Michele also currently serves as a member of the Boards of Directors of Scribes – The American Society of Legal Writers, as well as the Center for Conflict Resolution (CCR).

Michele is a past member of the Board of Governors and past Secretary of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), and has served on the ISBA Family Law Section Council, was a co-editor of the ISBA Bench & Bar newsletter, served on the Editorial Board of the Illinois Bar Journal and was an elected member of the ISBA Assembly. She is also a past-member of the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association (CBA), as well as a former Chair of the CBA’s Committee on Public Affairs, and a past member of its Executive Committee of the Alliance for Women and the Editorial Board of the CBA Record. In addition, Michele served on the Board of Directors of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois (WBAI), and was an Adjunct Professor at both DePaul University College of Law and The John Marshall Law School, through which she educated and mentored the next generation of Illinois attorneys.  

Near and dear to Michele’s heart is her involvement with the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity.  Michele served as the Justice of the Chicago Alumni Chapter, and, during her tenure, she was honored with the Outstanding Alumni Chapter Justice Award, and the Chicago Alumni Chapter was recognized as the Outstanding Alumni Chapter.