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CBA RECORD
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When I left, I had 150 felony cases at any
given time. About 25% of those cases were
drug cases, but that caseload also included
sexual assaults and death penalty work.
We’d have jury trials until 8 or 9 at night
and do bench trials during lunch breaks—I
was never home. My youngest child was
two years old and I wanted to have another
child. It was taking a toll on our family, so
I decided to take a break. I was away from
the office from 1998 through 2003. I still
worked on cases with my husband during
that time, but I spent a lot of time with
my family.
Justice Ginsburg recently said that
perhaps men and women can have it
all, but not all at once.
I think that’s right. Attorneys, especially
women, are expected to run households
while practicing law. I know what it’s like:
you don’t want to give up your career. You
can do both, but none of us are Wonder
Woman. I’m mindful of that when I’m
setting policies in our office.
Are public defender caseloads better
now than in the past?
They’re better now. We had only two
attorneys per courtroom at 26
th
Street up
until 2000. Now, most courtrooms have
three attorneys, so our caseloads aren’t
what they used to be. Still, the caseloads
for some felony attorneys are creeping up
toward 100 cases or more. We have no
caseload limits in Cook County. There’s
no question that when caseloads are too
high, they take longer to resolve, increasing
the time a client spends in jail. When that
happens, everyone suffers—the client, his
family, and our community.
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