THE ROBING ROOM

I like Judge Nolan as much as the next person. But even she will tell you that she is NOT the smartest person in the building. Seriously, just ask her. But that just proves the point that I am trying to make -- no ego, and she does not suffer from 'robitis.' She is reasonable with discovery and works with the lawyers to get the case moving. Her settlement conferences (and I have had her both as a plaintiff and defendant's counsel) are fairly routine. Unfortunately, she has a tendency to push 'economics of litigation' too much and would be more helpful if she would spend more time focusing the parties on actual issues of liability and damages in order to knock people into reality. I place her in the top 4 of the magistrates, following Schenkier, Valdez and Mahoney (Rockford).