ST. LOUIS, Missouri – Belleville, Illinois attorney Jack C. Carey will be installed today as the 132nd president of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) at the organization's annual meeting at the Hyatt Regency.

The 35,000-member ISBA, with offices both in Springfield and Chicago, Ill., provides professional services to Illinois lawyers, and education and services to the public.

Carey's private practice concentrates in general trial work, labor law and personal injury law.

During his term as president, Carey will continue the ISBA's strategic marketing initiative begun in 2005 to inform consumers about the value of having legal matters handled by a legal professional and to direct consumers to either ISBA's Illinois Lawyer Finder on-line or its phone referral service if they need help in finding a lawyer.

"When it really matters, you want a legal professional looking out for your interests," he said. "For example, many homeowners are facing foreclosure, and in many cases, they have not reached out to a lawyer. It is extremely important to have an attorney on your side when facing foreclosure and countless other matters related to the law."

Carey will continue to focus on the ISBA's efforts to increase diversity within the profession, and he will seek out ways to inform the public about the importance of not only judicial independence but also the civil justice system as cornerstones of our democracy.

Long active in the ISBA, Carey was elected in 2000 to the Board of Governors, the ISBA's 25-member governing body, and previously served as a member of the ISBA Assembly for 16 years. He was chair of the Task Force on Unauthorized Practice of Law when he was elected third vice president in May 2005. The third vice president typically moves up the organizational ladder to assume the presidency.

In 2004, he received the ISBA Board of Governors Award for his strong support of ISBA initiatives to protect citizens from the unauthorized practice of law (UPL). He represented the bar association pro bono in ISBA v. Reliable Research, a significant UPL case in St. Clair County that resulted in an injunction to prohibit the firm from providing legal advice when conducting real estate transactions.

Carey is a vice president of the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation and a member of the Board of Directors of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and is a Charter Fellow, Silver Fellow and board member of the Illinois Bar Foundation.

He is a past president of the East St. Louis Bar Association and the St. Clair County Bar Association.

Carey received a B.S. degree in 1964 from Westminster College, an M.A. degree from Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) in 1967, and, in 1974, a J.D. degree from St. Louis University School of Law. He taught school prior to obtaining his law degree.