September 2023 PILI Post

Nidhi D. Narielwala of Norton Rose Fulbright will serve as the 2023-2024 Chair of PILI’s Alumni Network Leadership Council

PILI’s Alumni Network consisting of nearly 5,000 former PILI Law Student Interns and Graduate Fellows is led by the Alumni Network Leadership Council, a group of PILI Alumni committed to staying connected to PILI and public interest law, and to giving back to their community.

With PILI’s new fiscal year beginning on September 1st, PILI welcomed new leadership for the Alumni Network Leadership Council. Nidhi D. Narielwala of Norton Rose Fulbright assumed the position of Chair and is joined in leadership by Chair-Elect Jill Roberts of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts and Vice Chair Kimberly Mills of the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender.

When asked about what she is looking forward to in the upcoming year, Nidhi had this to say, “I am looking forward to leading and collaborating with our amazing Alumni Network Leadership Council to continue expanding access to pro bono legal services and advancing public interest law in our communities. I am so grateful to PILI as it has given me many wonderful opportunities over the years, starting from my PILI Graduate Fellowship at the ACLU of Illinois to now providing me with resources to strengthen my own pro bono practice. PILI has created a strong platform whereby law students and lawyers can learn and grow as attorneys while also fostering a commitment to public interest and pro bono service. I am looking forward to leading the Council and ushering in a new generation of public interest and pro bono leaders!”

Nidhi counsels clients on a variety of matters related to technology licensing agreements and data privacy compliance programs. She uses her background in data analytics and software programming to advise clients on information technology vulnerabilities and develop policies and procedures to secure client data and comply with applicable laws. She also advises clients on GDPR and data transfer mechanisms between the European Union and the United States. Additionally, Nidhi has experience reviewing and revising various technology transactions agreements, including cloud computing software, autonomous software and technology services agreements, and assisted with data privacy, technology and intellectual property due diligence for M&A transactions.

She graduated from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis and served as a PILI Graduate Fellow at the Roger Baldwin Foundation of the ACLU of Illinois in 2018. At the ACLU, she worked on a wide range of projects from the welfare of LGBTQ youth to addressing police misconduct in Chicago to the Women’s and Reproductive Rights Project. While at Washington University School of Law, Nidhi participated in a number of public interest law activities. She served as the Pro Bono Committee Chair on the school’s Public Service Advisory Board. She also taught First and Fourth Amendment law to high school students in inner-city St. Louis through a Teaching Fellowship with the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project.

Corey Biller of Conagra Brands will serve as the 2023-2024 Chair of PILI’s Young Professionals Board

Established in 2017, PILI’s Young Professionals Board (YPB) is a group dedicated to empowering PILI through fundraising and by serving as PILI’s ambassadors in their communities. YPB members are emerging leaders who have begun their professional careers in the past fifteen years.

With the start of PILI’s new fiscal year on September 1st, new leaders took the helm of the YPB. Corey Biller of Conagra Brands will serve as Chair and is joined by Bide Akande of Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP who will serve as Chair-Elect and Anthony Lewis of Kovitz Shifrin Nesbit who will serve as Vice Chair.

As she begins her role as Chair, Corey said, “I wanted to join PILI’s Young Professionals Board because it afforded me the opportunity to give back to an organization that gave me my first legal role as a Law Student Intern, while also allowing me to make meaningful connections with other  professionals in a similar stage of their career. The YPB affords such a unique opportunity to give back to the community while simultaneously contributing to personal and professional growth. I’m looking forward to broadening the Young Professionals Board’s reach both in terms of membership and fundraising opportunities to further support PILI’s mission of increasing access to legal services in our community.”

Corey started as Counsel for Labor and Employment at Conagra Brands last November. Previously, she was an associate at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP where she managed civil cases in federal and state court, as well as administrative charges pending in front of the NLRB, EEOC, and state agencies. Corey received both her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Ancient Studies as well as her Juris Doctor from Washington University in St. Louis. Corey was a member of the National ABA Moot Court Team, President of the Labor and Employment Law Society and a member of the Women’s Law Caucus.

Corey was a PILI Law Student Intern at Lambda Legal conducting legal research and prepared memoranda on issues impacting the LGBT community and people living with HIV, interviewed with potential clients and prepared intake forms and assisted staff attorneys with trial preparation for ongoing cases in state and federal court. Corey has been an active member of the Young Professionals Board for almost five years, most recently serving as Chair-Elect and being instrumental in the fundraising and planning of Young Professionals Board events like Giving Tuesday and Arcade for Legal Aid.

With the start of our new fiscal year, we are excited to welcome three new members of our Board of Directors!

Mitch Gilfillan

Partner at Quinn Johnston

Mitch’s multi-faceted practice focuses on all areas of civil litigation defense, corporate and transactional dealings, partnership dissolution issues and sports agency management. He represents and works with a diverse client base including insurance companies, health care providers, business owners, and individuals seeking both personal and professional guidance. In addition to his law practice, Mitch is an active civic and charitable contributor to the Greater Peoria community, including devoting a significant amount of time to pro bono service. This includes serving on PILI’s Tenth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee and volunteering through PILI and Prairie State Legal Services. His exemplary pro bono service earned him being named to PILI’s Inaugural Pro Bono Volunteer Honor Roll in 2020 and the John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Service Award from the Illinois State Bar Association also in 2020. In addition to being active in the Peoria County, Illinois State and American Bar Associations, Mitch also serves on multiple boards including the Pediatric Resource Center, Children’s Hospital of Illinois and Peoria Friendship House.

Jennifer Luczkowiak

Director of Resource Development, Prairie State Legal Services

Jennifer is an attorney and the Director of Resource Development, participating in the executive management of Prairie State’s programs. Specifically, she oversees all grant acquisition, grant management, and fundraising efforts from federal, state, and local governments, United Ways, foundations, and individual and corporate donors for Prairie State. Jenn previously served as Prairie State’s Project Director of the Legal Help for Homeowners Project, which provided legal counsel and representation for homeowners and tenants facing foreclosure. Before arriving at Prairie State, Jenn worked for the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley serving homeless and runaway youth as an Equal Justice Works Fellow and Staff Attorney. She received her B.A. from Northwestern University and her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Angel Wawrzynek

Partner at Armstrong, Grove & Wawrzynek LLC 

Angel attended the University of Illinois where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and then graduated cum laude from the University of Illinois Law School. Angel has practiced law in Mattoon for her entire legal career, first as an associate with Tapella & Eberspacher LLC (formerly Hefner, Eberspacher, Tapella, Armstrong, Grove & Britton LLC). She then joined Armstrong, Grove & Wawrzynek as a partner in February 2020. Angel focuses her practice on estate planning, trust and estate administration, and guardianships. Angel is has been an advocate for pro bono legal services, serving as a member and former chair of PILI’s Fifth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee and volunteering through PILI.  She is the Vice President of the Eastern Illinois Estate Planning Council and a member of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Trusts and Estates Section Council. Angel has previously served on the boards of the Coles-Cumberland Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois.

Click here to see the August 2023 PILI Post »

Dear friends and supporters:

At PILI, we believe that equal access to justice is a fundamental right. We are focused on connecting people who can help with individuals, families and communities in need. And we all know that we work best when we work together. That is why PILI’s theme for 2023 is A Community of Service. Thanks to the PILI community – made up of volunteers and donors like YOU – we can provide these services across the state.

PILI’s Law Student Internship and Graduate Fellowship Programs remain at the center of our work and provide a start for a new generation of lawyers to learn about and commit to public interest law and pro bono service while remaining connected to PILI and the public interest law community through our Alumni Network.

• With the support of the PILI community, we are in the process of raising our Law Student Internship stipend, ensuring that these students can cover their living expenses while they give their time and talent to help others.
• Over the last year, our community of Law Student Interns and Graduate Fellows have collectively provided an additional 38,800 hours of legal assistance to those in need.

Through our Pro Bono Program, we continue to increase the availability of pro bono legal help across Illinois for those who cannot afford an attorney.

• We manage Illinois Free Legal Answers, a virtual civil legal aid clinic that is easy to use and convenient for clients and volunteers alike through which our volunteer community answered 3,335 civil legal questions in 2022.
• Other pro bono opportunities include, assisting veterans and active-duty military through the Illinois Armed Forces Legal Aid Network (IL-AFLAN), providing brief advice to self-represented litigants through court-based help desks, helping clients in need with nowhere else to turn through our Conflict of Interest Pro Bono Referral Panels, and much more!

One member of the PILI community explained why they volunteer: “PILI serves as a hub for pro bono within the Illinois legal community and ensures pro bono legal help for those who cannot afford an attorney in Illinois.” None of this would be possible without you – our community of supporters. Will you help our Community of Service thrive by making a donation today?

Donate Now

Thank you for your support; we couldn’t do it without you!

PILI begins a new fiscal year on September 1st and in the budget adopted by its Board of Directors, PILI will fund its largest number of Law Student Interns ever in the year to come. The budget that was adopted also calls for an increase in the stipend for all PILI Law Student Interns in the year to come following an initial increase over this past fiscal year. PILI will grant over $370,500 to fund 67 Law Student Interns at 30 public interest law agencies across Illinois in the coming year. For the school-year, PILI will fund 20 Law Student Interns, 10 per semester for 200 hours with the school-year stipend increased from $3,100 to $3,250. In Summer 2024, PILI will fund 47 Law Student Interns for 400 hours with the stipend increased from $6,200 to $6,500.

PILI’s Law Student Internship Program remains at the center of PILI and provides a start for a new generation of lawyers to learn about and commit to public interest law and pro bono service. Over the last year, our community of Law Student Interns and Graduate Fellows have collectively provided an additional 38,800 hours of legal assistance to those in need. PILI has operated its Law Student Internship Program since its founding in 1977, and it is the only program of its kind that attracts law students from across the country to serve at public interest law agencies in Illinois.

While PILI is a funding source for stipends, PILI still works closely with Interns to ensure quality placements, supervision and continuing education through extensive programming along with networking opportunities for Interns to connect and learn from each other. The program helps PILI’s participating public interest law agencies serve more clients and increase their impact while also helping law students develop their legal and client interaction skills, build their professional networks, and strengthen their commitment to public interest law and service. Nearly 5,000 former Law Student Interns and Graduate Fellows make up PILI’s Alumni Network to maintain a careerlong connection to PILI, to each other and the public interest law community.

“PILI’s Law Student Internship Program is our flagship program, remaining just as critical today as it was when PILI was founded in 1977,” said PILI Executive Director Michael Bergmann. “This program ensures that law students have the opportunity to gain invaluable practical experience in the public interest law sector while supporting the critical work of PILI’s participating agencies across Illinois.”

See a full list of agencies in Illinois approved to host PILI Law Student Interns here »

Learn more about PILI’s Law Student Internship Program »