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  • August 6, 2009 | ISBA News
    Hon. Arnette Hubbard receives prestigious Brent Award
    [caption id="attachment_3187" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Hon. Arnette R. Hubbard addresses the audience after accepting her Brent Award."][/caption] Judge Arnette R. Hubbard of the Circuit Court of Cook County received the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award at the ABA's Annual Meeting this week in Chicago. Judge Hubbard began her career in 1969 after graduating from John Marshall Law School as an attorney for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. She joined the Circuit Court in 1997 after a career as a private practitioner and eight years on the Chicago Board of Elections. Each year, the award recognizes five outstanding women from across the country who have achieved professional excellence in the law, who have opened doors and provided opportunities for other women lawyers to succeed, and who have influenced women to pursue legal careers. Past recipients include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Click here to view the photo gallery from the event.
  • August 3, 2009 | ISBA News
    IBF awards $25,000 grant to CARPLS
    [caption id="attachment_2881" align="alignright" width="300" caption="IBF Board member and ISBA 2nd Vice President John Locallo of Chicago presents a $25,000 check to Al Schwartz, CARPLS Executive Director. "][/caption] The Illinois Bar Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce a $25,000 grant to CARPLS Legal Aid, one of 32 grants awarded this year totaling $304,995 and the largest grant awarded. CARPLS is an innovative legal aid service that offers an immediate response to the every day legal problems confronting low-income residents of Cook County. CARPLS' Legal Aid Hotline and court-based Advice Desks give low-income clients direct access to attorneys who are trained to quickly assess and respond to a wide range of civil legal problems. CARPLS' unique legal triage system serves as a model for legal aid services across the county and increases access to justice by dramatically reducing the cost of legal services for the poor. This year, CARPLS assisted more than 50,000 low income clients. As the charitable affiliate of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Foundation's mission is to ensure meaningful access to the justice system, especially for those with limited means, and to assist lawyers who can no longer support themselves due to incapacity.
  • July 31, 2009 | ISBA News
    ISBA Director of Publications Mark Mathewson receives Peer Excellence Award
    [caption id="attachment_2915" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Mark Mathewson, ISBA Director of Publications, is congratulated by outgoing NABE President Rod Wegener"][/caption] Mark Mathewson, ISBA Director of Publications, received the 2009 National Association of Bar Executives Peer Excellence Award on Thursday at the association's Annual Meeting. This award recognizes those members who have made a significant contribution to NABE. Mathewson, also the editor of the Illinois Bar Journal and a frequent contributor to Illinois Lawyer Now, was described as "a principled bar executive" who is "knowledgeable and well-respected." Mathewson recently received his Certified Association Executive designation, the highest professional credential in the association world.
  • July 30, 2009 | ISBA News
    Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity welcomes 12 new members
    [caption id="attachment_2885" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Chief Judge James F. Holderman (left) and Chapter Justice Michele M. Jochner (second from right), welcome two members of the new initiate class: Hon. Arnette R. Hubbard of the Circuit Court of Cook County, and John G. O'Brien, president of the Illinois State Bar Association. "][/caption] The Chicago Alumni Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity International welcomed 12 new alumni members - a record number for the Chapter as well as the International Fraternity. Among those who took the pledge were John G. O'Brien, President of the Illinois State Bar Assocation, and Hon. Arnette Hubbard, Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County and also a recipient of the ABA's Margarent Brent Women of Achievement Award. Other ISBA members initiated at the ceremony included ISBA Board of Governors member Paula Holderman, ISBA Assembly member Julie Ann Sebastian and co-editor of the Administrative Law Section Newsletter and editor of the ISBA Handbook of Illinois Administrative Law William A.
  • July 30, 2009 | ISBA News
    President John O'Brien receives Death Penalty Award on behalf of ISBA
    [caption id="attachment_2841" align="alignright" width="300" caption="ICADP Board President Garnet Fay, former ISBA president Terry Hegarty, ISBA President John O'Brien and ICADP Executive Director Jeremy Schroeder"][/caption] The Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty selected the Illinois State Bar Association to receive its organizational award for 2009 for its work to abolish the death penalty in Illinois. ISBA President John O'Brien accepted the award at the group's annual meeting Thursday night in Chicago. Former ISBA president Terry Hegarty, who led the effort to get the  Association to take its position against the death penalty, was also on hand for the award presentation.
  • July 30, 2009 | ISBA News
    Website offers resources for specific types of pro bono attorneys
    For members of the Illinois legal profession, pro bono practice support resources are as easy as a click away, at www.IllinoisProBono.org. That website, which is hosted by Illinois Legal Aid Online, now offers web pages with resources targeted at specific types of pro bono practitioners, including senior attorneys, federal government attorneys, corporate counsel, paralegals, and law students. Each homepage is customized for the target audience, and features video interviews with pro bono volunteers and articles specific to doing pro bono work. These homepages may be accessed via the internet at Senior Attorneys, Government Attorneys, Corporate Counsel, Paralegals and Law Students. Illinois Legal Aid Online partnered with the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) to develop the homepages. The organizations designed the websites to further engage senior attorneys, government attorneys, corporate counsel, paralegals and law students in pro bono work.
  • July 29, 2009 | Events | ISBA News
    ISBA Young Lawyers Division to host Day at the Races
    The Illinois State Bar Assocation's Young Lawyers Division will host a "Day at the Races" on Sept. 26 to benefit the Children's Assistance Program. This event will take place from noon-6 p.m. at Arlington Park Racecourse, Marquee Tent 3 in the Miller Lite Party Deck in Arlingon Heights. Tickets will be available at 11:30 a.m. at the Grandstand Entrance at the Will Call window. The cost is $60 per person and includes admission, daily racing guide, private party deck, soft drinks, beer, wine and appetizers from 12:30-6 p.m. The deadline is Sept. 15 and space is limited. Contact Meghan O'Brien with questions. Click here to register online.
  • July 28, 2009 | ISBA News
    Internet program highlights Illinois Law cable shows in August
    [caption id="attachment_2790" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Justin Fitzsimmons, Marc Wolfe, Nancy Hablutzel and Richard Wistocki will appear on the Illinois Law program "Protecting Yourself and Your Children on the Internet"."][/caption] The lllinois State Bar Association's Illinois Law cable program will air two shows, "Lincoln's Race for the Senate in 1858" and "Protecting Yourself and Your Children on the Internet" during the month of August on CAN-TV Cable Channel 21. "Lincoln's Race for the Senate in 1858" will air on Aug. 4 and Aug. 18 at 10 p.m. This is a re-enactment performed by Hon. John Donald O'Shea as Abraham Lincoln and George Eaton as Stephen Douglas. "Protecting Yourself and Your Children on the Internet" will air on Aug. 11 and Aug. 25 at 10 p.m. Providing expert opinion and insight on this increasingly important topic will be: Justin T. Fitzsimmons, a senior attorney for the National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse/National District Attorney’s Association, in Alexandria, Va.; Marc Wolfe, a partner in the Woodridge law firm of Wolfe & Stec, Ltd., where he concentrates in family, criminal and civil law; program moderator Nancy Z.
  • July 27, 2009 | ISBA News
    IBF awards $15,000 grant to Chicago Volunteer Legal Services
    [caption id="attachment_2691" align="alignright" width="300" caption="IBF Board members Russell Hartigan (left) of Chicago and George Mahoney (right) of Joliet present a $15,000 grant to Meg Benson, CVLS Executive Director."][/caption] The Illinois Bar Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce a $15,000 grant to Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS), one of 32 grants awarded this year totaling $304,995. Founded in 1964, Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation (CVLS) is one of the oldest and largest pro bono programs in the country. Last year, nearly 2,000 volunteers provided legal assistance to over 17,000 low-income people. The 2004 Illinois Legal Needs Study found that CVLS is the largest pro bono program in the state, handling nearly 45% of all pro bono cases. One quarter of all cases statewide handled by a legal services program are handled by a CLVS volunteer or staff attorney. The IBF grant specifically supports the Chancery Court Access to Justice Program, a cooperative venture between CVLS and Cook County's Chancery Court. Chancery Court judges appoint CVLS to represent pro se low-income parties in mortgage foreclosures and partitions, actions to quiet title, subsidized housing evictions and appeals of government administrative decisions.
  • July 23, 2009 | ISBA News
    IBF Awards $8,000 grant to CLAIM in Chicago
    [caption id="attachment_2603" align="alignright" width="300" caption="IBF Grants Committee Member Lori Levin of Chicago presents an $8,000 grant to Gail Smith, CLAIM's Executive Director."][/caption] The Illinois Bar Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce a $8,000 grant to Chicago Legal Advocacy to Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM), one of 32 grants awarded this year totaling $304,995. CLAIM provides legal and educational services to imprisoned mothers and their children's caregivers. CLAIM's On-Site Services provide intensive individual legal advice and representation to mothers in Dwight, Lincoln, Decatur and Kankakee Correctional Centers, Fox Valley Adult Transitional Center, the Metropolitan Correctional Center and in Cook County Jail. With early legal advice, provision of short-term guardianship forms and representation for court-ordered guardianship, mothers can forge sound plans for their children and in many cases can avoid foster care placement. In 2008, CLAIM represented 450 women, up 38 percent from 2007.