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Skate Where the Puck is Going, Not Where It Has Been
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January 20, 2021
The CBF is Hiring a New Associate Director for Grants & COO
After 16 years of exemplary leadership and great work for the CBF, Dina Merrell will be leaving Chicago and leaving the CBF for new horizons.
We will have more to say about this bittersweet news and the tremendous impact Dina has made during her tenure soon, but we are now in the market for a new […]
Tags: CBF Staff read more ...January 19, 2021
A Wellness Action Plan to (Re)Start 2021
When I thought about where to start my 2021 Resolution for the Legal Profession series, I quickly settled on wellness, because starting the year off on the right foot is so important to the success of the rest. Further, the tumultuous start to 2021 has only underscored that this is the right topic to begin with.
Because I am hardly an authority in this area and have a solid track record of not setting a great example, I brought in the real expert I quoted in the Resolution, Erin Clifford, who was kind enough to agree to share some of her wisdom here:
Tags: read more ...December 21, 2020
2021 Resolution: Don’t Let the Hard-Earned Lessons of 2020 Go to Waste
If you can’t wait to put 2020 behind you and would like to send it off with an emphatic middle-finger salute, you’ve got a friend here. But for those of us who are lucky enough to have made it through this bizarro year in one piece, there is much we can and should take with us that will make the world better in 2021 and well into the future.
That’s why my 5th Annual New Year’s Resolution for the Legal Profession is to take stock of what 2020 has taught us to make for a better profession and a better system of justice going forward. And we’ve got a lot of material to work with on this front.
Tags: Courts | Legal Innovation | Remote Access read more ...December 18, 2020
Upcoming CBF Student Debt Briefing
Want to learn more about the student debt crisis and the CBF’s comprehensive proposal to tackle it as momentum grows for action at the federal level? Join us on Wednesday, January 13th at 2 p.m. to hear from the stellar pro bono drafting team about the tenets of the CBF’s proposed reforms, how the CBF package compares to other proposals, […]
Tags: Advocacy read more ...November 24, 2020
CBF Joins Cook County, Circuit Court, and Other Partners to Launch Groundbreaking Program for Eviction and Consumer Debt Cases
A new Early Resolution Program (ERP) that will provide legal help for thousands of people in Cook County facing eviction and consumer debt issues was officially launched yesterday at a press conference hosted by the County.
The program is part of a broader new initiative for housing and debt issues, Cook County Legal Aid for Housing […]
Tags: CBF in the News | Courts | Legal Aid Organizations | Remote Access read more ...November 23, 2020
Fall Benefit Wows Kids and Adults Alike
Thank you to those who participated in The Chicago Bar Foundation’s virtual Fall Benefit on Saturday, November 21. Whether you made pizza, watched magic and science shows, mixed your own cocktail/mocktail, or enjoyed music and comedic performances, we hope you had fun while supporting an important cause.
Tags: CBF Supporters | Events read more ...November 19, 2020
A Self-Inflicted Access to Justice Scourge
By Bob Glaves | CBF Executive Director
In recent posts, I have been highlighting the larger systemic changes we need to make to significantly move the needle on improving access to justice, and for good reason. As we continue to push forward on those critical fronts, however, there is much we can do on our own […]
Tags: Billable hour | Legal Innovation read more ...November 18, 2020
Our Supreme Thanks and Congrats
It is a time of significant transitions on the Illinois Supreme Court as Justice Tom Kilbride and Justice Lloyd Karmeier will soon complete distinguished terms on the Court, and Justices David Overstreet and Robert Carter prepare to become the Court’s newest Justices.
We thank Justices Kilbride and Karmeier for their impressive commitment to equal access to […]
Tags: Courts read more ...November 9, 2020
Newly Minted JEP Alumni Ready to Grow and Serve
Last week the CBF Justice Entrepreneurs Project celebrated the graduation of the May 2019 cohort, the thirteenth cohort of participants to successfully complete the 18-month program. The graduates include Mahdis Azimi, Nikki Donnelley, Chelsea Herring, Courtney Kelledes, Michael Norton, Mitha Rao, and January Stramaglia. All seven graduates have built socially conscious and innovative businesses targeting middle-income people […]
Tags: JEP read more ...November 2, 2020
An Extraordinary Pro Bono Week
Like most gatherings in these times, last week the CBA/CBF’s 16th Annual Pro Bono Week went virtual for the first time. That didn’t stop hundreds of lawyers and other legal professionals in Chicago from participating in one of the many fan favorite events to celebrate the inspiring pro bono work in our community and to […]
Tags: Pro Bono | Pro Bono Week read more ...