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. National Pro Bono Week is October 23 through 29, 2011. The ISBA through the Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services joins with the ABA to ask all bar associations and lawyers to participate both by performing pro bono work and by joining in the celebrations. Help showcase the efforts of the great lawyers who volunteer and the range of services available for those who need them. How? Pass a resolution in your local bar group to join those being passed throughout the nation lauding the efforts of pro bono attorneys. Then publicize it! A sample resolution is available for use as a draft. Write letters to the editors of local newspapers to discuss the programs available and to promote the good works of the volunteers. A sample letter to the editor is also available to use as a draft to put information about local pro bono efforts before the public. Finally, host a reception thanking the lawyers who do pro bono work and urging the others to sign up for some of the new programs that are being introduced.

The John Marshall Law School’s Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic (VLSC) has been awarded $110,000 in grants from an anonymous corporate donor to help the Clinic construct new facilities. The VLSC will move its offices into newly purchased space at the corner of Jackson and Plymouth, adjacent to the law school, beginning in the spring of 2012. The $110,000 in grant monies includes a $10,000 outright program grant and an additional $100,000 challenge grant, which will be awarded to the Clinic if they can raise a matching amount by October 31. “This significant support will allow the VLSC to work with veterans in a more dignified manner, and better accommodate the ever-increasing number of veterans seeking benefits,” said Brian Clauss, Co-Executive Director of the VLSC. “The current space in the law school requires veterans, many of them disabled, to use elevators and maneuver in cramped hallways.  The new space will feature street-level front door access and will more than double the space of the current site.” Founded in 2007, the Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic, is one of the nation’s first law school clinics dedicated solely to veterans issues. The Clinic’s mission is to assist veterans seeking their benefits from the Veterans Administration and to provide representation for veterans during the appeals process - through a statewide network of pro bono attorneys. The VLSC provides a clinical training experience for John Marshall law students while at the same time serving the larger needs of veterans pursuing VA claims. To learn more about the Veterans Legal Support Clinic or to make a donation, see www.jmls.edu/veterans.

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers: Senate Bill 2492, House Bill 1604, House Bill 3839, House Bill 3801 and House Bill 3807. Information on each bill is available below the video.

The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism is teaming up with the Du-Page County Bar Association, Northern Illinois University College of Law and other legal organizations in the Second Judicial District to begin a mentoring program for newly admitted lawyers.The announcement continues a statewide initiative by Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride, the Supreme Court and the Commission on Professionalism that was launched in June 2011 to urge attorney groups, law schools and individual lawyers to take an active hand in ensuring that new attorneys get practical professional guidance after law school.The early years of legal practice are among the most challenging for most attorneys. Recent law school graduates generally receive limited practical and clinical experience while in law school, and the months leading up to their admission to the bar are spent in extensive preparation for the two-day bar exam, which consists of essay and multiple choice questions with no gauge of clinical or practical experience.In such an environment, experienced attorney mentors can prove invaluable in helping recent bar admit-tees learn the actual practice of law, and get them a meaningful start in their legal careers as well as promote principles that guide them toward professionalism.