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by Mary F. Petruchius
Mary: Within the last couple of years, Prairie State Legal Services, Inc. has made some dramatic changes to its overall pro bono program and structure. Kim Thielbar, Prairie State’s Director of Pro Bono Services, heads up its new Pro Bono Unit. In this article, we’ll get to know Kim and what this new unit is all about, how it came into existence, and what Prairie State hopes to achieve with this innovative approach to pro bono client services.
by Hannah Lee
If doing more pro bono is on your list of New Year’s resolutions, Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO) can help. We know that pro bono can be daunting, especially for transactional attorneys. If this resonates with you, ILAO has a unique opportunity for your consideration.
By Michael Bergmann, Executive Director of the Public Interest Law Initiative
Save the date for another Pro Bono Week celebration! Coordinated by the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, Pro Bono Week is intended to inspire even greater pro bono participation by lawyers throughout the nation. This initiative provides an opportunity for legal organizations across the country to collaboratively commemorate the vitally important contributions of America’s lawyers and to recruit and train the many additional volunteers required to meet the growing demand.
by Judith Miller, Esq.
Americans are fairly comfortable with wealth inequality. At least, that is one conclusion that can be drawn from the 2011 research findings of Dr. Michael Norton, Harvard Business School.1
Susan L. Zielke, Managing Attorney, Eastern Regional Office, Land of Lincoln Legal Aid
In a new year, we make resolutions. In our work, we set SMART goals. For our life, we choose focus words. Make pro bono one of those overarching themes for 2021.
By Michael Bergmann, Executive Director of the Public Interest Law Initiative
Coordinated by the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, Pro Bono Week is intended to inspire even greater pro bono participation by lawyers throughout the nation. In 2020, Pro Bono Week will be celebrated from October 25-31. This initiative provides an opportunity for legal organizations across the country to collaboratively commemorate the vitally important contributions of America’s lawyers and to recruit and train the many additional volunteers required to meet the growing demand. The Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service undertook this initiative to provide a format for showcasing the incredible difference that pro bono lawyers make to our nation, to our system of justice, to our communities and, most of all, to the clients they serve. For more information, visit www.celebrateprobono.org.
The ISBA will be sharing videos from members of the ISBA Standing Committee on Delivery of Legal Services in honor of National Pro Bono Week.
National Pro Bono Week is recognized on October 25-31 this year.
Michael G. Bergmann, Executive Director of the Public Interest Law Initiative
Illinois Free Legal Answers is a virtual legal clinic where low-income Illinoisans can submit a question online to ask a pro bono lawyer for help with a civil legal issue. Volunteer lawyers then log onto the site at their convenience and answer questions waiting in the queue that they feel comfortable addressing. All of the interactions are through a website, so all that is needed is internet access and a device to be able to start helping people. Especially, during the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a great way to help those in need from the comfort and safety of your own home or office.
Colleen Boraca, Clinical Associate Professor, Northern Illinois University College of Law
March 10, 2020 was a fairly normal day. Although it was spring break, two law students were working with me at the NIU Health Advocacy Clinic, a law-school based legal clinic that is located onsite in Aurora at Hesed House, the second largest homeless shelter in Illinois. In the morning, one of the students interviewed a potential client, “Jane,” who was looking for representation with her Social Security case. After the meeting, the students and I debriefed about they handled their interview with Jane and brainstormed areas for improvement. After that session, the students worked on PowerPoint slides for an upcoming presentation on SNAP benefits. We saw Jane again while serving lunch at Hesed House that day, and she told us that she would see us next week. The students left clinic that day, enthused to work on Jane’s case and hopefully change her life if they could secure disability benefits for her.
By Clarissa Gaff, Land of Lincoln Legal Aid Executive Director
The nation’s largest legal nonprofit funder, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), wants attorneys outside of legal aid organizations to have opportunities to provide free legal services to low income community members. To ensure that attorneys have a variety of options for pro bono service, LSC awards Pro Bono Innovation Grants to civil legal aid providers around the country to create new and diverse programs for other attorneys, like ISBA members, to provide legal services to those individuals with civil legal needs who cannot afford an attorney.