For those who are not yet aware, the ISBA Rural Practice Fellowship Program is an important initiative with the goal of placing summer law clerks and associate attorneys with firms in rural areas and small towns across the state. Through the program, summer clerks are awarded a stipend of $5,000 and associate attorneys are awarded a stipend of $10,000 ($5,000 paid initially; $5,000 paid after the associate attorney completes one year of rural practice). These stipends are made possible through the generous support of not only the ISBA, but also the ISBA Mutual Insurance Company and individual donors.

By Sandra Crawford, JD, Mediator and Collaborative Lawyer

The Collaborative Divorce Process is a limited scope representation model of conflict resolution. It has been under development for the last 30 years and has been practiced in Illinois since 2002. In 2018, the Illinois Legislature and the Illinois Supreme Court adopted rules which govern the practice. While the model has applications to all areas of disputes where maintaining a future relationship is important, currently in Illinois, it is practiced primarily in family law.

The Illinois State Bar Association’s Lawyer Finder Service provides referrals to local lawyers Mondays through Fridays. The Service makes referrals in a number of areas of law. For the month of June, 2024, ISBA helped 1,277 people in need of legal services find lawyers.