Celebrating Service: The Legal Profession at its Best
Each year, PILI’s Annual Awards Luncheon gathers more than 400 members of the legal community to celebrate the best aspects of the profession. This year’s event was held on December 7, 2006 at the Fairmont Hotel. The event is a forum to recognize those performing remarkable public interest and pro bono work. Several awards acknowledge lawyers whose work epitomizes the ideal of access to justice for all.

Randolph N. Stone, University of Chicago Professor of Law, received PILI's Distinguished Public Service Award, which honors an individual whose commitment to public interest work has shaped a career dedicated to service. The Distinguished Alumni Awards recognize a former PILI Intern and Fellow for outstanding contributions of public interest and pro bono work and were given to Jean Choi and Eric J. Gorman. Jenner & Block was this year’s recipient of the Pro Bono Initiative Award, which acknowledges a single law firm or corporation for unprecedented pro bono work in the community. Cook County State's Attorney, Richard Devine, was the event's keynote speaker.

The 2006 PBI Honor Roll was also announced, recognizing thirty Chicago law firms and twelve corporations for their pro bono contributions. Of the fifty-nine law firms and corporate in-house legal departments that responded to PBI's annual pro bono survey, 3,984 attorneys reported handling pro bono cases totaling 271,087 hours. An additional 58,013 hours were contributed by 1,527 non-attorney staff.

View the 2006 PBI Honor Roll.

Pictured above: Jean Choi, Distinguished PILI Intern Alumni Award Winner; Susan Curry, PILI Executive Director; Kimball Anderson, PILI Board President.

Each month, this newsletter will feature a selection of pro bono opportunities. To list your opportunity, send it electronically to mbergmann@pili-law.org. Please limit descriptions to 150 words. Opportunities must be submitted by the 20th of the month to appear in the next month's e-newsletter.

Prairie State Legal Services Seeks Attorney Volunteers Prairie State Legal Services, Inc., Peoria office, has volunteer opportunities in the areas of family law, consumer law, collections, real estate foreclosure, bankruptcy and preparation of wills. The Peoria office serves Marshall, Peoria, Tazewell, Stark and Woodford Counties. Their is a particular need for family law attorneys in Tazewell County. For further information, please contact Sandra Crow at 309/674-9831 or via e-mail at scrow@pslegal.org.

CVLS Seeks Attorney Volunteers for Guardian Ad Litem Program in Probate Court
A Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) is appointed by the Probate Court to represent the best interests of a child involved in a contested or problematic minor guardianship. The GAL investigates the people and issues and makes a written report to the Court. The GAL also represents the child in court proceedings. As GAL you meet with the parties and your client, the child. You may also interview other interested adults, review the child’s school and medical records, and, occasionally consult with mental health professionals and social workers. Some GAL cases resolve quickly and easily and require only one or two court appearances. Others take months.

New GALs are assigned to CVLS staff attorneys for one-to-one training and support throughout the case. In addition, a detailed written training manual and sample materials are available. These cases call upon your skills as a negotiator and counselor as much as your legal abilities. This will be some of the most meaningful work you’ll ever do. If you are interested, contact Alecia Wartowski at 312-332-1916 or awartowski@cvls.org.

Community Economic Development Law Project Seeks Transactional Attorney Volunteers
The Community Economic Development Law Project (CEDLP) is one of several programs of the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (CLCCRUL), which was founded in 1969 as a cooperative effort of Chicago's leading law firms. CEDLP volunteers have worked with over 1,200 organizations to build affordable housing, shelters for the homeless and victims of domestic violence, set up job training programs, create micro-loan funds, and to consult with nonprofit organizations that work to promote economic empowerment.

CEDLP provides pro bono legal services to community organizations and has expanded its program to provide pro bono legal services to low–income entrepreneurs as well as providing pro bono attorneys for residential real estate closings to Housing Choice Voucher holders under the “Choose To Own” Program. The staff at CEDLP works with its clients to identify their specific transactional legal needs and recruits volunteer attorneys to work with the clients. If you are a transactional attorney looking for an opportunity to use your legal skills, contact CEDLP to learn about opportunities to work on corporate, tax, employment, intellectual property, finance, zoning, residential real estate and commercial real estate law issues. Interested volunteers may contact CEDLP by email at cedlp@cedlp.org.

Pro Bono Reporting in 2007 Annual Attorney Registration
On June 14, 2006, Illinois became one of only five states to institute a pro bono reporting requirement in the annual attorney registration process. This information will be collected by the ARDC during the annual attorney registration process beginning with the 2007 registration. Registration materials have already been mailed by the ARDC.

Click here to learn more about the new rule and reporting.

PBI to Revise Pro Bono Manual
PBI has developed a collection of model pro bono policies from law firms and in-house legal departments, basic forms (including retainer agreements, procedures for opening pro bono files, and conflicts of interest checks), and information on malpractice insurance. This information is complied in the PBI Pro Bono Manual and is available to firms and corporations looking to start or remodel a pro bono program. PBI is now in the process of updating this valuable resource. If you have comments or suggestions as to how to improve the Pro Bono Manual, please contact PBI Director, Michael Bergmann. With the help of PBI constituent firms, corporations and legal aid agencies, the new Pro Bono Manual will be released in March, 2007.

Directory of Summer Associate Pro Bono Opportunities Now Available
The 2006 Directory of Summer Associate Pro Bono Opportunities at Chicago Law Firms is now available for download. This annual directory includes information about pro bono work that summer associates participated in during the previous year at Chicago law firms.

View the Directory.

Past PBI E-newsletters Now Available Online
Did you miss a previous edition of the PBI e-newsletter? Past editions are now available on-line at the "News" page of the PBI website.

Past PBI E-newsletters

Another Inspiring Pro Bono Story Featured at Pro Bono Week Kick-off
C. was 11 when she was hospitalized in June, 2005. She suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome stemming from multiple sexual assaults committed by her father when she was younger. As a result of the post-traumatic stress, C. was exhibiting serious behavior problems.

After her release from the hospital, C. was scheduled to attend 6th grade at a middle school. C.’s mother felt that in the right living situation and school situation, her daughter would flourish. C.’s grades had been declining throughout the year.

The school district proposed that C. be placed in a special education class, have an aide assigned to her, and be kept out of gym class. C.’s mother did not agree with the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and wanted to see her daughter placed at a residential school.

C.’s mother contacted the Pro Bono Center for Disability and Elder Law for help. Working through the pro bono program, volunteer attorney Steven Glink helped C.’s mother advocate for C. and was able to reach an agreement with the school district to place her daughter in a residential care facility with a school that met C.’s needs. C.’s mother reports that her daughter is doing well at the residential school and that her grades have skyrocketed. Through Steve's pro bono advocacy efforts, C. is now flourishing.

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In each edition, this section features stories written by pro bono attorneys about their pro bono experiences as well as perspectives from firms, corporations and legal aid agencies. Please consider submitting an article for an upcoming e-newsletter. Articles should be no more than 300 words and may be submitted electronically to mbergmann@pili-law.org.