Pamela McLean Meyerson: In her own words

Pamela McLean Meyerson is a candidate for the Urso vacancy in Cook County's 11th Judicial Subcircuit.

I want to be a judge because Cook County needs good judges. Judges make decisions every day that change people’s lives. If I were standing before a judge, I would want the judge to be someone like me—someone well-trained, experienced, independent, honest and fair.

What do I stand for? Giving everyone an equal chance to be heard, applying the law consistently, and being absolutely free of corruption or outside influences.

As voters, you get to judge. My education and knowledge of the law, my broad experience and, equally important, my independence from political or other outside influence, qualify me to be the kind of judge Cook County needs:

• Every one of the 12 bar associations that evaluated me gave me a positive rating. They looked at my training at the University of Chicago Law School. They looked at my 28 years of experience in the courtrooms of Cook County. They looked at my community service—both pro bono legal work and volunteer work in the community. They interviewed people who know me—colleagues, judges and opposing counsel. And all the bar associations concluded that I have the skills and experience to be a judge.


• I have broad experience representing individuals and small businesses in many areas of law. I am a civil litigator, small business advisor, arbitrator, teacher and community leader. After graduating from the University of Chicago Law School in 1983, for six years I handled commercial lawsuits for two Chicago firms, then started my own practice in Oak Park. I represent individuals and small businesses in civil disputes involving contracts, construction, fair housing, consumer fraud, and other conflicts. I also organize and advise small businesses and review and draft their agreements. My business clients have ranged from restaurants to record companies, contractors to computer consultants, midwives to meatpackers.


• I have heard cases fairly and run proceedings efficiently as an adjudicator of hundreds of arbitration cases, and I teach University of Chicago students how to be courtroom lawyers. As an arbitrator with the Cook County Mandatory Arbitration Program for more than 20 years, I have heard hundreds of cases, often controlling the proceedings and ruling on objections as chair of the panel. I also help teach the annual Intensive Trial Practice Workshop at the University of Chicago’s Mandel Legal Aid Clinic.


• I use my legal skills and energies to help others and to improve my community. A law degree comes with a responsibility to give legal assistance to those who can’t afford it. Throughout my career, I have done pro bono work, currently representing homeowners in foreclosure mediations and helping pro se litigants in small claims courtrooms. For years I’ve volunteered in leadership positions supporting the schools, youth, arts and congregations of my community.


• The Chicago Council of Lawyers says I’m “respected as a hard-working, knowledgeable and highly ethical” lawyer. I will be a hard-working, knowledgeable and highly ethical judge.