ISBA News

Life of a Lawyer Part I

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The Law School Experience Part I

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The Illinois State Bar Association will have a tent at the upcoming Illinois State Fair in Springfield. The fair opened Thursday night and runs through Sunday, Aug. 22. The tent offers legal brochures for the public, a Legal Eagle quiz on Illinois legal history (prize for 80% and better) and an Abraham Lincoln photo opportunity for state fair patrons who want to put their face in Lincoln's image. There is also a laptop connected to the Illinois Lawyer Finder site that visitors can try out. Visitors can also receive giveaways including: the infamous gavel pencils, small notepads and Lincoln coloring books. More information on the state fair is available at www.agr.state.il.us/isf/

[caption id="attachment_13816" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Cheryl Niro"][/caption] Cheryl Niro, long a leader of Illinois’ legal community, today became a member of the American Bar Association Board of Governors. Niro is a principal in the law firm of RobinsonNiro, LLC, which provides advice, expert witness services and training on issues involving legal ethics. Just beginning a 3-year term as one of only 38 members of the Board of Governors, Niro will help oversee administration and management of the ABA.  She represents the association’s Seventh District, comprising Illinois and Ohio.  The association represents lawyers from every corner of the country, practicing in every field of law and working in every professional capacity. Niro has worked in legal circles in Illinois since 1981, with her career alternating the private practice of law with public service.  She was executive director of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism during 2006-09; a special counsel to the Attorney General of Illinois in 1996-99; and the executive director of the Illinois Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, a project of the state supreme court, in 1985-88.  While practicing in a law firm under her own name, she also founded the National Center for Conflict Resolution Education, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education. Niro is a past president of the Illinois State Bar Association, and has chaired or been a member of state bar entities devoted to a range of issues, from meeting the legal needs and interests of children in the state to the impact of international trade agreements on the practice of law.  As a hands-on leader, she worked with the state bar’s participation in national high school mock trial competitions and supported a project to revise and update the Illinois Revised Statutes.  She worked on issues of internal bar significance, but also those affecting the public, such as developing alternatives to litigation for resolving legal disputes.  She also is as past president of the Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation, which works to meet the legal needs of the county’s indigent, and of the Illinois Supreme Court Legal Historical Society.

During 2010, the ISBA is offering non-member* lawyers the opportunity to sign up for a FREE 6 month trial membership. The trial membership includes all the benefits of regular membership, including FREE online legal research through Fastcase, discounts on CLE programs, daily delivery of the E-Clips bulletin, monthly delivery of the award-winning Illinois Bar Journal, and much more! Not a member? Learn more and sign up for this opportunity. Already a member? Find out how to present this offer to a non-member and be eligible to earn a discount on your future dues! * Eligibility Requirement: This offer is good for any lawyer listed as “active” with the ARDC and who has not been a member of the ISBA within the last 2 years.