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Jones Day Launches Pro Bono Fellowship Program

The Jones Day Pro Bono Fellowship Program places a newly hired associate at a legal services agency for one year, allowing the new attorney to gain valuable experience while helping ensure equal access to justice.  The Jones Day Pro Bono Fellowship Program is modeled after a similar program instituted by Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in 2004.  Read more...

Nonprofit Legal Assessment Project (NLAP) Seeks Volunteer Attorneys and Offers Services to Nonprofit Organizations

The Community Economic Development Law Project is launching the Nonprofit Legal Assessment Project (NLAP), to provide a range of legal analysis, representation and technical assistance to established nonprofit organizations. Read more.

PILI co-sponsors 14th Annual Pro Bono & Community Service Fair as part of Pro Bono Week 2007: Lawyering for the Soul

Don't miss this opportunity to meet with representatives from over 40 of Chicago's pro bono and community service organizations on Thursday October 11th at 5:00 p.m. at Jenner & Block LLP (330 N. Wabash, 40th Floor).  Find the volunteer opportunity you've been looking for and meet your colleagues in Chicago's legal community.  The Fair is the hallmark event of Pro Bono Week from October 8 – 12th, sponsored by the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) and the Chicago Bar Foundation (CBF).  Pro Bono Week is dedicated to honoring lawyers’ pro bono efforts and to educating the public and the legal community about how these lawyers are improving the lives of the less fortunate.  Pro Bono Week is also designed to educate the legal community about the wide range of pro bono opportunities that are available in the Chicago area. In an official proclamation, Mayor Richard M. Daley recently designated this week as Pro Bono Week in Chicago.  Read more.

PILI joins Chicago Legal Aid and Public Interest Law Organizations on Appeal to Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals

The Public Interest Law Initiative, the Uptown People's Law Center, Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers, the John Howard Association of Illinois, the MacArthur Justice Center, and the Bluhm Legal Clinic of Northwestern University School of Law joined together to submit as amicus curiae in a case before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

The Plaintiff-Appellant filed a §1983 suit alleging that he was sexually assaulted by a prison guard, and that the responsible officials did nothing about his complaints.  With only a sixth-grade education, the Plaintiff-Appellant was not competent to litigate a case like this pro se.  Judge Baker, in the Central District of Illinois, nonetheless denied all four of the Plaintiff-Appellant's motions for appointment of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1915(e), and the Plaintiff-Appellant was forced to handle the jury trial by himself, which he lost.  On appeal to the Seventh Circuit, a divided panel affirmed the district court's decision to deny counsel.

Amici seek to place this case-specifically the issue of when District Courts should recruit volunteer attorneys-into the larger context of the unique barriers prisoners face when attempting to proceed pro se and when they seek counsel in the private market. In addition, amici provide information regarding the availability of counsel to take on these cases, and the difficulties attorneys have in finding appropriate prison cases.  Amici submit that the District Court judges should expand the number of cases for which they seek to recruit counsel, as these judges are uniquely situated to provide the missing link between prisoners who desperately need legal representation and attorneys who wish to take on such cases.

Read the entire Amicus Brief and contact Alan Mills at Uptown People's Law Center at alanmill@aol.com with any questions.

Two PILI Board Members Named to the the Law Bulletin's 2006 list of "Forty Under Forty Illinois Attorneys to Watch"

Nominated by PILI Executive Director Susan Curry, two members of the PILI Board of Directors were named to the 2006 list of 40 Under 40:  Eric A. Sacks of Jenner & Block LLP and Vilia Drazdys, (formerly) of Wildman Harrold were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the practice of law in Chicago and for their commitments to pro bono and public interest law.

Illinois Adopts Mandatory Reporting of Pro Bono

On June 14, 2006, Illinois became one of only five states to institute mandatory reporting of pro bono hours in the annual attorney registration process.  The new rule, which is included in Illinois Supreme Court rule 756, is a critical step by the Court in recognition of the need for and importance of pro bono.  The Pro Bono Initiative will play an important role in matching attorneys and legal services agencies to increase pro bono legal assistance to expand access to our justice system for low-income individuals.  Read the new provision and related rule changes.