Our Blog

February 8, 2017

Have Opinions about Pro Bono?

The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice wants to hear from you on the pro bono survey they recently sent to all Illinois lawyers. The CBF is cosponsoring the survey with the Commission, the Illinois Bar Foundation, and the Public Interest Law Initiative. This survey is part of a national effort led by […]

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January 27, 2017

Hands off Chicago’s legal aid funding

In an op-ed for Crain’s Chicago Business, CBF President Chuck Smith and Executive Director Bob Glaves respond to recent talk of eliminating federal funding for the Legal Services Corporation.

“Wherever we stand politically, we all should take this opportunity to restore confidence that everyone will get a fair shake in the justice system. Ensuring that there is proper funding for LSC is a critical part of our collective charge. This is not a partisan issue: It is a part of who we are as a country.”

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January 24, 2017

Our Language Problem

If You See Something, Do Something!

As lawyers trained to worship at the altar of precedent, there are all kinds of bad habits we can pick up without even thinking about them. There of course are many legal principles we continue to follow today because they are critical underpinnings of our society that rightly have stood the test of time the rule of law and the fundamentals of our Constitution, for example. There unfortunately also is a lot of legal terminology and procedure that we continue to use today for a very different reason: because it is just the way we always have done it. And breaking out of that default pattern is one of the easiest steps we all can take right now to improve access to justice.

I got a great lesson on this early in my legal career.

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January 23, 2017

Jesse Ruiz to Chair 2016 Investing in Justice Campaign

Jesse Ruiz, Partner at Drinker, Biddle & Reath, will lead the CBF’s 11th Annual Investing in Justice Campaign. The Campaign, which kicks off the week of March 6th and runs throughout the month, is an annual initiative where the entire legal community comes together around our common cause as a legal profession helping to ensure that […]

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January 23, 2017

Take Action: Voice Your Support for the BRIDGE Act

Join us in thanking Senator Durbin for his leadership in introducing the bipartisan BRIDGE Act, which would protect young people who stepped forward to receive protection under DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) from deportation if the program is discontinued. If you are in Representative Luis Gutierrez’s district, please thank him as well for introducing the companion bill in the House, or encourage your Representative to join them to support this critical piece of legislation.

Contact Your Legislator

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January 20, 2017

CBF & JEP Pricing Toolkit Recognized by the ABA

The CBF and its Justice Entrepreneurs Project are being recognized by the ABA for the Pricing Toolkit. The Toolkit provides lawyers practical guidance on alternative pricing options to help them deliver value in a way that is more predictable, transparent and accessible for regular people. The Toolkit came about after the CBF discovered in the early stages of the […]

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January 20, 2017

Mediation Skills Training

Interested in building your mediation skills and volunteering as a mediator? Take the Center for Conflict Resolution’s (CCR) Mediation Skills training. This hands-on 40 hour training will be held on February 27-28 and March 6-8 from 8:30am-5pm at 11 E. Adams. For pricing, CLE credit availability, other information, and to register, visit CCR’s website.

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January 19, 2017

Legal Aid Committee—Selected Highlights 2016

The CBA Legal Aid Committee—which the CBF staffs—recently published a compilation of highlights submitted by some of the pro bono and legal aid organizations that participate in the Legal Aid Committee. Legal Aid Committee—Selected Highlights 2016 features news from 29 pro bono and legal aid organizations on: programs and projects; class action; significant litigation; and policy changes and legislation. Not all organizations were able to submit highlights, but this compilation provides an overview of some of the great work happening in our community.

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January 17, 2017

JEP Accepting Applications for Participants

The Justice Entrepreneurs Project is seeking entrepreneurial and public interest-minded recent law graduates for its next class of lawyers who will begin the program in May 2017.

At the Justice Entrepreneurs Project, we prepare talented and entrepreneurial lawyers in the Chicago area to manage innovative, socially conscious, and successful law practices. We believe in the power of entrepreneurial lawyers to make a difference as solo practitioners in the quest to ensure access to justice for all.

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December 20, 2016

A New Year’s Resolution for the Legal Profession: Stop Calling People Non-lawyers!

Every once in a while I will read an article or hear a speech that causes me to recognize I’ve been acting like a fool in one way or another. And I am certain I have many more opportunities ahead of me for that kind of recognition. A great example of this phenomenon occurred for me not long ago when I heard Jordan Furlong, a very perceptive analyst of the legal market and the future of our profession, note that we are the only profession who describes everyone who is not one of us as a non.

He’s right. You don’t hear doctors calling everyone else in the medical field non-doctors, or CPAs calling their colleagues non-CPAs. In fact, it sounds absurd to even imagine them or any other professionals doing that. Yet that’s exactly what we do as lawyers, and I have certainly been guilty of my share of it over the years.

While I have no idea how we got started using the non-lawyer expression, and I don’t think it is something lawyers do with any ill will, it is pretty offensive when you think about it. And it betrays a shortsighted and artificially limiting mindset that has a number of negative consequences for access to justice, the future of our profession, and our public image as lawyers.

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