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April 18, 2017
They can help you right next to the Starbucks¦
I am writing this letter today to praise one of your employees¦ begins a letter thanking CARPLS for excellent legal advice at the Municipal Court Advice Desk and highlighting the especially kind and supportive service received from an Illinois JusticeCorps member as part of the process. This court patron’s letter highlights the unique and important services being provided in The Circuit Court of Cook County Resource Center for People without Lawyers in the concourse level of the Daley Center, which indeed is right next to the Starbucks there.
Tags: Court Help Desks | Courts | Resources read more ...April 4, 2017
Help an Outstanding Attorney Get Some Well-Deserved Recognition
The CBA and CBF are accepting nominations through May 8, 2017 for the Chicago legal community’s prestigious pro bono and public service awards. These awards celebrate exemplary members of the legal profession who have used their talents and resources to improve access to justice for the less fortunate in our community. The recipients will be honored at the CBA and CBF’s Pro Bono and Public Service Awards Luncheon on July 17.
Tags: Apply or Nominate | Awards | Events | Pro Bono | Pro Bono & Public Service Awards Luncheon read more ...March 30, 2017
CBF Advocates in Springfield
The CBF traveled to Springfield the past two weeks to advocate for our two main state legislative priorities this year and to support the effort to restore state funding for the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation. We are happy to report that both legislative initiatives a law simplifying the language governing evictions as well as a law to reform the system of court fees and fines were voted out of their respective committees and are moving through the legislative process.
Tags: Advocacy | Legal Aid Funding read more ...March 23, 2017
JEP Shares Ideas, Lessons Learned at National Conference
Justice Entrepreneurs Project attorneys Magda Derisma, Sonny Thatch, Alyease Jones, and Cliff Helm joined JEP Director Trevor Clarke in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Fourth Annual Access to Justice through Legal Incubators and Nonprofit Law Firms conference. As in years past, the JEP played a prominent role at the three day conference, adding our voices to plenary sessions, concurrent sessions, and breakout groups. The JEP is the largest incubator in the country, responsible for the most incubator participants and alumni (objectively), and the most successful and innovative firms (subjective, yes, but we haven’t heard of any challengers). As such, the JEP has learned a lot, and has a lot to share, about meeting the needs of low and moderate income people through new models of legal service delivery.
Tags: Incubator | JEP | Legal Innovation read more ...March 23, 2017
The Right Way to Respond to the President’s Budget Proposal: Using Good Baseball Strategy
As you’ve surely heard by now, President Trump’s first budget blueprint released last week targets the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and 18 other agencies for elimination, and calls for significant cuts to a number of other federal agencies and programs that provide vital help for people in need. This is just the start of the budget process and represents both a challenge and a big opportunity for our legal community to respond. We are advocates by trade with a strong hand to play here. We need to call on those skills to remind our members of Congress of the critical role LSC, as the principal funder of civil legal aid at the national level, and other federal access to justice programs play in assuring fairness in the justice system and carrying out one of our nation’s most fundamental responsibilities.
In honor of it being less than two weeks from the Cubs opening game as defending World Series champs (and how cool is it to be able to say that!), I think it is fitting to use a baseball analogy to frame the issue and talk about key points to remember for our legal community’s response.
It’s only the top of the second inning, but the opposing pitcher has knocked our team off its game by calling unusual and often unpredictable pitches and challenging basic notions of sportsmanship. The good news: it is still very early in the game, we’ve got the meat of our batting order coming up, one of our best pitchers on the mound, and a deep and rested bench and bullpen to call upon. While that is all good, it’s going to take a strong game plan to turn those advantages into a win.
Tags: Advocacy | Legal Aid Funding | LSC read more ...March 23, 2017
Take Action: Advocate for LSC Funding
As the FY17 federal budget negotiations continue, we encourage you to reach out to your Senators and member of Congress to encourage them to oppose any efforts to reduce or eliminate funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), encouraging them to instead support a much-needed increase in this funding.
Tags: Advocacy | Legal Aid Funding | LSC read more ...March 22, 2017
Improving Financial Stability One Tax Dispute at a Time
Mark was awarded a settlement from a wrongful death suit, but his legal problems did not end when he received the money. The IRS processed this money incorrectly, treating it as taxable income. At the point when Mark turned to the Center for Economic Progress (CEP) for assistance, he had an IRS balance exceeding $130,000 and a levy on his wages. A Taxpayer Advocate at CEP’s Tax Clinic was able to help him correct his account with the IRS. Because of CEP’s help, the IRS ended the wage levy, eliminated Mark’s balance, and refunded him over $16,000 for wrongfully levied proceeds. Almost half of this money has gone to cover Mark’s student loan debt.
Tags: Investing in Justice Campaign | Legal Aid Organizations read more ...March 21, 2017
March becomes fundraiser time for pro bono aid
A March 21, 2017 article in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin features the CBF’s Investing in Justice Campaign. Now in its 11th year, the annual campaign brings the entire legal community together to help ensure that everyone has access to necessary legal help, not just those who can afford it. The Campaign runs throughout the month of March and is chaired this year by Jesse Ruiz, partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP.
Tags: CBF in the News | Investing in Justice Campaign read more ...March 20, 2017
Bills Up in Springfield on Wednesday
Take Action for Equal Justice Today!
Hearings are set this Wednesday, March 22nd in the Illinois House of Representatives for two of the CBF’s priority legislative initiatives this year:
- In the House State Government Committee at 2pm in support of HB2591, a bill to reform the civil and criminal court fees and fines system in Illinois
- In the House Civil Judiciary Committee at 8am in support of HB3359, a bill to simplify the law governing evictions in Illinois
Please take three minutes to fill out a virtual witness slip in support of each of these two bills.
Tags: Advocacy | Take Action read more ...March 17, 2017
Bar groups unite to save aid program
An article in the March 17, 2017 edition of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin focuses on the President’s elimination of all Legal Services Corporation funding in his recently proposed budget and the devastating effects this funding loss would have on legal aid services in Illinois. The article highlights the response of LSC-funded organizations in Illinois and national and local bar groups, including the CBF.
Tags: Advocacy | CBF in the News | Legal Aid Funding | LSC read more ...