By Hon. Barbara Crowder
Do you pro bono? If so, show you are “Pro Bono Proud” during National Pro Bono Week by attending a celebratory event. If not, why not? More opportunities abound to find a pro bono project that meets your time and abilities than ever before. And even more ways to pro bono may be coming to a circuit near you.
One year ago this month, Illinois lost a legendary legal services leader. Joseph Bartylak was passionately devoted to the cause of equal justice, and he furthered that cause not just by his brilliant and dedicated leadership of Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation for 27 years, but as a state and national leader of legal services.
This month I hope to remind readers that, in addition to fulfilling ethical obligations, the act of performing pro bono work can be deeply satisfying and meaningful to the attorney who lends a hand.
By Ramona Sullivan
There may be treatment that would fully resolve a medical condition, but the patient will never get the treatment without access to medical care. If the condition is caused or aggravated by a problem in the home, perhaps something harmful in the water or the walls, treatment will not solve the medical condition if the problems in the home are not improved.
By Julie K. Katz
Have you ever thought about how many legal issues arise when there is a natural disaster? No one ever thinks that a catastrophe will occur to him or to loved ones but, unfortunately, disasters strike without warning and no one is immune. For that reason, the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Delivery of Legal Services is preparing a disaster assistance handbook that will help victims of catastrophic occurrences with the legal problems that inevitably result from them.
The first annual National Pro Bono Celebration took place in the fall of 2009. The ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service has scheduled the second annual Pro Bono Week for October 24 through October 30, 2010. The ISBA Standing Committee on Delivery of Legal Services is asking individual lawyers, law schools, and bar associations throughout Illinois to participate in this coordinated, national effort.
The following tribute to Joseph R. Bartylak appeared in the NLADA Update, Vol. 12, Number 12, September 3, 2010.
Joe Bartylak, long time former executive director of Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation (LLLAF) and a national leader in the legal services community, died on August 26, 2010. Bartylak led the Project Advocacy Group (merged with NLADA in 1999) in the mid-1980s during tenuous times when the existence of federal funding for legal services was under attack and many legal aid programs were fighting to survive. Joe was essential to the efforts to preserve the Legal Services Corporation from its many hostile attacks during the decade of the 1980's.
Working in partnership, Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO) and the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) developed the Pro Bono Case Pairing and Mentor Matching System now available at www.IllinoisProBono.org. The system was developed with the assistance of PILI’s Pro Bono Opportunities Team and the Illinois State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services and Standing Committee on Mentoring with support from the Illinois Bar Foundation.
By Lisa Colpoys
Looking for Pro bono case pairing and mentor matching system? If so, the brand new Pro Bono Case Pairing and Mentor Matching System found at www.IllinoisProBono.org is here to help you! This system connects pro bono volunteers with one another as mentors and mentees or as case partners. Ultimately, the system is designed to make pro bono work more accessible, efficient and effective for pro bono attorneys and the clients they serve.
Once again, the issue of immigration reform has been thrust to the forefront of American politics. Currently, much of the news is focused on the controversial legislation recently enacted by the Arizona legislature requiring police to stop any person they deem “reasonably suspicious” and demand proof legal residence. There has been no shortage of news coverage (and news parodies) regarding the problems of determining who is “reasonably suspicious”, and the questionable constitutionality of the law.