The International Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA) has awarded the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) one of only 20 annual awards granted to competitors representing over 300 organizations.

An Award for Outstanding Achievement was granted to the ISBA for its CLE course Human Trafficking and the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the Public Interest Category. The program, sponsored by ISBA, Baker & McKenzie LLP and multiple ISBA Sections and Committees, co-sponsored by numerous area legal associations and private law firms, and coordinated by ISBA CLE Coordinators Yolaine M. Dauphin and Annemarie E. Kill of Chicago, grew out of a need to raise the awareness of the legal profession that human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children is not a problem exclusive to foreign countries. Indeed, a recent government report indicates that the United States is a leading source, transit and destination country for victims and, moreover, Chicago, due to its strategic location and importance, appears to be helping lead this global epidemic. View photos from this program at iln.isba.org/gallery/803/human-trafficking-seminar

The ISBA recognized that attorneys armed with action steps can make a difference and designed this program to transform that hope into a reality.  A wide-ranging roster of speakers including federal and state prosecutors, judges, psychologists, social workers, and law enforcement personnel guided attendees in understanding victim identification, engagement, and advocacy; surveillance techniques to detect patterns of sex trafficking; the effects of a victim's psychological state; and the other myriad aspects surrounding this criminal activity.  The ISBA offered this course to attorneys at no cost in the interests of mobilizing members of the legal profession to refuse to turn a blind eye to victims of human trafficking by, at minimum, reporting his or her observations to an anti-trafficking organization.  108 attorneys who attended this program received the training and 7.0 hours MCLE credit.  A number of attendees later contacted speakers for more information and to learn about opportunities to provide pro bono legal services. Further, 83 additional attorneys have since viewed the program on-line and have received training and 6.5 hours MCLE credit, including 6.5 hours Professional Responsibility credit. Thus, this program continues to benefit the public by promoting a model of intervention designed to help end this criminal activity.  Furthermore, an attorney who helps a victim of human trafficking helps build public confidence in our legal system.  

Founded in 1877, the ISBA ranks as one of the oldest bar associations in the United States, serving more than 30,000 members.  The ISBA is dedicated to assisting Illinois lawyers in the practice of law, raising the standards of excellence in the legal profession, expanding access to the legal system, and educating the public about the judiciary and the legal profession.

In this achievement, the ISBA acknowledges the efforts of its volunteer members who tirelessly give of themselves to help others in their profession and the staff who work to make every CLE course a success.

ACLEA members are professionals in the fields of continuing legal education and legal publishing.  Its annual ACLEA’s Best Awards are highly competitive and the winning projects represent the highest level of achievement for the staff and volunteers involved.

ACLEA formally presented the award to the ISBA at the Annual Meeting of ACLEA in Chicago, Illinois, on August 4, 2015.