IJA/ISBA Joint Midyear Meeting to feature acclaimed public interest lawyer

Bryan Stevenson, a widely-acclaimed public interest lawyer who is perhaps best known for winning a U.S. Supreme Court case which held that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for all children 17 or younger is unconstitutional, will speak about his experiences fighting for the rights of the poor, the incarcerated and the condemned at a noon luncheon during the Midyear Meeting of the Illinois Judges Association (IJA) and Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers on Friday, Dec. 14.

Stevenson, the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, in Montgomery, Alabama, has dedicated his life to helping the underserved population receive justice. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he has been awarded 13 honorary doctorate degrees and has received numerous awards including the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship Award.

The joint meeting will include the annual Illinois Bar Foundation Fellows Awards Breakfast on Friday morning at 7:30 a.m., and a reception and dinner beginning at 6 p.m. Friday evening honoring the Illinois Supreme Court, with remarks by Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride.

Two IJA/ISBA programs with MCLE credit will be held on Friday morning: Social Media, Ethics and You from 9 to 10:15 a.m. and Cutting Off the Third Branch: Court Funding and Access to Justice in Illinois and Beyond from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. A Master Series CLE program led by nationally-recognized trial attorney and speaker, Roger J. Dodd, on Advanced Constructive Cross-Examination, will be held from 1 to 4:15 p.m.

The ISBA’s 203-member Assembly, the policy-making body of the organization, will meet Saturday morning, December 15, at 9 a.m. to conduct the business of the association.

For further information or to register, visit www.isba.org/jointmeeting.