A Year of Impact That You Made Possible

CBF Report January 2015

View as a pdf

A Year of Impact That You Made Possible
By Angelika Labno  |  CBF Administrative & Communications Coordinator

Thanks to your generous support of the CBF, 2014 saw impressive progress in the fight to make the justice system more fair and accessible for everyone in our community. You can be proud of the impact you are making through your Foundation. Below are just a few highlights, and you can learn more about this important work and how you can get more involved by visiting chicagobarfoundation.org. Thank you again for coming together with your colleagues from throughout the legal community to make a difference.

[panel background=”#003A63″ color=”#FFCF82″ border=”0px solid #3a63″ shadow=”4px 4px 2px #bbbbbb” radius=”4″ text_align=”left”]Justice Starts with a Solid Foundation. Keep Yours Strong.

You can make more of this great work possible through a donation to the CBF. A gift today or a recurring gift of any size will go a long way toward making the justice system more accessible for people in need. More information about the different ways you can contribute and continue to ensure that our legal system is more fair and efficient for everyone is available at chicagobarfoundation.org/support. Thank you for your continued generous support in making the CBF’s work possible.[/panel]

JEP participants collaborate in the program’s office space at 208 S. Jefferson. Working in a shared location encourages peer mentoring, collaboration and collective innovation.

JEP Takes Flight
The CBF’s Justice Entrepreneurs Project is an incubator program for recent law school graduates to start innovative law practices providing affordable legal services to low- and moderate-income people. Thanks to your support, JEP already has become a national model and received significant local and national media attention over the course of 2014. The year ended with the first 10 JEP lawyers completing the program and continuing their practices as the first alumni members of the JEP network. Twenty-Eight more dedicated and entrepreneurial lawyers are now in the program, building innovative law practices to provide much-needed legal help to a large segment of our community who too often do not have meaningful access to affordable help in the traditional legal market.

To learn more about the JEP or to connect with a JEP lawyer, visit jepchicago.org.

New Resource Center in Daley Center
A major undertaking last year was working with the Circuit Court and other partners to open the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Resource Center for People Without Lawyers in the Daley Center. The Center fully opened in April 2014 and is a major milestone in the longer-term effort to make the court system more user friendly and accessible for people without lawyers, a key goal of both the CBF and the Circuit Court.

JusticeCorps volunteers greet people looking for help at the the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Resource Center for People Without Lawyers in the Daley Center.

Last year, JusticeCorps student volunteers helped more than 25,000 people€“ providing general information, procedural advice, and referrals€“and thousands received legal advice and assistance at one of the three advice desks that anchor the Center.

Investing in Justice Campaign Sets New Records Across the Board
Under the exemplary leadership of last year’s Campaign Chair, Patrick Fitzgerald, 146 law firms, corporate legal departments and other law-related organizations participated in the 2014 Campaign, and more than 4,300 individual attorneys and legal professionals contributed over $1.3 million, all record amounts.

One hundred percent of the individual contributions to the Campaign again went directly to CBF grants to 34 pro bono and legal aid organizations. The campaign funds helped to leverage substantially more funding from government and other sources, making it possible for the CBF to again award more than $4 million in grants in 2014. You can learn more about some of the great programs your campaign support makes possible at chicagobarfoundation.org/grants.

Attendees at the CBF’s 2014 Passport to Chicago event in May listen as one of the competing Kendall College chefs explains his dish. The 2nd Annual Passport to Chicago will take place on May 1 this year.

Great Fun for a Great Cause: The CBF’s 2014 Events
More than 3,000 people came together at the CBF’s special events in 2014 to support the CBF’s mission, celebrate pro bono and public service achievements, and recognize leaders in the cause of making the justice system more fair and accessible for everyone.

You can find photos and more information on CBF events at chicagobarfoundation.org/events.