Alumni Spotlight: Sheila O'Brien '80
If you ask Justice Sheila O’Brien what separates Notre Dame law graduates from the pack, she states her opinion quietly but firmly. “The law is a healing profession. Lawyers help people solve their problems and move forward,” she says. “At Notre Dame, that healing role is highlighted, so that law students can see themselves as agents of good.”
A judge for 23 years, O’Brien was first elected to the Illinois appellate court in 1994. When she was just 29—after practicing as an assistant public defender and trial lawyer—she became the youngest judge in Illinois. Of the bench, she says, “Sometimes, you’re in a healing role. Other times you’re in a referee role, finding a solution to a very bad fight where everyone is angry and bloodied.”
“Judges hope that people leave the courtroom feeling they have been heard and dealt with fairly,” adds O’Brien. “But it’s hard to know if that has happened. You rarely see the people who were involved again and get very little feedback on what eventually became of the case.”
A member of the Law School’s advisory council and chair of the alumni schools committee for the Chicago Notre Dame Club, O’Brien doesn’t seem to mind serving others without recognition. Students often seek her for advice and contacts as they search for their first jobs out of law school and she is happy to respond. “Many students cold-call or cold-email, which is great. It shows they have a lot of get up and go,” she says.
“Of course, I’ve never laid eyes on most of these students,” she laughs, “but it’s fun to talk with them and help them find their way in a new profession. It’s usually a conversation about more than a job—it’s a conversation about how they hope to live their lives. That’s very fulfilling.”
In 2007, Notre Dame recognized O’Brien’s service to her alma mater and community with the Rev. Edward F. Sorin, C.S.C., Award. This June, she will receive the Myra Bradwell Award from the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, honoring members who help women in the legal profession.
Perhaps most interesting of all, O’Brien recently earned a master’s degree in pastoral theology from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, an accomplishment that fits with her aspirations to be a healer and counselor. “Time will tell if I ‘use’ the degree,” she says. “But each time you hear someone’s story, you’re doing pastoral work.”
“Listening to people and helping them through transitions is rewarding,” she adds. “Knowing the law is the minimum—it’s what we have to do, what is required of us. But the flip side is doing what we should do, what we’re called to do. Both sides of that equation are what Notre Dame lawyers are about.”
