By Ramona M. Sullivan

Pro Bono Week is a time each year for the ISBA to encourage volunteer efforts of our members and celebrate the good works that we do.  While the primary mission of Pro Bono Week is to expand the delivery of legal services, Illinois lawyers help our communities in many other ways as well.

By Honorable Barbara Crowder, Circuit Judge, Madison County

Everyone has heard the phrase, "get them young and train them." One usually thinks of this in terms of Olympic athletes who have been training since childhood, but the Third Circuit decided to try the concept with high-schoolers.

The ISBA’s Delivery of Legal Services committee recently established the Joseph R. Bartylak Memorial Legal Services Award to honor the extraordinary commitment and dedication of legal services attorneys in Illinois. Joe Bartylak, who passed away in August 2010, was a long-time active member of the ISBA.  He was an attorney who committed his career to the legal services profession, acting as Executive Director of the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation for nearly 30 years, and helping to establish the Illinois Lawyers’ Assistance Program.  For Joe, providing exemplary legal services to Illinois’ low-income population was his passion and life’s work.  The Delivery of Legal Services Committee and entire Illinois State Bar Association wish to continue Joe’s legacy by honoring a civil legal services attorney who also has provided the highest caliber of legal representation and services to Illinois’ low income population.

To qualify for consideration, the nominee for the award must meet the following requirements:

1. Must be a full-time employed attorney of an established Illinois legal services organization;
2. Must have been licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois for a minimum of three (3) years;
3. Must be a member in good-standing of the ISBA.

Additionally, the nominee must exhibit one or more of the following qualities:

One hundred fifty members of the Madison County Bar were honored Tuesday at a Pro Bono Luncheon in Edwardsville sponsored by Heyl, Royster, The Simmons Firm, and the Madison County Bar Association. Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier, 3rd Circuit Chief Judge Ann Callis, and 3rd Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder praised the volunteers for accepting pro bono cases through the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation.
 
Among volunteers were Billie Johnson of Johnson and Anderson in Edwardsville, Amy Garrett of The Simmons Firm, and Bonnie Levo of Levo and Donahoo in Troy, joined by Joan Spiegel, pro bono coordinator of Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance, Madison County Bar President Ron Foster, and Judge Crowder.
 
The event was held to coincide with national Pro Bono Week activities.