Court ADR lost a champion yesterday when Judge Harris H. Agnew, RSI’s long-time Executive Committee Chair, passed away after a long struggle to regain his health. Judge Agnew led by example, with kindness and courage. This blog post I wrote back in April talks about the tremendous role he played in advancing court ADR in Illinois. But there was so much more to Harris than just his work with ADR.
Those of us who were fortunate to know him learned a lot from Harris:
Leading sometimes means doing what is right, even when others don’t see it.
Whether it was mentoring the first women to join the bench in the 17th Judicial Circuit or implementing arbitration and mediation there, Harris stuck his neck out. He opened doors for people and ideas that would bring positive change even in the face of opposition.
Be kind, but don’t be a patsy.
Harris was so kind to everyone he met that it took me a while to understand just how politically savvy he really was. (more…)
