Shannon Bartlett, by Shannon Bartlett

I love the law. In fact, I love the law so much that I convinced my husband to let me name our son Brennan after United States Supreme Court Justice William Brennan. Justice Brennan’s commitment to the Bill of Rights and his passionate defense of the same ignited a passion for the law that remains with me to this day. Like my colleague Stu Chanen, I found myself one of the few law students who loved law school. Indeed, it was more than love; I was absolutely captivated by the law. I loved its complexities, relished its ironies, and railed against its absurdities. I marveled at America’s construction of a legal system that was rigid, but flexible enough to accommodate new ideas.

In keeping with my passion for civil rights, I worked as a legal fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois for a time after graduating. I concentrated on racial justice and reproductive rights issues, and spent much of my time on policy work. After the fellowship ended, I wanted to hone my litigation skills and headed to Jenner & Block, LLP—one of Chicago’s top large litigation firms.

At Jenner, I had the opportunity to work with some of the field’s top legal minds and gained a wide variety of experience in legal matters, with an emphasis on commercial litigation disputes and complex class actions. As a new associate, I learned quickly that the best cases to work on were not the high-profile, billion dollar matters staffed with dozens of lawyers. Instead, I focused my energy on working with partners whose clients staffed cases leanly and preferred that pre-trial work be done by associates. Thus, while my peers complained about days spent on document review or writing research memorandums, my days were frequently spent assessing cases, developing case strategy, taking depositions, handling clients and opposing counsel, negotiating settlements, and arguing in court. I enjoyed my time at Jenner, made great friends, and gained invaluable experience. Yet, after a few years, I began to grow a bit weary of life at a large law firm, and I felt the stress of the environment start to have an adverse impact on other aspects of my life. Suddenly, the flexible nature of the law that had appealed to me as a student was no longer apparent; instead, I felt weighed down by a profession that had grown rigid and stagnant. I began to question whether I really wanted to practice law anymore. And then I met Pat Lamb.

I agreed to meet with Pat as a favor for a mutual acquaintance. I knew Pat wanted to start a new law firm and was looking for people to embark on the journey with him. Pat’s zeal for the law and the profession was infectious. In one meeting, I found my interest in remaining in the legal profession returning, and was sorely tempted to work with him. Yet, Pat’s gumption in pursuing his dream of starting a new and different law practice reminded me that I also had unfulfilled dreams of my own. I remember asking Pat why he had decided to start the firm, and he said something to the effect of, “if not now, then when?” In other words, if you sit around waiting for the “right” time to pursue a dream, that time may never come. After mulling it over, I decided that, as intrigued as I was by Pat’s dream, I needed to pursue my own dreams.

In April 2008, I left Jenner and spent the better part of a year and a half traveling the world, volunteering, and pursuing a master’s degree in jurisprudence and social policy at the University of California, at Berkeley. Throughout that time, Pat and I routinely checked in with one another to see how our respective dreams were going. As the time passed, I realized that my passion for the law had returned, and I again felt the pull of the profession. I was ready to return to law, and I knew that Valorem was the perfect place to do what I love: practice law and help clients obtain their desired outcome. Today, I find myself happily ensconced in the Valorem family—a happy, fun, (mostly) well-adjusted family that is firmly committed to progress, clients, and excellence in the profession.